'A lot of the wicked problems in healthcare today can be healed when you have a strategy that includes love and empathy,' says Julie Kennedy Oehlert, DNP, RN, chief experience officer at Vidant Health in Greenville, North Carolina.

This time of year is traditionally one where we wish others good tidings of joy and love. But, it turns out, those sentiments aren't just for the holiday season. As you'll see in this week's feature story, incorporating joy and love into an organization's culture can positively affect strategic goals.

Also, in this issue:

Progress in workplace violence legislation
The effects of assigning hospitalists to specific units
A single bill improves patient experience

Soft Skills That Deliver Hard Results

Want to achieve your organization's strategic goals? Put a little love and joy into your culture.

Workplace Violence Legislation Moves Forward

A bill to improve the safety of healthcare workers is passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Assigning Hospitalists to Individual Inpatient Units Has Benefits and Drawbacks

Unintended consequences of assigning hospitalists to one or two inpatient units include the temptation to increase patient loads on the clinicians.

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Effectively Tracking and Reducing Prescription Opioid Abuse

Learn how the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula combined local opioid prescribing guidelines with state PDMP and care coordination to improve substance use disorder tracking to achieve a 32% reduction in opioid deaths. Download report!

4 Initiatives of Patient Experience Success at UnityPoint Health

One of the efforts to improve patient experience at UnityPoint Health is the launch of LGBTQ-friendly clinics.

Streamline the Patient Payment Experience With One Bill, One Phone Number

Chris Johnson, vice president of revenue cycle management for Atrium Health, shares two lessons about how the organization made billing easier for its patients.

Must Reads

State director says violence against nurses is an epidemic in Missouri and nationwide

Fox4kc.com

California nurses laud passage of HR 1309 but say more could be done locally to protect them from violence

Eureka Times-Standard

Mercy Health expanding recruitment outreach to combat nurse shortage

NBC 24

Legislation would put N.J. nurses - not state law - in charge of staffing levels

NJ Spotlight

Thanks for kicking off this last month of 2019 with us. As always, feel free to send me any tips, ideas, or advice at jthew@healthleadersmedia.com or Tweet @jen_NurseEditor.

Jennifer Thew, RN
Senior Editor, Nursing