We’re delighted to share a conversation with Rachel Koldenhoven, Rehab Manager at Corewell Health. Rachel shares the improvements she has seen in her team and the ways they are implementing Practicing Excellence tips into their work.
- How long have you been in health care, and what are your favorite parts about it?
I have been an Occupational Therapist for almost 20 years. I absolutely love knowing that I am making a difference and that my work makes a positive impact within our healthcare system. I am so proud when my girls tell people that their mom’s job is to “help people in the hospital get better”.
- What are your favorite parts of leading a health care team?
I work with an incredibly talented, diversely skilled, and wonderfully smart group of individuals. It brings me great joy to lift their ideas up and help put them into action. It also fills my cup to connect therapists to opportunities that allow them to showcase their unique skills and talents within the hospital system.
- What areas has your team improved most? How do you know?
I have seen my team’s confidence in each area grow the most. During team discussions, we have identified that we ARE using the right behaviors to provide an excellent patient experience. Watching the videos edifies the skills that we already have in our toolkit and has helped us to sharpen those tools so that we can more confidently use them with every patient interaction.
- What have you done to engage your clinicians to prevent this feeling like “one more thing?”
We have started watching the weekly video together during one of our daily huddles. Our supervisors have done a great job leading discussion on how to implement these skills into our daily practice. We share both positive and negative experiences that we have encountered, so that we can maximize what we learn from each other and make it valuable.
- In what ways have you seen your clinicians implement tips into their work?
A patient was discharging from the hospital to a hospice facility and was distraught knowing she would never see her home again. Our team paused to listen to her greatest concern in that moment. They took the time to find a picture of her house online and print a copy of it for her to have a picture of her beloved home.
Two of our team members took time to listen to a frustrated patient who was “being difficult” with the care team. She was refusing help because she had a unique way of moving that worked for her. Our team listened to her and allowed to move in a way that was comfortable for her. She said that “felt empowered and finally listened to”. She was pleasant and happy after that therapy session!
A patient recently shared that she was not having a good day when the therapist first arrived for her therapy session. Because the therapist listened to her and respectfully let her have time to try doing tasks by herself before stepping in to help her, the patient’s day was turned around. She felt seen and understood in that session.
One of our therapists made a great first impression on a patient by including the patient’s son in the therapy session. The son wanted to be involved and was asking many questions, which the therapist happily answered. The patient shared that he appreciated this, and it meant a lot to him that our team included his son in his care.
Now, more than ever, skill-building in healthcare is crucial. If you’re seeking support to kickstart your organization’s continuous improvement journey, get in touch with us now.
Practicing Excellence builds skills to drive outcomes in well-being, patient experience, and leadership effectiveness. Built for busy clinicians, our micro-learning solution delivers short, evidence-derived, video-based coaching to clinicians, leaders, and teams through our mobile app. We partner with some of the nations’ most prominent health systems and medical groups to deliver coordinated skill-building programs that provide measurable results. Learn more at practicingexcellence.com.
