Developing a Compassionate Culture Within Pediatric Rehabilitation: Does the Schwartz Rounds™ Support Both Clinical and Nonclinical Hospital Workers in Managing Their Work Experiences?

Abstract

Schwartz Rounds™ offers an interprofessional forum for staff to openly engage in discussions about social-emotional aspects of care. We aimed to assess the perceived impact of Rounds in the health care context of pediatric rehabilitation, as well as a comparative analysis of how Rounds affected clinical versus nonclinical staff. Does effect on perceived outcomes was also investigated. Data were collected from 29 hospital staff (15 clinicians, 14 nonclinicians) who attended one, two, or three+ Rounds via semistructured interviews. Thematic analysis indicated impacts at the personal and social levels (e.g., reduced stress, increased level of approaching behaviors, normalizing and validating emotional experiences, and building bridges within the hospital). Data also revealed the novel finding of Rounds affecting professional knowledge and skills (e.g., interprofessional practice, reflective practice, clinical imagination). These findings elucidate how Schwartz Rounds™ is beneficial in a pediatric rehabilitation setting, albeit somewhat differentially for clinical and nonclinical staff.

The Schwartz Centre Rounds: Supporting mental health workers with the emotional impact of their work

“…Professionals feared negative evaluation and interpretation of their emotional reactions, in particular the expression of anger and frustration with patients which was felt to be unprofessional and in conflict with their caring intentions. Professionals also feared appearing weak for expressing emotion and exposing vulnerabilities, although sharing vulnerabilities was also seen as beneficial in this study and by Adamson et al (2018).…”

“…A subtheme of this was also that professionals felt there was not time to process the emotional content of Rounds before returning to their shift. This theme has support from Adamson et al (2018) who found that staff engaged in further discussions with colleagues upon returning to shift which they termed ‘Mini Schwartz Rounds’. It was felt this was helpful in processing the stories and emotions generated by Rounds and provided closure to these experiences.…”

“…Chadwick et al (2016) also identified a theme of emotional insight, where professionals gained insight into the perspectives of the speakers and also gained new understanding of themselves and their own emotional reactions. Likewise in a thematic analysis of the Rounds, Adamson et al (2018) found themes of normalizing and validating emotional experiences and sharing vulnerabilities. In support of the second theme (sharing emotions and experiencing empathy), Adamson et al (2018) also found that professionals experienced greater empathy for their colleagues, a greater understanding of their colleagues roles, an increased willingness to approach colleagues for support, and a realization of common goals and connections to other teams.…”

“…There is support for the theme of ‘difficulty identifying changes to clinical practice’ from Taylor et al (2018) who found that although professionals reported some subtle changes to practice in terms of new support groups for staff; changes in protocol; and different organizational conversations, they struggled to find concrete examples. Adamson et al (2018) also found that changes to practice were subtle, and one example was improved engagement with patients and their families.…”

Using Blended and Virtual Schwartz Center Rounds® to Support Maternity Staff in Ireland During the Covid-19 Pandemic

“…Studies evaluating Schwartz Rounds have provided empirical evidence for helping healthcare workers from a variety of healthcare settings to feel less isolated and provide more significant insights into psychological aspects of teamwork and care (Chadwick et al, 2016;Mboua et al, 2021). Participants in a Canadian qualitative study reported a renewed passion for their work, reduced stress, and a greater sense of community (Adamson et al, 2018). The more Rounds the participants attended, the more profound the change reported (Adamson et al, 2018).…”