Selected Podcast
Ep. 31: Strengthening Culture with Psychological Safety
Heather Stump discusses Psychological Safety. Ms. Stump talks about the importance of psychological safety, what it means for their team, and how it makes the work environment a safe space.
Featuring:
Heather Stump
Heather Stump is a Clinical Nurse, Cardiac ICU, WellSpan York Hospital. Transcription:
Roxanna GapsturRoxanna Gapstur PhD, RN (Host): On this episode of Inspiring Health, we're talking about an essential ingredient for creating the culture we want to see at WellSpan, psychological safety. It's the belief that team members can seek help, take risks and raise concerns all while feeling accepted. Today, I'm excited to have here with me, Heather Stump, a nurse from the cardiac ICU at WellSpan York Hospital. Heather, welcome.
Heather Stump: Thank you Roxanna. I'm delighted to be here.
Host: So Heather, let's go back to the day we met and then we'll get into psychological safety. It was a winter day and I was rounding at York Hospital in the cardiac ICU, and we were just finishing a visit on your unit when you tapped me on the arm.
Heather: That's right, I did. I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your podcasts. I just listened to an episode about daily huddles and I felt inspired to share it with my team so we could improve our daily engagement. We just updated our huddles on the unit and they've really had a great impact on the team.
Host: Yes. I remember you were working on how to hold those daily huddles with such a diverse team of people and many different shifts. And we talked about how challenging that can be. And you also expressed something I think is common among our care teams. How can they have a voice and influence what's happening in the organization? And having that daily engagement huddle and knowing that huddles are elevated all the way to the CEO each day, means there is a connection. That connection ensures that we see solve and share together.
And I realized that day after leaving the hospital, that your willingness to openly share ideas with me was exactly the kind of psychological safety that we want to have here at WellSpan. You felt confident engaging me and I invited input by asking questions and we shared information and learned from each other.
Heather: Thanks Roxanna. I appreciated that you were eager to see our board and that you really cared how our huddles were going. On our unit, we have a great team with a culture of strong psychological safety. We believe our colleagues act with positive intent and we feel safe and valued. It was part of the reason why I felt comfortable speaking up when you were there.
Host: Yeah, you're right, Heather. It, it requires each of us as individuals to really create that environment that we want for ourselves and our team, important for leaders and teams to trust each other.
So let's break down psychological safety and talk about why it's important. At WellSpan, our cultural framework is designed to support psychological safety, consider our values of assume positive intent and respect for all, believing that our colleagues are acting with positive intentions and being respectful to others, are foundational behaviors in a culture where a team members feel safe and valued.
Harvard Business School, professor and author, Amy Edmondson is known for her research and writing on psychological safety. Her message is powerful yet simple. She suggests we do three things, frame the work, model fallibility or vulnerability and embrace the messengers. So let's start with framing the work. This is how we help team members understand the risks and needs for collaboration. How do you think daily huddles help you do that?
Heather: I think that daily huddles add meaning to our work because they're framed around improvement. As a nurse on the front lines, in a very high risk environment, we know that patients' lives are in our hands. That's why we strive to continuously improve our practices in order to achieve optimal outcomes. I like to think of our huddle board as a framework of our unit's mission to providing high quality care.
Host: Yes. And Amy Edmundson's second step for leaders in creating psychological safety is modeling fallibility. So Heather, how do you show other nurses in your unit that you don't have all the answers? How do you invite and incorporate their input?
Heather: I really like this question because one of my favorite aspects about being an ICU nurse is working on a team because I don't have all the answers. I show other nurses this, by being my authentic self. I try to be self-aware, to own my mistakes and ask for help when I don't know. I believe our team does a really good job of making our environment feel open to asking questions and learning from each other. I can say that not a shift goes by that collaborative decision-making doesn't happen in the intensive care unit.
Host: That's amazing. And also so important because I think we all know that healthcare is a team sport and no one healthcare provider, individual has all the answers to any particular patient issue. And so being able to lean on your team in that situation is so important to getting the best outcomes. I'd like to also touch on the final focus area about embracing messengers. What have you experienced Heather with WellSpan leaders that has made you want to continue to share your perspective and speak up?
Heather: When I'm thanked for sharing my perspective and also seeing the impact that my voice has on making a change, that's what keeps me going. The leaders that I interact with are effective listeners and they encourage the front lines to speak up and to identify their needs and areas for impact. And they also do it in a way that makes the conversation feels supportive and non-punitive. Also in my experience, WellSpan leaders understand the importance of a learning environment.
My leaders have always encouraged me to share my insights. For example, I try to keep up to date on health care by reading journals and listening to podcasts. And when I talk about what I've read or listened to the leader, turns it right back around and now go share that with the group and think about how we can use it to improve.
Host: Yeah, that's amazing Heather. And so, so important as we think about fostering psychological safety here at WellSpan. And it sounds to me like you have had the opportunity to interact with some really great leaders in the Cardiac ICU and at WellSpan York Hospital who fostered that kind of environment.
What a great environment to learn in and to provide care in, as a nurse and as a member of the healthcare team. Heather, I want to thank you so much for joining me today. Keep using that huddle board and modeling terrific daily engagement in the WellSpan York Hospital Cardiac ICU. I know that by working together in such an intentional way, your team will improve their work and achieve their goals.
Heather: Thank you Roxanna.
Host: To fulfill our vision of a trusted partner, re-imagining health care, inspiring health, we must make WellSpan a safe space where every team member shares ideas and elevates concerns. And at the same time, we can be accountable to ourselves and our teams for achieving some bold goals together.
