Tune in now to the latest Moments Move Us episode with Rhonda Brandon, SVP and Chief Human Resources Officer at Duke University Health System 🎧
Wambi has been named one of “Best Fit” Mental Health Services & Solutions by ANA\California.
Real-time recognition is the driving force of the Wambi platform. Our holistic solution impacts patients, frontline staff, and every member of your organization.
Our innovative employee recognition solution leverages gamification to positively transform the employee experience. Calculate your ROI, explore data insights, and read more about our success stories.
New Podcast Episode:
Rise & Lead with Rhonda Brandon
If you’re adding “Spend more time reading” to your list of New Year’s intentions, Wambi is here to help! Last year, we put together a list of joyful books to gift to friends, family, and colleagues to celebrate the holiday season. Recommended by Wambi team members, these readings showcased Wambi’s core value of joy.
This year, we’ve compiled a list of books that inspired our Leaders & Lattes members. This small group of passionate female healthcare leaders connects throughout the year to share personal and professional stories, support and learn from one another, and explore ways to create a better healthcare experience for all. Embracing Wambi’s core values of fearlessness and imagination, this year’s list provides guidance and direction for continued learning throughout the new year.
1. The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek
Unlike football or chess, life is an infinite game. There are no finish lines, no winners, and no losers. In Simon Sinek’s The Infinite Game, readers explore ways to build their future, working toward what gives life meaning. For healthcare leaders, this book can help you explore how to guide your teams and build more innovative organizations.
2. Wonder Drug: 7 Scientifically Proven Ways That Serving Others Is the Best Medicine for Yourself by Anthony Mazzarelli, M.D. and Stephen Trzeciak, M.D.
Live longer and live better while improving the world around you. How? By serving others. Dedicate this year to being happier, resisting burnout, and achieving more success by being a giving, others-focused person.
3. Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person by Shonda Rhimes
Make 2023 the year you say “Yes!” Shonda Rhimes spent her life saying “No” to invitations, engagements, appearances, and just about anything else, allowing herself to stay safely in her comfort zone. In Year of Yes, Rhimes inspires readers by sharing how her life changed when she challenged herself to say “No” to fear and “Yes” to everything else.
4. Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know by Adam M. Grant
As a leader, admitting when you don’t know something requires showing vulnerability. Embrace the unknown and find joy in being wrong with the help of Adam M. Grant’s Think Again. In this unique read, you’ll learn the importance of rethinking—and how it prepares you to face the ever-changing world.
5. The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
Wambi’s mission is to bring compassion to the forefront of human experience. We achieve this by elevating moments of meaningful connection between patients, team members, managers, and executives to foster a positive workplace culture. With the tagline Moments Move Us™, we understand the power of moments explored in Chip and Dan Heath’s book on the impact of experiences. Discover how moments can change our lives and learn how to create more remarkable experiences in your life and work.
6. The Waymakers: Clearing the Path to Workplace Equity with Competence and Confidence by Tara Jaye Frank
Dedicate this year to driving workplace equity and inclusion with a pathway outlined by Tara Jaye Frank. Full of candid storytelling, data, and case studies, you can learn to be a leader who helps others to thrive. By removing barriers, opening doors, and guiding them toward their goals, you can make every member of your team feel like they belong—a key driver of retention.
7. How Full Is Your Bucket? Positive Strategies for Work and Life by Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton
How we treat others and how they treat us impacts whether our buckets are full or empty. By sharing kind words, reflecting on positive interactions, and connecting with others, we can fill up our own buckets while pouring into others. Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton’s How Full Is Your Bucket? is based on this powerful metaphor—commonly used in the Wambi world—and includes findings from a fifty-year study with stories and strategies for bringing more positivity into your life.
8. Patients Come Second: Leading Change by Changing the Way You Lead by Paul Spiegelman and Britt Berrett
The traditional healthcare model places the patient at the center and as the highest priority. In Patients Come Second, Paul Spiegelman and Britt Berrett challenge this structure by shifting the focus to engaging teams first. This unique perspective connects employees to their purpose and equips leaders with the tools they need, creating a better healthcare experience for both caregivers and their patients.
9. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
After nearly completing his training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. In his profound memoir, Kalanithi attempts to answer the question “What makes a life worth living?” He wrestles with facing death—exploring questions about mortality and relationships between doctor and patient—while finding hope and beauty amid the insurmountable odds.
Looking for more ways you can innovate and evolve healthcare culture in the new year? Wambi’s recognition and culture transformation solution is built on creating a culture of gratitude where team members feel valued. As we look toward 2023 with excitement and anticipation, learn about the importance of integrating gratitude into your New Year’s intentions.
In a remote work environment, building connections and improving culture for home health and hospice team members can be challenging. In honor of Home Care and Hospice Month recognized in November, we are exploring five ways to engage with these team members and demonstrating how the Wambi platform supports a positive work environment for your entire health system.
Each day, nurses, social workers, aides, therapists, and other home care professionals make an immeasurable impact on the lives of countless individuals and their families. These hard-working and dedicated professionals ensure that patients receive the quality care they need from the safety and comfort of their homes. While home care has always been an important part of the healthcare industry, COVID-19 demonstrated how vital these individuals are. Receiving care at home gives patients freedom and dignity that may not be possible in a hospital. Additionally, it allows them to stay close to family instead of facing isolation, which can lead to additional health risks. As the number of seniors continues to rise and through the improvement of technological advances, home health is in growing demand.
With the emotional requirements for a role in this industry, these individuals must have a strong support network. However, this can be challenging due to their remote environment. Healthcare leaders need to create a deliberate strategy to focus on building connections amongst the team to improve culture.
1. Collaborate on goal setting and decision making
The first priority for a home care and hospice leader is ensuring that team members feel valued and have their voices heard, especially when setting goals or making decisions. Listen to your team when reviewing and setting goals; Maybe they have suggestions on other things they are experiencing while in the field. Encourage your team to share feedback when implementing a new practice or policy. Pay attention to what is going well and what can be improved.
2. Recognize and acknowledge important moments
Peers and colleagues often do not have visibility into the impactful moments shared each day inside patients’ homes. As a leader, make a conscious effort to provide recognition for team members. Celebrate team members for going above and beyond, recognize them for their impressive listening skills, or show appreciation for collaboration and teamwork between nurses, aides, and social workers.
Meaningful recognition is at the heart of Wambi’s culture transformation solution. The platform is driven by meaningful stories, human-to-human interactions, and moments of connection. With Wambi, leaders can recognize and encourage their teams, building a culture of gratitude where team members feel valued and stay.
While it may be easy to celebrate positive moments, it is also crucial to acknowledge the challenging times. During a Moments Move Us podcast episode, Annette Walker, President of City of Hope, Orange County shares, “People who are in pain desperately want someone to help lift it or acknowledge it. When we act as if nothing happened, that’s even more painful. If you have the chance to acknowledge the pain, it’s always appreciated.” It may be difficult to find the right words but being present for someone who is struggling helps them to feel seen. This is especially impactful if it is coming from their leader.
The catalog of Wambi designs includes an “Everyday Moments” category to ensure users can acknowledge all moments—positive and challenging. In the face of adversity, these designs remind recipients that they are strong, they make a difference, and they are enough. Every day will bring challenges, but celebrating teamwork and collaboration reminds everyone they are not alone, building connection across the team.
3. Share personal stories and anecdotes
Without opportunities for impromptu facetime, it can be difficult for leaders to connect personally with team members. Leaders continue to search for ways to demonstrate their ability to be understanding and compassionate to be more collaborative leaders. In “Vulnerability is a Strength, Not a Weakness,” we explore how great leaders understand the importance of recognizing powerful human experiences and the role that vulnerability plays within them. By sharing personal stories with your team, you allow yourself to be vulnerable, which gives your team the space to do the same.
With Wambi’s culture transformation solution, leaders can share posts with text, photos, or videos for announcements, celebrations, stories, etc. For Wambi clients, the newsfeed has become a safe place for leaders to write comments, post videos, and more. It helps break down barriers and shorten the distance between leaders and frontline workers.
