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Healthcare Communications: The Best Ideas Come from the Front Line

By: Beth Minnigerode | 10/21/2008

At Standing Partnership, we counsel several healthcare-related clients to support their internal and external communications efforts. Also, I have several nurses in my family and always hear about the unique stresses they face compared to a regular desk job. I was glad to read about an effort by Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Ill.

The hospital created a nurses' retreat in a break room where they could assemble a puzzle or lounge in a massage chair. They also put together a handbook for nurses to make them aware of stress management and counseling classes. It's a small program, but what was most interesting is why it's been successful – the idea was designed for nurses by nurses. The initiative was developed and carried out by a work group made up of those on the front lines – a powerful and often untapped idea generating resource for organizations. Their hands-on experience with the daily stresses nurses face meant they could quickly get to the heart of the issue, develop an idea that had instant credibility with coworkers, and provide valuable peer-to-peer promotion of the initiative.

What employee work groups does your organization have in place?

Tags: Healthcare communications, Employee communications, Nurses' work group

Posted in Internal/Employee Communications, Employee Relations