Title
In These Rounds, Health Care Professionals Heal Themselves
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2009
Published In
Journal of Social Work in End-of-Life and Palliative Care
Volume
5
Issue
3/4
Pages
116-125
Recommended Citation
Moore, Crystal Dea and Phillips, Julie McCole, "In These Rounds, Health Care Professionals Heal Themselves" (2009). Social Work. 3.
https://creativematter.skidmore.edu/soc_work_fac_schol/3
Abstract
In 1995, Kenneth B. Schwartz founded the Kenneth B. Schwartz Center Foundation whose mission is to promote compassion in health care. One of the Center's most popular initiatives is the Schwartz Center Rounds, a multidisciplinary forum where medical professionals come together to discuss and process the difficult emotional issues that can arise in patient care. The focus of these meetings is on the patient-caregiver relationship rather than the patient. This article briefly describes implementation of Schwartz Center Rounds at a Veteran’s Affairs hospital. It then summarises the findings from a study that examined Rounds' outcomes, particularly looking at whether Round’s attendance increased health-care professional insight into non-clinical aspects of care and their experiences of teamwork and support. The article goes on to discuss their utility in providing support for palliative care professionals, and provides information and lessons learned for professionals who may want to consider Rounds' implementation at their facilities. The article concludes that Schwartz Center Rounds are an ideal vehicle to promote reflection about clinical practice and the development of empathy for professionals, patients, and their families.
Keywords
patients, staff-user relationships, emotions, empathy, health care, health professionals