A group of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas employees huddled in a hallway as they prepared to participate in the hospital’s Great Escape Room Challenge.
After watching a video setting up the patient story in a conference room, the employees from Food Services, Behavioral Health, Labor and Delivery, and Float Pool, quietly listened to instructions. Within minutes, the group was laughing and working together to provide safe, compassionate care to the fictional patient “Helen,” who was in crisis as she grieved the loss of her husband.
The Great Escape Room Challenge is an educational event for all Texas Health Dallas employees that was designed to help improve the patient experience and the hospital’s net promoter score (NPS). It is part of the hospital’s consumer focus improvement strategy.
“The challenge provides an interactive opportunity where team members can think through how they care for the whole patient,” said Tiffany Northern, vice president and chief operating officer, Texas Health Dallas. “Our goal is that participants would leave with a renewed commitment to teamwork, compassion, respect and error prevention.”
Team members worked their way through three elaborately decorated rooms that were a part of Helen’s journey. They learned about the key drivers of net promoter scores (teamwork, compassion and respect), using Error Prevention Tools and showing compassion. Each room involved a series of puzzles that had to be completed in order to escape.
Employee comments after participating in the Great Escape Room Challenge included:
“I’m a visual and active learner, so these important keys brought to life really helped me internalize them.”
“A very creative way of teaching and showcasing Texas Health culture and principles while also encouraging employees.”
“The Escape Room experience was awesome! It was so well done and fun.”
“It was fun, and my group was easy to work with even though we didn’t know each other. I love that this is possible in this organization.”
“Letting team members walk through a patient experience is another way we are teaching employees how to do their best life’s work here,” Northern said.
Creation and implementation of the Great Escape Room Challenge was led by Nancy McDonald, M.H.A., CRA, CNMT, director, Radiology and Breast Center; Josh Tippy, M.S.N., R.N., NE-BC, director, Acute Medical Services; and Dale Arroyo, M.S., RRT, CPHQ, director Quality/Patient Safety/Risk.
