Quoteworthy
In order to make tough decisions easier, I have learned to include staff in decisions, to seek support from leaders, and to take care of myself.
Jennifer Jones

Most Recent
The Experience That Changed My Life

Senior Nursing Director Rita Aguilar shares how a pivotal medical experience at the age of 17 sparked her interest in becoming a nurse. Years later, Rita is applying the same level of compassion and support she received from that experience to encourage others in seeking a career in health care and diversifying the medical field.

How To Put WellCheck Feedback to Work (For You and Your Team)

Feedback is a gift—even when it doesn’t feel like it. Senior Director of Care Navigation Stacy Silwany teams up with Organizational Development’s Michael Danielson to share how Care Navigation uses WellCheck survey data to learn from and engage employees in making the workplace better.

Five Ways to Practice Trauma-informed Leadership

We are surrounded by trauma—from patients, to coworkers, to our own experiences. University of Utah Health Madsen family practice leaders share how we recognize and normalize employees’ trauma experiences so they can continue to heal and provide quality care.

A Blueprint to Build a Successful Career in Academic Medicine

We all make lots of mistakes early on in our careers. Hospitalist and mentorship expert Valerie Vaughn sets us up for success by sharing her expertise on how to take control of your long-term career path.

Process Problem or Coaching Moment?

As leaders, we want to foster work environments that create safe and reliable care for patients and employees. Sounds easy, but its hard work! Chief Human Resources Officer Sarah Sherer coaches leaders from around the system on thinking through when it’s time to look at a process and when it’s time for coaching an employee.

Cultivating Organizational Culture: A New Approach

Director of Organizational Development Chris Fairbank introduces WE CARE—a model for leaders that focuses on what makes their teams unique so they can enhance and sustain a stronger organizational culture.

Now More Than Ever, We Need Relational Leadership

Our moment calls for new ways of leading. Kyle Turner and Michelle Vo, relational leadership trainers, explain how this concept brings us to the task. While traditional leadership theories focus on the what and how, relational leadership asks us to place more emphasis on who.

Communicating in the Time of Coronavirus

Effective Communicator: Redux. Communication lessons for the here and now, from setting boundaries to running a meeting.

How Clinician Educators Can Give Effective Feedback

Feedback is often an area that breaks down under the rigors and pressure of clinical activity. Clinician educators Pete Hannon and Kathleen Timme introduce a methodology that can provide insight, inspire goal setting, and help improve clinical performance.

A Nurse Mentor-Leader Model for Professional Growth

For years, nurse manager Emily Baarz has mentored millennial nurses joining Neuro Critical Care (NCC). But new nurse graduates weren’t always prepared for the high-acuity setting. So Emily created the Axon/Dendrite program, a mentor-leader model to support her staff’s professional growth.

The Elephant, The Rider, and the Path to Change in Health Care

Drawing from psychologist Jonathan Haidt’s Elephant and the Rider metaphor, Utah's Chief Medical Quality Officer Bob Pendleton explains why emotions are critical to motivating change in health care. Behavioral economics, it appears, may provide the direction we need.

Invest In Your Team: Listening and Storytelling

University of Utah Health was an early adopter of bundled payments. Accelerate’s Mari Ransco sat down with Ryan VanderWerff, one of the first in our health system to participate in payment innovation, to learn firsthand what it takes to lead a team in turbulent times.