Several years ago, our health care system developed core values and behaviors from the grassroots level up. This was the brainchild of our president and CEO, Janice E. Nevin, MD, MPH, who is a family medicine physician.

All caregivers from all levels of the organization participated and provided input.

The theme that developed was, “We serve together guided by our values of excellence and love.” That’s right, the word love.

I had a hard time putting my head around love in the medical environment. I have no problems loving my nuclear and extended family, some of my friends and colleagues, but I had a hard time fitting “love” into the patient arena.

‘Ti amo bello’

It seems strange to me, even though I was brought up in an Italian family where love was rampant, involving hugs and kisses all around. When first-time visitors entered our home and had the standard 6-hour Italian meal, the greatest joy my mother had was seeing everybody finish everything she had cooked. Upon leaving, she would hug every one of them. That was also true of my uncles and aunts, whose parting words to me after every visit were, “Ti amo bello.”

I discussed my difficulty wrapping myself around the word with our chief medical officer. His recommendation was to not think about love but rather compassion. Bazinga! Immediately a lightbulb went off in my head. Problem solved.

These values of love and excellence from the compassion perspective make sense to me. Under the category of love, our health system crafted practical statements, such as:

• We embrace diversity and show respect to everyone.
• We tell the truth with courage and empathy.
• We listen actively, seek to understand and assume good intentions.

The excellence category includes these statements:

• We use resources wisely and effectively.
• We seek new knowledge, ask for feedback and are open to change.
• We are true to our word and follow through on our commitments.

These are just some examples. Pretty simple, but very powerful.

A remarkable impact

The impact of these has been remarkable over the last 8 years. I have seen the culture on campus change because of these values and behaviors. An environment of psychological safety has been created in many areas of the health system.

Importantly, these values are not just listed on paper and hung on our walls. They are practiced every day and called out at every meeting. You can’t have a conversation without bringing up any of the core values or behaviors.

It may surprise those of you who know me as a shoot-from-the-hip New Yorker that I have embraced and adapted to the behaviors. Even my wife has noticed a change in our home environment. Well, let’s say not as a dramatic a change as in my work environment.

I don’t know if this dramatic culture change has occurred at other institutions, or if something similar even exists. If it doesn’t, I encourage you to develop a grassroots approach in your organization to develop such values and behaviors.

Patient satisfaction has also skyrocketed in many areas of the health system because of this change in culture. However, there’s still a lot more to do, as everyone knows that culture doesn’t change overnight.

I’d be happy to share more of these core values and behaviors with you, so don’t hesitate to send me an email at the address below. You and your colleagues will work in a better environment and, just as importantly, your patients with cancer will benefit tremendously. As we all know, life is short. Give yourself the benefit of the doubt.

Ciao. Stay safe.

For more information:

Nicholas J. Petrelli, MD, FACS, is Bank of America endowed medical director of ChristianaCare’s Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute and associate director of translational research at Wistar Cancer Institute. He also serves as Associate Editor of Surgical Oncology for HemOnc Today. He can be reached at npetrelli@christianacare.org.