I am so excited to be blogging from the HeartMath Best Practices Conference: Creating Coherent Caring Environments.
I have to admit, I’m a little travel weary. I actually flew from New York City this morning on a 6 a.m. flight, but the beautiful location here at the Seascape Beach Resort in Santa Cruz, California is reviving me. And, I got in on the last two presentations for the morning.
The conference is off to a great start. HeartMath CEO Bruce Cryer welcomed us to this first-ever best practices conference. Presenters from Fairfield Medical Center of Lancaster, Ohio, and Scottsdale Healthcare in Scottsdale, Arizona followed Bruce and they were great.
I first met presenter Cynthia Pearsall, chief nursing office from Fairfield Medical Center, when my team and I went through our first training session several years ago. It was really fun to see her again today and hear about their journey at Fairfield with HeartMath. Their presentation was all about integrating HeartMath into a hospital culture and it was inspirational to hear about all the lives that are being touched by HeartMath.
The Fairfield team followed their presentation with a wonderful video featuring seven staffers sharing their personal stories with HeartMath. One woman shared how it helps her and her husband deal with the hectic life of parents of six children. Another employee shared how HeartMath changed her life after a horrible traffic accident that she lived through as a teenager. The accident created lifelong anxiety whenever driving and now through the use of HeartMath, she is no longer paralyzed with fear. Cynthia shared how she uses Heart Lock-ins to solve difficult problems during meetings. Yet another woman told the touching story of how HeartMath transformed a very stressful bath time routine with her son into a loving and special bonding time. HeartMath helped another staff member though a difficult time dealing with several family member's significant illnesses. The video ended with the CEO and executive assistant sharing about the transformed executive suite after HeartMath came into their lives. We will have to talk them into putting their video on YouTube. It was awesome!
Marielena Murphy and Linda Larkey from Scottsdale Healthcare gave a presentation about how research in nursing practice at their institution is helping to expand HeartMath usage among the care team. One of the projects they highlighted focused specifically in the surgical services department. Early indications of the project indicate there is likely a correlation between the practice of HeartMath and the reduction of adverse events. More research is necessary to find correlations with HeartMath and patient satisfaction, turnover, and employee satisfaction.
The second half of their presentation focused on how HeartMath coherence correlates with the meditative movement practice with breast cancer survivors. Watch for a journal article out soon indicating the very positive impact of both HeartMath and Qigong have on patients with persistent fatigue after treatment.
Lunch time and then an afternoon full of more stimulating presentations from the Mayo folks...There’s more to come from Santa Cruz!
Showing posts with label HeartMath. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HeartMath. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Yellow Cars Make Me Thankful!
I saw a yellow Volkswagen yesterday and thought about something I was grateful for...in that case it was my wonderful children!
At the Iowa Hospital Association's annual meeting in October, Administrators Suzanne Cooner and Doris Rindels attended a session where the speaker encouraged them to always pause for a moment and think about something they were grateful for when they see a yellow car. They mentioned this to the GRMC administrative team during a follow-up meeting and ever since, I have been on the lookout for yellow! It is amazing how many yellow vehicles you see when you start looking for them.
It also reminded me about our stress management program called HeartMath. (You can go back to other posts I've written about HeartMath here.)
Quick coherence has three simple steps: 1) bring your attention to your heart, 2) breathe deeply, and 3) think about something that brings you a feeling of deep appreciation. Everytime I practice HeartMath, I also get to think about things for which I am grateful. Throw a prayer in there with yellow cars and HeartMath and everyday I get to think about all the blessings in my life many, many times.
This week, we celebrate Thanksgiving. I enjoy this wonderful holiday devoted to giving thanks for the blessings in life. This year in addition to appreciating yellow cars, HeartMath, and prayer, I have also been blessed with good health and wonderful family and friends (including my new best friend, Angie).
I am also fortunate to have a great job surrounded by hundreds of caring people who make GRMC the special place it is today! We recently lost one of those extraordinary team members, Shirle Huth. What a joy it was to be around Shirle... she always went the extra mile for patients, her co-workers, and beloved family. We certainly will miss her warm smile, humorous perspective, and compassionate heart. I truly appreciated knowing her.
Working in healthcare is an awesome experience and responsibility. Everyday we get the pleasure of making a difference in the lives of others. It's not always easy but it is clearly meaningful work. I want to say a special thank you to all the men and women associated with Grinnell Regional for their daily commitment to our mission of service. It is important work. I also want to wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving and hope you take some time to celebrate the joy in life that comes from being grateful for your many blessings.
Watch for a yellow car and give it a try... I think you will like it!
At the Iowa Hospital Association's annual meeting in October, Administrators Suzanne Cooner and Doris Rindels attended a session where the speaker encouraged them to always pause for a moment and think about something they were grateful for when they see a yellow car. They mentioned this to the GRMC administrative team during a follow-up meeting and ever since, I have been on the lookout for yellow! It is amazing how many yellow vehicles you see when you start looking for them.
It also reminded me about our stress management program called HeartMath. (You can go back to other posts I've written about HeartMath here.)
Quick coherence has three simple steps: 1) bring your attention to your heart, 2) breathe deeply, and 3) think about something that brings you a feeling of deep appreciation. Everytime I practice HeartMath, I also get to think about things for which I am grateful. Throw a prayer in there with yellow cars and HeartMath and everyday I get to think about all the blessings in my life many, many times.
This week, we celebrate Thanksgiving. I enjoy this wonderful holiday devoted to giving thanks for the blessings in life. This year in addition to appreciating yellow cars, HeartMath, and prayer, I have also been blessed with good health and wonderful family and friends (including my new best friend, Angie).
I am also fortunate to have a great job surrounded by hundreds of caring people who make GRMC the special place it is today! We recently lost one of those extraordinary team members, Shirle Huth. What a joy it was to be around Shirle... she always went the extra mile for patients, her co-workers, and beloved family. We certainly will miss her warm smile, humorous perspective, and compassionate heart. I truly appreciated knowing her.
Working in healthcare is an awesome experience and responsibility. Everyday we get the pleasure of making a difference in the lives of others. It's not always easy but it is clearly meaningful work. I want to say a special thank you to all the men and women associated with Grinnell Regional for their daily commitment to our mission of service. It is important work. I also want to wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving and hope you take some time to celebrate the joy in life that comes from being grateful for your many blessings.
Watch for a yellow car and give it a try... I think you will like it!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
A Must See Movie
The first two weeks of May are set aside to highlight National Nurses Week and National Hospital Week. This year is especially important as 2010 is the International Year of the Nurse. As I have shared before, HeartMath plays a vital role in my life and in the culture of our organization. HeartMath created a special video to honor nurses and care givers everywhere. I am proud of the care that the nurses at GRMC provide to our patients. The authenticity of their care inspires all of us to live more from our hearts and share more care in our lives. This is a beautiful three-minute experience that we hope you will watch to appreciate the true care that healthcare staff bring to their jobs everyday.
Click here to view the video.
The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent GRMC’s positions, strategies, or opinions.
Click here to view the video.
The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent GRMC’s positions, strategies, or opinions.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
The Heart of Grinnell
For more than a decade, Grinnell Regional Medical Center has been a leader in promoting health improvement for our employees and the community. We continuously look for the best ways to encourage and provide opportunities for exercise. We have provided pathways for reducing or eliminating the use of tobacco. We have provided classes on proper nutrition and maintaining a healthy weight and we have looked for the best ways to help people manage the stress in their lives. We have also been a national leader in the provision of hospital-based integrated health, which has contributed to our success with improved health and healing.
A little over two years ago, working with a group of colleagues from Grinnell and some new friends from HeartMath®, we doodled on the back of a napkin a simple vision of a healthy community, something we call “The Heart of Grinnell.” The focus of this project is stress.
Stress has become epidemic in our society. Last year the Journal of the American Medical Association published an article about a study that indicated workplace stress was a greater risk for cardiovascular disease than smoking or high cholesterol. There is little doubt that stress and its effects is a major underlying cause of many chronic diseases that plague our society.
Until our discovery of HeartMath®, our focus was on recommending relaxation techniques to manage stress such as exercise, massage, yoga, therapy, prayer, and meditation. De-cluttering our lives can also impact our stress levels. The problem with most of these approaches to reducing stress is they occur after the fact, not in the heat of the moment or when stressful situations have taken control of our emotions. HeartMath® is a scientifically proven technique that has been developed to be an effective way to manage stress at the time stress is impacting us—just-in-time stress relief, if you will.
Stress is really caused by our emotional response to the environment around us. The toxic impact of stress affects us in many ways physically, emotionally and mentally. If unchecked, stress can impact our health, our relationships and our productivity. The techniques are based on the long-established connection between the mind, body, and spirit, recognizing that one’s state of mind impacts the body’s autonomic nervous system (ANS) that controls our breathing and heart-rate variability. HeartMath® provides the tools to lessen the physiological effects of stress.