That's all the time we have for today. We hope you'll join us for the next episode of Inspiring Health.
Roxanna GapsturRoxanna Gapstur PhD, RN (Host): On this episode of Inspiring Health, we're talking about an essential ingredient for creating the culture we want to see at WellSpan, psychological safety. It's the belief that team members can seek help, take risks and raise concerns all while feeling accepted. Today, I'm excited to have here with me, Heather Stump, a nurse from the cardiac ICU at WellSpan York Hospital. Heather, welcome.
Heather Stump: Thank you Roxanna. I'm delighted to be here.
Host: So Heather, let's go back to the day we met and then we'll get into psychological safety. It was a winter day and I was rounding at York Hospital in the cardiac ICU, and we were just finishing a visit on your unit when you tapped me on the arm.
Heather: That's right, I did. I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your podcasts. I just listened to an episode about daily huddles and I felt inspired to share it with my team so we could improve our daily engagement. We just updated our huddles on the unit and they've really had a great impact on the team.
Host: Yes. I remember you were working on how to hold those daily huddles with such a diverse team of people and many different shifts. And we talked about how challenging that can be. And you also expressed something I think is common among our care teams. How can they have a voice and influence what's happening in the organization? And having that daily engagement huddle and knowing that huddles are elevated all the way to the CEO each day, means there is a connection. That connection ensures that we see solve and share together.
And I realized that day after leaving the hospital, that your willingness to openly share ideas with me was exactly the kind of psychological safety that we want to have here at WellSpan. You felt confident engaging me and I invited input by asking questions and we shared information and learned from each other.
Heather: Thanks Roxanna. I appreciated that you were eager to see our board and that you really cared how our huddles were going. On our unit, we have a great team with a culture of strong psychological safety. We believe our colleagues act with positive intent and we feel safe and valued. It was part of the reason why I felt comfortable speaking up when you were there.
Host: Yeah, you're right, Heather. It, it requires each of us as individuals to really create that environment that we want for ourselves and our team, important for leaders and teams to trust each other.
So let's break down psychological safety and talk about why it's important. At WellSpan, our cultural framework is designed to support psychological safety, consider our values of assume positive intent and respect for all, believing that our colleagues are acting with positive intentions and being respectful to others, are foundational behaviors in a culture where a team members feel safe and valued.
Harvard Business School, professor and author, Amy Edmondson is known for her research and writing on psychological safety. Her message is powerful yet simple. She suggests we do three things, frame the work, model fallibility or vulnerability and embrace the messengers. So let's start with framing the work. This is how we help team members understand the risks and needs for collaboration. How do you think daily huddles help you do that?
Heather: I think that daily huddles add meaning to our work because they're framed around improvement. As a nurse on the front lines, in a very high risk environment, we know that patients' lives are in our hands. That's why we strive to continuously improve our practices in order to achieve optimal outcomes. I like to think of our huddle board as a framework of our unit's mission to providing high quality care.
Host: Yes. And Amy Edmundson's second step for leaders in creating psychological safety is modeling fallibility. So Heather, how do you show other nurses in your unit that you don't have all the answers? How do you invite and incorporate their input?
Heather: I really like this question because one of my favorite aspects about being an ICU nurse is working on a team because I don't have all the answers. I show other nurses this, by being my authentic self. I try to be self-aware, to own my mistakes and ask for help when I don't know. I believe our team does a really good job of making our environment feel open to asking questions and learning from each other. I can say that not a shift goes by that collaborative decision-making doesn't happen in the intensive care unit.
Host: That's amazing. And also so important because I think we all know that healthcare is a team sport and no one healthcare provider, individual has all the answers to any particular patient issue. And so being able to lean on your team in that situation is so important to getting the best outcomes. I'd like to also touch on the final focus area about embracing messengers. What have you experienced Heather with WellSpan leaders that has made you want to continue to share your perspective and speak up?
Heather: When I'm thanked for sharing my perspective and also seeing the impact that my voice has on making a change, that's what keeps me going. The leaders that I interact with are effective listeners and they encourage the front lines to speak up and to identify their needs and areas for impact. And they also do it in a way that makes the conversation feels supportive and non-punitive. Also in my experience, WellSpan leaders understand the importance of a learning environment.
My leaders have always encouraged me to share my insights. For example, I try to keep up to date on health care by reading journals and listening to podcasts. And when I talk about what I've read or listened to the leader, turns it right back around and now go share that with the group and think about how we can use it to improve.
Host: Yeah, that's amazing Heather. And so, so important as we think about fostering psychological safety here at WellSpan. And it sounds to me like you have had the opportunity to interact with some really great leaders in the Cardiac ICU and at WellSpan York Hospital who fostered that kind of environment.
What a great environment to learn in and to provide care in, as a nurse and as a member of the healthcare team. Heather, I want to thank you so much for joining me today. Keep using that huddle board and modeling terrific daily engagement in the WellSpan York Hospital Cardiac ICU. I know that by working together in such an intentional way, your team will improve their work and achieve their goals.
Heather: Thank you Roxanna.
Host: To fulfill our vision of a trusted partner, re-imagining health care, inspiring health, we must make WellSpan a safe space where every team member shares ideas and elevates concerns. And at the same time, we can be accountable to ourselves and our teams for achieving some bold goals together.
That's all the time we have for today. We hope you'll join us for the next episode of Inspiring Health.