4. Connect to purpose
The biggest motivator for healthcare professionals is impacting others; that is the reason they joined the healthcare industry. Home health and hospice workers build relationships with those they care for and their families. Listening at the bedside and resolving issues for the family, the patient is their true north. To inspire and motivate these healthcare workers, recognition and gratitude directly from those they care for can be incredibly meaningful.
With Wambi, patients and families are empowered to share recognition and gratitude at the point of care. By connecting to purpose and harnessing the power of the patient voice in real-time, healthcare facilities can transform their culture and impact both the patient experience and the caregiver experience. Additionally, with the “Patient Excellence” category of Wambi designs, Wambi users can send a note acknowledging a moment to keep the patient and their families front and center.
Larry Y., a home health physical therapist received this meaningful Wambi from a patient:
“Larry always arrived right on time and was respectful of our time. He was pleasant, knowledgeable, and professional. I had complete trust in him right away and appreciated his input on my recovery needs. He answered every question I had with simple and easy to understand language. He even addressed questions I didn’t even know I had yet. All the information and advice he gave me was accurate and much appreciated. Larry put my mind at ease and explained things that no one else had. He really was a lifeline to me several times and I came to rely on him completely. He provided his phone number to me and returned the one call I made in no time — such a relief to know that there really was someone who was available when I needed them. And his humor . . . what a gift that was to put both me and my husband at ease. I can’t say enough good things about Larry. How wonderful to experience a person who not only knows his job inside and out, but also enjoys his work. That truly makes a huge difference in how he relates to his clients. Loved this experience!”
5. Find opportunities for fun
Because they work in remote settings, home health and hospice team members may not know each other personally. To build camaraderie, especially when onboarding a new team member, find fun ways people can get to know one another.
The Wambi newsfeed is a great place to share funny jokes and stories, acting as a virtual “water cooler.” For example, you can ask your team about their favorite vacation and encourage them to share stories in the comments.
Looking for more ideas on questions and stories you can share?
By elevating all of the meaningful moments that happen throughout a healthcare system, we allow organizations to operationalize a culture where team members feel seen and valued and experience a sense of belonging. This is not limited to home health and hospice caregivers but across the entire enterprise.
Interested in brainstorming how you can better support your healthcare team? Check out additional resources.
The 2022 ANCC National Magnet/Pathway Conference was an inspiring opportunity to collaborate with influential nurses and healthcare leaders. We were proud to be a part of the event, meeting with colleagues, making new connections, and sharing how Wambi’s recognition and culture transformation solution supports the Magnet® and Pathway to Excellence® journeys.
In this article, we’ll share some of our key findings from the conference, the importance of ANCC Recognition Programs, and ways that Wambi can help healthcare organizations earn these recognitions.
As retention challenges impact health systems across the country, hospitals are looking for opportunities to attract and retain their nursing workforce. One meaningful way to do this is by earning Magnet or Pathway recognition. The ANCC Recognition Programs focus on nursing excellence and ensuring that nurses are supported in their roles, nurtured in their careers, and empowered to reach their greatest potential.
With over 20 years of experience in executive nursing roles, Wambi’s Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Bonnie Clipper DNP, MBA, MA, RN, CENP, FACHE, FAAN shares the importance of nursing excellence programs.
“Organizations that achieve Magnet or Pathway recognition understand how critical nurses are to the healthcare industry. They demonstrate their dedication to building a culture that focuses not only on excellent care of their patients, but of their care givers. A culture where leaders recognize and celebrate the hard work of their team members every day. As retention challenges continue to impact the nursing industry and as projections anticipate nurse practitioner to be the fastest-growing job over the next decade, it’s vital to ensure nurses are supported in their roles and valued by their organizations.”
The journeys of both Magnet and Pathway recognition require organizational dedication and commitment, and the benefits are invaluable to nurses and other healthcare workers, the hospital, and patients.
According to the American Nurses Credentialing Center, organizations with Magnet or Pathway recognition often experience:
These prestigious identifications demonstrate the organization’s commitment to investing in its team and building a culture that inspires healthcare change and excellence. Building a positive workplace culture that retains and attracts nurses is essential to a strong practice environment and alleviates the financial impact from high-cost turnover. For every one percent improvement in RN turnover the average hospital can avoid an additional $328.400 in turnover expense.
