Leading the Way:
Inclusion, Diversity, and Health Equity (IDHE)
Drawing on Marcus Buckingham's StandOut Strengths Against Racism as a guide, and under the leadership of Sharon Hampton, PhD, RN, Ritchie Abracosa, PhD(c), and John Catbagan, BA, the inpatient PCMs designed unit-specific plans to sustain IDHE initiatives on their unit. Each month, the PCMs reported out on their unit's Strengths Against Racism. These presentations included:
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How are we going to actualize, on our unit, our Strong Actions Against Racism?
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What are the actions we will target and how will we operationalize these plans?
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How will we monitor effectiveness?
Keeping IDHE initiatives at the forefront of each microsystem, environments of acceptance, belonging, and respect were fostered throughout the inpatient units.
HR's Days of Understanding
In October 2021, this dynamic team presented at HR's Days of Understanding: Leading from Where You Are: How to Recognize, Advocate, and Mitigate Unconscious Bias. Sharon, Maureen, Bobbie, and Ritchie shared real-life scenarios, insights, and practices that help leaders lead and grow in knowledge and understanding. They also shared key tactics that leaders can implement that challenge the status quo and help change the narrative.
Presenters:
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Sharon Hampton, PhD, RN
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Maureen Fay, MS, RN, CCRN-K, NEA-BC
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Bobbie Davis, MSN, RN, OCN, BMTCN
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Ritchie Abracosa, PhD(c)
Creating a diverse and inclusive work environment
through the lens of a nurse leader
Submitted by Anjeleena Singh, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, PCM of C1 & G2S Outpatient Observation Units
"As an Equalizer, I am a levelheaded person who performs best when the world around me is balanced, both ethically and practically. As a Provider, I sense other people’s feelings, and feel compelled to recognize these feelings, give them a voice, and act on them. Both of my top 2 StandOut strengths resonate strongly with me, especially through the lens of a nurse leader who is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive work environment.
As I’ve continued to grow as a leader through varied experiences, my strengths have allowed me to build healthy relationships, set clear boundaries, become a better listener, stay grounded and provide unwavering support. My strengths have also enabled me to focus on and celebrate diversity with my team members. We have monthly cultural celebrations and have displayed interactive boards to learn, grow and celebrate each individual’s diversity. We have celebrated Black history month, Hispanic heritage month, women’s history month and most recently Pride Month. We also created a Diversity Map. This world map is used as tool to have open dialogues between staff members and as well as their patients. We are displaying our own unique journeys and cultural background. You take a sticker and place it anywhere on the map that you identify with. And collectively, we have landed in this one spot in the C1 hallway at Stanford Healthcare. This is a powerful display of the diversity at Stanford Healthcare. I am a member of all of the Stanford ERGs (Employee Resource Group) and share emails, celebrations and upcoming events with my team. I am also a strong advocate of my own personal and professional growth through continuous learning. I attend conferences specifically geared towards health equity to acquire knowledge about what other institutions have implemented and how I can bring best practice to my units. Creating and celebrating diversity, inclusion, belonging and health equity is not a short term goal but a life-long passion!"
Making History with the Inaugural National Black Nurses Association
During 2021, SHC Nursing embarked on a historic milestone in partnership with Stanford Medicine. SHC inaugurated the Stanford Medicine Black Nurses Association Chapter of the National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) in an ongoing commitment to honor the memory of George Floyd and many others who have been victims of racial prejudice. The inaugural chapter was launched and led by Sharon Hampton PhD, RN, Caritas Coach (President) and Michelle Williams PhD, RN (Vice President).
With the launch of the Stanford Medicine NBNA, Stanford joins the 115 chapters of the NBNA in committing to the professional voice for over 200,000 African American Registered Nurses, Licensed Vocational and Practical Nurses, nursing students, and retired nurses from the USA, Eastern Caribbean, and Africa.
