Hello, I'm
Kiki Lombarts
professor professional performance AMC
An introduction
The common thread through my working life can be summarized as 'doctors and quality'. Or more specifically, the quality of (the functioning of) medical specialists. For more than 30 years I have been researching, following, advising and guiding them. I talk with and about doctors, watch them and sometimes keep an eye on them. It keeps me fascinated.
On this website I tell you more about it and you can read what it has yielded (my performance), what occupies me now (my news ) and what I am working on (my agenda)..
Nieuwtjes...
How do residents learn to become compassionate healthcare providers? Doctors – and patients! – consider compassion to be an important aspect of patient care, yet the subject of ‘compassion’ is not part of the medical curriculum. In practice, residents often learn a great deal by ‘observing’ their supervisors; modeling behavior thus becomes an important teaching strategy. In this study, we examined whether medical residents observe compassionate behavior in their supervisors and to what extent they view their supervisors as role models. Furthermore, we were interested in whether residnets observed differences between female and male supervisors. The good news is that, in general, residents positively evaluate the compassionate behaviors of their supervisors. Moreover, supervisors who received higher ratings from residents for ‘showing compassion toward patients and their families’ were also more often seen as role models by residents. Interestingly – and in line with socio-historical gender expectations – female supervisors scored significantly better in displaying compassionate behavior, but male supervisors received more appreciation for demonstrating compassion. For further reading, see this article by Rosa Bogerd et al., which was published today in Perspectives on Medical Education.
There is much concern about the well-being of doctors. Fortunately, there is also much attention to this well-being. This started long before the COVID-19 pandemic, intensified during the pandemic, and has now become a high, if not the highest, policy priority for hospital administrators and other healthcare institutions. However, high priority does not necessarily equate to effectiveness. In the ‘first phase’, healthcare professionals were overwhelmed with a variety of individual interventions for well-being, such as coaching, mindfulness courses, meditation training, etc. I am a fan of all of them and believe it is a benefit that they are available to professionals if desired; anyone can benefit from them. In my own life, I’ve consumed a fair amount of 'personal development,' even long before it became a trend, let alone being offered by healthcare institutions. I believe I have learned important (life) skills from it, and that I have become more self-aware, a bit wiser, more resilient, and maybe even more fun person. The investments I made—time, growing pains, and money—were and still are my own choice. The more mature version of myself is what I bring into the world, and (therefore also) into my work. Just as others do who choose to walk the path of development.
But personal growth is not the answer to the increasing work stress caused by the ever-more complex and demanding conditions that healthcare professionals have to work in. Organizations must also take action. Healthcare institutions must invest—time, growing pains, and money—in becoming more self-aware, wiser, more resilient, and, if possible, more enjoyable. It is time for the ‘second phase’ of caring for healthcare professionals. Well-being researchers and healthcare professionals have been calling for this for years. Administrators also recognize the necessity, if only because the ad hoc approach has proven to be exhausted. On a macro level, this requires a courageous conversation where all stakeholders in healthcare must come to the table: umbrella organizations, health insurers, professional associations, and—last but not least—the government. Courageous because there is much truth in the cry for help, ‘the system needs to change.’
Meanwhile, the (hospital) business must go on, and the conversation about well-being is more relevant than ever. A conversation indeed at the level where influence can be exerted. For doctors, that circle of influence is the medical department. What can relieve pressure for the individual doctor? What can provide simple relief in the immediate environment? Does everything have to be done immediately? How can colleagues support each other? Are there colleagues who are ‘on the edge,’ struggling with their private lives, or feeling unsafe within the team? Is everyone in the group seen? Is there enough laughter? Do team members appreciate each other and, if so, how do they show it?
Sharing is caring. If teams want to have a meaningful conversation about the well-being experienced within their department but do not want to start completely from scratch, one option is to begin the discussion using the results of a brief screening, conducted with the help of the WellNext Scan (WNS). This Scan has been developed and tested over the past few years by my department, PP&CC. The WNS is based on the latest literature, surveys of doctors’ needs, and practical use by groups of medical specialists and residents. The scientific results can be read in this publication by Sofiya Abedali et al. in PLoS One.