Do you know the cost of disengagement, burnout, and turnover in your healthcare organization? Check out Wambi’s ROI Calculator to find out.
Wambi’s recognition and culture transformation solution provides nurses and other members of the interdisciplinary team with real-time patient and family feedback to positively change the culture by bringing joy and meaning to the work environment. Feedback from patients and families (which has historically been difficult to obtain, measure, and share) is accessible to staff through Wambi, connecting them back to their purpose. Additionally, Wambi allows leaders and team members to share recognition and acknowledgement with one another, which fosters feelings of value and belonging, which contributes to a positive work environment.
By sharing Wambis and acknowledging team members, health systems demonstrate the Well-Being standard of the Pathway Framework: “Highlight how the organization recognizes nurse driven activities that benefit patients. Demonstrate an example of a nurse who was recognized.” Additionally, the platform supports Magnet Standard NK5: “Provide one example, with supporting evidence, of an innovation within the organization involving nursing.”
The use of Wambi’s innovative platform has led to improvements in recognition, feeling valued, and receiving clear and regular feedback, as evidenced by the data:
Creating a culture where employees are connected to their purpose and feel valued motivates them to continue providing an exceptional experience. By investing in your team and committing to the highest quality health care, patients and their family members will benefit from this impact as well.
According to the American Nurses Credentialing Center, Magnet and Pathway organizations experience improvements in quality, safety, and patient outcomes.
The Wambi platform can be used to regularly capture direct feedback from patients and their families, which demonstrates a snapshot of their satisfaction and engagement while receiving care in the organization. Patients and families can share comments and gratitude that can be reviewed to assess key topics such as input into decision making or perceptions of their care.
Through real-time feedback and recognition, nurses have the opportunity to partner with patients and families to influence change in the organization. Monitoring trends in feedback and setting goals for improvement makes patient and family feedback actionable for change. This supports the Pathway Excellence Framework of “Quality”: “Demonstrate the interdisciplinary collaboration used to engage patients and families in care focused decision making.” This also supports Magnet Standard EP3: “Provide one example, with supporting evidence, of nurse(s) partnering with patient(s), families, or both to influence change in the organization.”
Additionally, Wambi’s Patient and Family Advisory Council provides insights on recognition, employee engagement, and patient experience, from the voice of the patient and family members to influence change. Dr. Clipper shares, “We value the input that our Patient & Family and Executive Advisory Councils share with us because they are our experts, and their experiences are what drive us. We are honored to amplify their voice to enhance human experiences in healthcare.”
Wambi regularly collaborates with organizations during their Magnet or Pathway journey and the platform continues to evolve to meet the needs of health systems across the country. From supporting nurse leaders, facilitating real-time patient feedback, and innovating culture building, there are many ways Wambi can help your organization with the ANCC recognition programs.
Ready to learn more? Download our 1-sheeters for all the ways Wambi supports Magnet and Pathway standards or request a demo and learn how Wambi can support your nursing workforce and beyond.
Learn How Wambi Supports Magnet and Pathway Standards
Are you treating your company values like a checkbox or another item on your long list of to-dos? Although most companies have core values, not everyone understands their importance or knows how to ingrain them into company culture. For healthcare organizations, we’ll look at the importance of company values and their impact on team members and retention. We’ll also demonstrate how Wambi helps healthcare organizations bring their values to the forefront.
Company values are the heart of organizational culture and vision. As a North Star, these beliefs shape the direction and goals for your organization and drive your business forward. They help strengthen the brand and keep everyone aligned on the company mission.
While values should be authentic to your company, there are often common values for healthcare organizations including: Authenticity, Care, Courage, Connection, Collaboration, Creativity, Compassion, Diversity, Excellence, Integrity, Patient-Centered, Reliability, Respect, Responsibility, Safety, Teamwork, and Trust.
The core values selected say a lot about a company and set the tone for your organization. For example, if a company values teamwork and collaboration, you would anticipate working closely with your peers and leaders. You would also expect the company to encourage building relationships and working together to achieve goals.
Values also provide an opportunity to set your company apart from your competition. Sixty-three percent of consumers want goods and services from companies with a purpose that resonates with their values and belief systems. Therefore, when a patient decides where to seek treatment, the majority will want to find a company that aligns with their values and avoid ones that don’t.