How StandOut Strong Actions Against Racism Can Help Rewrite the Narrative
Nursing Grand Rounds
On September 23, Sharon Hampton, PhD, RN, Inpatient ACNO led a thought-provoking and informative Nursing Grand Rounds (NGR). Over 115 nurses and interprofessionals attended. The presentation, entitled "How StandOut Strong Actions Against Racism Can Help Rewrite the Narrative," highlighted how we can draw on Marcus Buckingham's StandOut strengths to take actions to promote diversity, inclusion, and health equity. The insightful NGR focused on the diverse ways we can stand in the gap against structural racism while drawing on our unique StandOut strengths to improve patient care and outcomes while ultimately being an anti-racist. Along with Sharon, the engaging presenters included:
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Anjeleena Singh, MS, RN, NEA-BC, PCM
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Dennis Manzanades, MSN, MBA, RN,
Director of Clinical Services
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Van Bellew, BSN, RN, CMSRN, PCM
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Maribeth Cambridge, MS, RN, CCRN, PCM
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Daniel Ramberger, MS, BSN, RN, PCM,
Director of Clinical Services
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Karlene Mills, BSN, RN, PCM
Special thanks to Ritchie Abracosa, MS, Inclusion,
Diversity & Health Equity Project Manager, for her contributions
in this ongoing initiative.
Re-Writing the Narrative: StandOut Strengths Against Racism PCM Report Outs
J. Bourke's "Six Traits of Inclusive Leadership"
An Inpatient Initiative led by Sharon Hampton, Ritchie Abracosa, and John Catbagan
In an inpatient initiative led by Sharon Hampton, Ritchie Abracosa, and John Catbagan, all inpatient nurse leaders, consisting of 5 clinical directors, 33 patient care managers, and 2 project coordinators, were taught J. Bourke’s “Six Traits of Inclusive Leadership” and were encouraged to foster environments of belonging and respect. These nurse leaders were also supported in their journey of self-reflection to identify their own biases and privilege in the context of systemic racism and inequities. From February to November 2021, there were 23 leadership sessions. Once entering this new mindset, the nurse leaders innovated within their microsystems to mitigate bias, embrace health equity, and this sparked dynamic changes. Through the leader’s dissemination efforts, crucial conversations about racial disparities, health equity, and inclusion initiatives were launched and these initiatives received positive and supportive feedback.
After this leadership training was implemented, the organization’s culture of fairness, trust, and inclusivity noticeably improved, as evidenced by the multitude of examples from patients, staff, and the leaders themselves. For example, nurse leaders advocated for patients who were experiencing discrimination, racism, or hate. Having nurse leaders trained to mitigate inequities for patients and staff has advanced equity, inclusion, and has elevated care outcomes.
Leading in Love
By Stephanie LeGette, MSN, RN, Clinical Nurse II, C1/G2S
Exemplary Professional Practice is one of the 4 Magnet-based pillars of nursing care at Stanford, and it’s through this pillar that SHC’s nurses lead the way in their professional practice. Stephanie LeGette, MSN, RN, Clinical Nurse II on C1/G2S demonstrated this pillar when she developed and led the inspirational “Leading in Love" project for her unit. This was a project that incorporated fun, exploration and knowledge for the C1/G2S nurses. Stephanie successfully garnered the support of her management team and carefully crafted this project to ensure the full participation of the unit's nurses.
The “Leading in Love” project was strategically launched during the month of February to highlight both Black History month and Valentine's Day. Stephanie carefully chose the name "Leading in Love” to reflect her belief in leading with love and the power of positive daily interactions. Stephanie further hopes that her project will help everyone to embrace and appreciate diversity and inclusion, and she firmly believes that an institution that supports diversity and inclusion will advance equality while ensuring its employees feel fully valued and supported.
This project showcased several historic leadership figures in the African American community who had a significant impact on the Civil Rights movement. To launch her initiative, Stephanie mounted a large poster board with cutouts to share knowledge and articles about prominent historical figures that contributed to the Civil Rights movement. Each day a clue was emailed to the unit staff, and each clue would include fun facts about the historical figure, such as childhood facts, struggles that they experienced, and the contributions that the individual made to history. The first person that responded with the correct answer was awarded a prize. Once the mystery person for the day was uncovered, the picture of the correct person was then placed on the board in the square for that day. At the end of the month all participant's names were added to a drawing, which gave them an opportunity to win one of two grand prizes!
Stephanie received positive feedback from her fellow staff members on how the Leading in Love project impacted them. The unit's participants reported that the project was fun, engaging and inspirational. Overall, the project was deemed highly successful by all involved because of the valuable knowledge that they received about historic black figures and their contributions to the Civil Rights movement.
Kudos to Stephanie for “Leading in Love” and demonstrating Exemplary Professional practice.