1. Occupational Therapists Delivering Schwartz rounds to improve Staff
Health and Wellbeing at work
Jennifer Chouchelamane -
Why should Occupational Therapists
get involved?
Experience in physical and mental health workplace environments and an understanding of the demands on their staff
Experience of multidisciplinary working with a range of health and social care staff
Appreciation of the importance that our working roles have on our overall wellbeing
*Arguably the greatest resource that health and social care systems have is their staff. When staff feel supported in
the care they are offering, the benefits extend beyond
those felt by staff but extend further to patients
and to the organisation as a whole
Point of Care foundation (2013)
What are Schwartz rounds?
 *Founded by Kenneth Schwartz, a healthcare
lawyer in America who was diagnosed with terminal
lung cancer.
What mattered most to him as a patient was compassionate care
He noted the emotional demands of the job caregivers have in a challenging healthcare system.
He founded Schwartz rounds as forums where healthcare providers could come together to
discuss the emotional impact of their
roles and support each other.
Schwartz rounds
at ABMU Health board
Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University
Health Board (ABMUHB) introduced Schwartz
rounds due to challenges faced by NHS staff which can in turn affect patient experience
Goodrich (2012) found that staff attending rounds reported decreased feelings of stress and improved team working
ABMUHB was the first organisation to launch Schwartz rounds in Wales and since rounds have been delivered with themes such as;
‘When a team pulls together’
‘Difficult decision making’
‘When the personal and the
professional collide’
Challenges
Encouraging attendance at
rounds across all health board sites to enable
a variety of people attend to ensure rich discussion
Finding panellists to share their stories
Fitting it all in – balancing the ‘day job’ with being a
facilitator
Logistics - organising venues, arranging facilitators and clinical
leads to deliver sessions across 4 main hospital sites
Managing expectations of the audience and keeping discussion away from problem solving
Capturing evaluation data to ensure the rounds continue
Next steps
Creation of new marketing materials
Consider carrying out ‘pop up rounds’
in departments where attendance is difficult due to staffing levels
Delivering Schwartz rounds
Delivered by 2 trained
facilitators and a clinical lead trained by
The Point of Care Foundation
6 facilitators and 3 clinical leads;
3 consultants, 1 clinical psychologist, 1 practice nurse educator, 2 learning and development officers and 1 OT
Roles
To find panellists to share their stories for rounds
To prepare the panellists
To facilitate discussion during the round and
steer conversation away from problem solving
To capture feedback and demographic
Information on evaluation forms
90%
Agreed that they gained knowledge that will help them work better with colleagues
90%
Gained
knowledge that
will help them
care for their
patients
The round
*Open to all health board staff members
1 hour in length, lunch is provided
2-4 panellists speak for 5 minutes each to share their stories
Discussion is opened out to the wider audience to share their thoughts, feelings and experiences as evoked by the stories shared by the panel
Clinical lead ‘sums up’ themes of the round
Audience invited to complete evaluation forms
90%
Would
recommend
the rounds
98%
Rated the round
as good, excellent or exceptional
Evaluation and feedback
(from 2016 rounds)
Job title of those
attending rounds
“Excellent insight into MDT’s experiences- very beneficial in improving patient care”
“Discussions were interesting, honest, heart warming and sometimes humorous. Very insightful and thought provoking”
“Fantastic eye opener
to the challenges encountered by colleagues”
References
The Point of Care Foundation (2013). Setting up and running Schwartz Center Rounds. London: Longridge Print.
Goodrich J. (2012) Supporting hospital staff to provide compassionate care: Do Schwartz Centre Rounds work in English hospitals? Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 2012: 105: