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Growing up as one of five children in a small town in northern New Jersey, I met my first coach. Mr. Mott coached me and fifteen other ten-year-olds on our first softball team, The Bobby Sockers.  The coach had a lot to offer. He was kind and encouraging and supportive and, in the words of […]

“This is not my first hurricane”, I thought, as Florence was about to wreak havoc on Wilmington, NC, and our new home. I have been in North Carolina for 15 years and faced a number of hurricanes and tropical storms as a former hospital CEO, but this time, it was different. From being a leader during […]

PART 4 In our world of healthcare, are we, personally and collectively, strong, fearless, and resilient? If so, what makes us this way? And, if not, why not? Andrea Ovans’ 2015 article, “What Resilience Means and Why It Matters,” points to an unfortunate reality. Not only do many of us not feel resilient in work [...]

PART 3 Whether in everyday situations or life-altering circumstances, resilience allows us not just to endure but to prosper and thrive. Here is an image that demonstrates what resilience brings: Bamboo is a tough, durable plant, some would even say invasive. Once seeded over a period of several years, bamboo grows relentlessly and quickly, withstanding [...]

PART 2 Let's look at Fight-Flight-Freeze and Resilience more closely. The fight-flight-freeze response, first elucidated by work on the General Adaptation Syndrome theory (Selye, 1946), is one dictated by autonomic, reflexive thinking. We may literally or figuratively fight or yell, preventing us from paying attention to new thoughts, or we may run, hide, or curl [...]

At the Healthcare Experience Foundation, we are working hard to help grow people, places, and processes so that every person can deliver and receive the best healthcare. As such, we are excited to bring you a 4-part series (published each week for the next four weeks) on resilience, one of our favorite topics and one [...]