ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Empathy is associated with desirable outcomes in healthcare, including improved patient-clinician rapport, fewer patient complications, and reduced clinician burnout. Despite these benefits, research suggests empathy declines during professional training. This study aimed to explore the impact of book club participation on clinicians' and trainees' empathy and perspectives on empathetic patient care. METHODS: In this mixed-methods study, anesthesiology clinicians and trainees were invited to respond to a baseline online empathy survey followed by an invitation to read a book and to participate in one of four facilitated book club sessions. Post-intervention empathy was measured. The primary outcome of the quantitative analysis was a change in empathy scores as measured by the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire. A thematic analysis of book club sessions and open-ended comments in the post-intervention survey was conducted. RESULTS: Participants included 74 responders to the baseline survey and 73 responders to the post-intervention survey. Empathy score change in the book club participants was not statistically significant from those who did not participate in any book club sessions (F(2, 39) = 0.42, p=0.66). Thematic analysis of the book club sessions revealed four themes that highlight how the book club enhanced empathy awareness among trainees and clinicians: 1) a wake-up call, 2) deciding whether to take action, 3) learning and nurturing empathy, and 4) changing the culture. CONCLUSION: There were no significant changes in empathy scores associated with book club participation. Thematic analysis highlighted barriers toward empathetic patient care, areas for improvement, and voiced intentions to practice with heightened empathy. Book clubs may be a viable venue to nurture a culture of increased self-awareness and motivation to counteract loss of empathy, but just one experience may not be sufficient.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) pathways improve healthcare quality, safety, and cost-effectiveness. We hypothesized that the RAND Method (a hybrid Delphi approach), involving anonymous sequential surveys and face-to-face meetings, would allow for more rapid agreement and initiation of new ERAS pathways. METHODS: Using the ERAS Society guidelines for cesarean section as a baseline, our institution's ERAS Leadership Team (ELT) compiled published literature and institutional practices to design a 32-component survey that was sent to obstetricians, nurse midwives, anesthesiologists, pharmacists, and nurses. Components that did not reach 90% consensus were included in a second survey the following week, and meetings were held to review results. At the conclusion of this process, time to agreement was retrospectively compared to the colorectal ERAS pathway process at this institution. RESULTS: ERAS pathway components were compiled and reviewed by 121 stakeholders at 7 hospitals using iterative surveys with review meetings over a 13-week period. Survey response rates were 61% and 50% in the initial and follow-up surveys, respectively. There was agreement on 28/32 and 32/32 items on the initial and follow-up surveys. Using the RAND Method, time to agreement decreased by 54.1% (24 vs 13 weeks) compared to prior system-wide efforts to standardize the colorectal surgery ERAS pathway. DISCUSSION: With rapidly expanding healthcare systems, effective methods to gain consensus and adopt ERAS pathways are critical to implementation of ERAS guidelines. We demonstrate that the RAND Method allows for a transparent and efficient means of agreement across a diverse group of clinicians practicing in several settings.
