The conference, “Turning Leaves, Changing Lives, A Nursing Conference” was hosted by the Education and Professional Development Council, and held at the Hotel Saranac. Sara spoke from the heart about her history as a practitioner, the ever increasing need for nuanced care, for communication supports as cancer treatments have evolved and the role that SpeakSooner has played in improving healthcare communication.
“I think that all of Adirondack Health really excels at the humanistic care that we give because we’re a small community and we still talk to each other, we’re not robotic, but this is something I’m really passionate about, is really how we communicate with our patients. And especially in oncology where even if you’re a survivor, you are thinking about the fact that you’re going to die when you get a cancer diagnosis. And I believe that it’s our responsibility to be able to talk about it effectively. And the earlier you do it, the better it is. So with the complexity of cancer and science and treatments makes these conversations more complicated.”
“This is culture, communication. People roll their eyes at this, but without it, it’s very difficult to give care. So we worked diligently for two years, trying to figure out how to incorporate this (the SpeakSooner) model, which is really a very simple guide that you can provide to the patient that helps prompt questions. And the sooner you do it, the more you have time to establish these relationships, the rapport, people trust you. And we have really found that it has not only benefited the patients, but it’s benefited the staff in ways that we had no idea.”
“So (the Guide) has given us a forum and a foundation to have those meaningful conversations more effectively and efficiently. This isn’t something that’s adding on a whole new thing in your day where you’re already overloaded and just pulled in 10 different directions. This has made it so that everybody can have effective and meaningful conversations a little bit at a time. It definitely works.”