GRMC received a $240,000 grant through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year through efforts from Senator Tom Harkin. The concept of our project is simple: look for opportunities to teach the HeartMath® technique to as many community members as possible and then over time study the impact on the overall health of the community. Through the use of pilot projects at Grinnell College, police and firefighters, the Grinnell Newburg School District, Brownell’s, and the Grinnell Ministerial Association, we hope to demonstrate the healthful impact of effective stress management on overall community health status. From that point, the goal is to extend HeartMath® further into the community spurred on through the proven benefits of the pilot projects.
Seventy-five percent of all GRMC staff members have been trained in the HeartMath® technique and the initial impact has been very beneficial. The Institute of HeartMath® has hundreds of other studies which have proven the benefits of this technique, primarily focused on single organizations. What’s unique about The Heart of Grinnell project is its focus on the entire community.
We have discovered, when we are able to control our emotional response to the stressors around us, we often can maintain other healthy behaviors such as diet and exercise which sometimes suffer when we get stressed. So, HeartMath® has become a central focus in our overall health and fitness program.
Our vision to create optimal health in our community is the focus of The Heart of Grinnell project. Of course we are interested in improving physical health such as decreasing cardiovascular disease and diabetes, but we are also thinking about health in a much broader perspective. By decreasing the stress in our community can we improve productivity and relationships as well? So we intend to measure the number of domestic abuse calls to the police station, absenteeism in our employers, and test scores in our schools.
It is a bold initiative. We are excited about it. The more people exposed to HeartMath® and the amazing benefits of stress reduction, the more this vision is beginning to take hold.
We will keep you posted as our vision unfolds….
A little over two years ago, working with a group of colleagues from Grinnell and some new friends from HeartMath®, we doodled on the back of a napkin a simple vision of a healthy community, something we call “The Heart of Grinnell.” The focus of this project is stress.
Stress has become epidemic in our society. Last year the Journal of the American Medical Association published an article about a study that indicated workplace stress was a greater risk for cardiovascular disease than smoking or high cholesterol. There is little doubt that stress and its effects is a major underlying cause of many chronic diseases that plague our society.
Until our discovery of HeartMath®, our focus was on recommending relaxation techniques to manage stress such as exercise, massage, yoga, therapy, prayer, and meditation. De-cluttering our lives can also impact our stress levels. The problem with most of these approaches to reducing stress is they occur after the fact, not in the heat of the moment or when stressful situations have taken control of our emotions. HeartMath® is a scientifically proven technique that has been developed to be an effective way to manage stress at the time stress is impacting us—just-in-time stress relief, if you will.
Stress is really caused by our emotional response to the environment around us. The toxic impact of stress affects us in many ways physically, emotionally and mentally. If unchecked, stress can impact our health, our relationships and our productivity. The techniques are based on the long-established connection between the mind, body, and spirit, recognizing that one’s state of mind impacts the body’s autonomic nervous system (ANS) that controls our breathing and heart-rate variability. HeartMath® provides the tools to lessen the physiological effects of stress.
GRMC received a $240,000 grant through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year through efforts from Senator Tom Harkin. The concept of our project is simple: look for opportunities to teach the HeartMath® technique to as many community members as possible and then over time study the impact on the overall health of the community. Through the use of pilot projects at Grinnell College, police and firefighters, the Grinnell Newburg School District, Brownell’s, and the Grinnell Ministerial Association, we hope to demonstrate the healthful impact of effective stress management on overall community health status. From that point, the goal is to extend HeartMath® further into the community spurred on through the proven benefits of the pilot projects.
Seventy-five percent of all GRMC staff members have been trained in the HeartMath® technique and the initial impact has been very beneficial. The Institute of HeartMath® has hundreds of other studies which have proven the benefits of this technique, primarily focused on single organizations. What’s unique about The Heart of Grinnell project is its focus on the entire community.
We have discovered, when we are able to control our emotional response to the stressors around us, we often can maintain other healthy behaviors such as diet and exercise which sometimes suffer when we get stressed. So, HeartMath® has become a central focus in our overall health and fitness program.
Our vision to create optimal health in our community is the focus of The Heart of Grinnell project. Of course we are interested in improving physical health such as decreasing cardiovascular disease and diabetes, but we are also thinking about health in a much broader perspective. By decreasing the stress in our community can we improve productivity and relationships as well? So we intend to measure the number of domestic abuse calls to the police station, absenteeism in our employers, and test scores in our schools.
It is a bold initiative. We are excited about it. The more people exposed to HeartMath® and the amazing benefits of stress reduction, the more this vision is beginning to take hold.
We will keep you posted as our vision unfolds….
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)