While companies must live their values, not nurturing core values also makes a considerable impact. Values that are not well-defined or well-integrated are simply hollow words that will not resonate with employees. Values, like a company mission, are the center of who your organization is. If you misidentify this, it breeds mistrust. It can also make employees feel they are working for an organization that is not genuine. That is why it is essential to weave values into all aspects of your company and continuously bring them to the forefront of your organization.
As the focal point of organizational culture, strong values impact team members and their careers at the organization. Values are the guiding principles of the organization and convey its purpose. For most healthcare organizations, this purpose was to help patients in need. Connecting to this purpose reminds healthcare workers why they chose their profession. Without incorporating the patient voice, healthcare organizations with core values centered on patient care are missing a primary way their employees feel validated for their efforts. Wambi’s unique patient engagement solution empowers patients and families to share real-time, anonymous feedback and gratitude for those involved in their care experience. By collecting these positive stories and appreciation in the moment, Wambi helps uplift team members and builds a culture of gratitude that illuminates your organization’s core values.
Strong company values also demonstrate the company’s goals for the future. Values help anticipate how a company will react to change, giving employees a better understanding of their career trajectory.
The impact that core values have on the retention of healthcare talent begins before the candidate even signs onboard. That’s because, when searching for jobs, values play an important role in first impressions of companies. People want to work where they feel they belong. One important way to feel this desired connection is through shared values and priorities. Recent research shows that one of the top reasons employees leave an organization is because they do not feel a sense of belonging.
Working for a company that shares your beliefs will also help you align on decision making. “From the first interview to the last day of work, employees should be constantly reminded that core values form the basis for every decision the company makes.” (Harvard Business Journal, 2003) If an organization values authenticity and respect, its leaders should respect your authentic opinion when making difficult decisions. Ensuring your team feels seen, heard, and appreciated will go a long way towards improving retention.
You have probably heard the saying, “People don’t leave bad jobs, they leave bad bosses.” We all want honest and authentic leaders who deliver on their promises. A leader who does not live up to company values will undermine the credibility of the organization. However, a leader who promotes the values in what they say and do will build a more authentic connection with their team. For many healthcare organizations, Wambi has become a place where leaders feel comfortable sharing personal stories. By breaking down barriers and shortening the distance between leaders and frontline workers, these individuals can show how they embrace company values.
Each year in early October, Wambi celebrates its founding, affectionately named the “Wambiversary.” We recognize the healthcare workers who inspired its creation, the dedicated team members who invested in the mission from the very beginning, and the core values that provided the foundation for success. Wambi’s five core values are:
Values have always been the core of the Wambi culture and the essence of who the team is: fearless, entrepreneurial leaders with a collective mission to improve the human experience within healthcare. We are inspired and driven by the power of gratitude, and our vision to foster positive workplace cultures starts with us. Encouraging our team to practice and live by our values empowers us to grow our gifts and feel connected to our purpose. We use them as a lens through which we approach every interaction to drive human connection at every level, within our team, with our clients, in our communities, and with our platform.
During a blind survey conducted in 2022 by Inc. Best Places to Work, one team member at Wambi shared, “Wambi is the only company I have ever interacted with that actually lives its company values every day [and where company values] are demonstrated at all levels of the organization.”
Because our connection to values is an essence of our culture, we understand how important it is for your health system to focus on values. As such, the Wambi platform incorporates your goals and values. Wambi’s recognition and culture transformation solution gives leaders and team members the opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate examples of employees who have positively demonstrated core values. When sending a note of gratitude and recognition, known as a Wambi, you can choose which of your organization’s values best aligns with the message.
For example, if “Collaboration” is a company value and you witness a challenging situation that requires your team to come together to solve a problem, you can celebrate the group and share your gratitude for their dedication to collaboration by sending a Wambi. This acknowledgment is seen on the Wambi newsfeed, reminding team members of their company values and motivating them to put them into action.
This is just the beginning of how Wambi helps bring your values to the forefront. Interested in learning more? During a personalized demo, we can share ways the Wambi platform is customizable to fit the needs of your healthcare system and how you can see your values in action. Request a demo today.