Performance of and NPR Interview on Bedside Manners

On Tuesday night, the 27th of October, I did a performance of Bedside Manners — the play I wrote with Lisa Hayes about interprofessional team relationships — at the Asante Rogue Medical Center in Medford Oregon.  The performance was the John and Nora Darby Endowed Lecture of the Oregon Health Sciences University School of Nursing and co-sponsored by the Humane Medicine Medical Humanities Program at Asante Health System. Joanne Noone, Associate Dean at the school has had a long-standing research and practice issue in the use of theater in patient care and Emergency Room Nurse Alexander Krach started the Humanities program.  The cast of 15 included nursing students, working nurses, the Chief Nursing Officer Asante/VP of Nursing Services ARRMC, a social worker, as well as five physicians –including a cardiologist, oncologist, recovering pulmonologist, and two primary care physicians.  Everyone was amazing and it was such a great teamwork exercise.

One of the nursing students who was in the play– Shannon Widboomwho was in the play wrote that being in the play “was a wonderful personal growth opportunity. The play inspired a paradigm shift in many nursing students and myself regarding communication and holistic care.”

Cardiologist Jon Brower, sent me an email with the following comment.

” It was truly a pleasure to have a role in Beside Manners.  You are right, your play has a way of really getting needed conversations going.  My wife (a NICU nurse) was in the audience that night, and when we met up at home afterwards, we talked into the wee hours about the communication issues brought up in the play.  Interestingly, her unit recently made a big change for the positive in this regard.  Feedback from nurses and family members of these sick little preemies made it clear that they were dissatisfied with only the doctors knowing the “real” assessment and overall plan for these patients.  Now, after the attending has written her note, she formally meets with the bedside RN to discuss every aspect of the plan, asks for questions, and concludes with actually asking every day if the nurse has another suggestion for the plan of care.  I’d never heard of something like this, and apparently everybody is much happier with the whole experience (although I haven’t asked the doctors!).”

I also wanted to share this NPR interview I did with Jefferson Public Radio in Ashland before the performance.  If you are interested here is the url:

http://ijpr.org/post/inherent-drama-bedside-manners#stream/0

Hope you listen in.