By Stephen W. Earnhart, MS
CEO
Earnhart & Associates
Austin, TX
“The following sentence is true. The previous sentence is false.”
Did you figure it out? Can you? These statements have driven compulsive individuals crazy over the years. It is the “liar’s paradox,” or pseudómenos lógos.
I thought these statements would be a good segue into an exploration of issues related to miscommunication among outpatient surgery staff members and how much of it can be avoided by keeping everyone up to date via staff meetings.
My entire career has been spent in the operating environment, in hospitals and surgery centers. If there is one item of significance that I can point out that sets apart a facility that is great from one that is good, and one that is poor from one that is lousy, it is frequency and quality of staff meetings. Consider these aspects of your meetings:
• Frequency.
How frequent is frequent? There are lots of variables, but the newer the facility, the more staff meetings you need. I am talking about two per day, five days a week.
If you are a dancer or sports person, you are familiar with the term “muscle memory,” which basically means that you do a routine frequently enough that it becomes ingrained and you can do it without even thinking about it. If you do it enough, it becomes nature. At staff meetings, if you consistently talk about processes and procedures, staff will follow them automatically.
Established facilities always tell me that they don’t need meetings or rarely have anything to report. That’s not a valid excuse. There are always new staff, new procedures, new docs, new equipment, etc. There is never a reason not to have a staff meeting at least once a week.
I am a surveyor for Medicare facilities and, therefore, I visit many new facilities waiting to become certified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. I have a lot of exposure to staff members. I am always surprised when I ask them for a copy of the minutes of their staff meetings, and they tell me, “Oh, we have been so busy getting ready for these inspections, we have not had time for any.” Red flag.
Some facilities have staff meetings broken down by departments. I understand the reasoning, but I have never been in favor of them because it is sort of like the parable of the seven blind men examining different parts of an elephant. No one person ever has the complete information of what is happening at the facility in total – only what pertains to his or her area.
• Content.
I’ve never had a staff meeting without an agenda. An agenda forces the author to sit and think about what changes have or will occur and what needs to be emphasized or discussed. Minutes are nice, but they should be kept to a minimum so you don’t bore everyone. Distribute the agenda with the minutes, or post it on the bulletin board so everyone can read it before the meeting to save time.
Whenever possible, have a guest speaker. This is not a 45-minute talk, but rather a quick 10-minute update from a vendor, surgeon, or official who can convey helpful info about products or new procedures.
This meeting is always a great time for a police officer or firefighter to address the group on safety issues, both within the facility and outside.
• New business.
If you do an agenda, and I hope you do, always include time for new business from the attendees. So often I get complaints from staff members who say that they never have an opportunity to share their ideas or let someone know something they think is significant. Having this agenda item always gives staff members a way to get something off their chest or contribute, and it removes that argument.
The bottom line is that almost all staff enjoy staff meetings. I hear complaints only when there are no meetings. I never get complaints about them. It is a great way to share birthdays, births, and other info about staff members to let them know that their work is more than a job.
• Time.
Keep’em short. No more than 20-30 minutes! Brevity is appreciated by everyone. (Earnhart & Associates is a consulting firm specializing in all aspects of outpatient surgery development and management.)
