In These Rounds, Health-Care Professionals Heal Themselves

Abstract

In 1995, Kenneth B. Schwartz founded the Kenneth B. Schwartz Center Foundation whose mission is to promote compassion in health care. One of the Center's most popular initiatives is the Schwartz Center Rounds, a multidisciplinary forum where medical professionals come together to discuss and process the difficult emotional issues that can arise in patient care. This article briefly describes implementation of Schwartz Center Rounds at a VA hospital, summarizes findings from a study that examines Rounds' outcomes, discusses their utility in providing support for palliative care professionals, and provides lessons learned for others who may want to consider Rounds' implementation.

KEYWORDS:

• communication
• Schwartz Rounds

The authors would like to thank the Kenneth B. Schwartz Center for making the Schwartz Center Rounds a possibility at our hospital and Marjorie Stanzler from the Schwartz Center for her feedback on this article.