Schwartz Compassionate Care Rounds

Schwartz Rounds: Promoting Compassionate Healthcare

Compassionate Healthcare—Care that Both Clinicians and Patients Desire and Deserve

 Baystate Health is a healthcare member of the Schwartz Center, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing compassionate healthcare.

We are authorized to sponsor Schwartz Rounds®, joining hundreds of healthcare organizations in the U.S. and abroad dedicated to strengthening the human connection between caregivers and patients.

Focusing on the human side of health care

Schwartz Rounds® provide an open forum for caregivers to openly and honestly discuss the challenging emotional and psychosocial issues that arise in caring for patients and families.

Participants address thought-provoking topics drawn from actual patient cases, such as: when religious beliefs conflict with medical advice; caring for a colleague; being "fired" by a patient.

The Rounds are interactive and interdisciplinary, allowing providers to benefit from a mutual sharing of experiences, thoughts and feelings with a broad range of caregiving professionals, including physicians, nurses, social workers, psychologists, physical therapists, and chaplains.

Investing in Provider Well-being

We support our providers, faculty, residents, students, and staff by offering Schwartz Rounds® monthly, and providing continuing education credits for attending.

A comprehensive study of the Rounds reported on the Schwartz Center website shows that they:

• Improve communication among caregivers
• Decrease feelings of caregiver isolation and stress
• Increase provider satisfaction and lower staff turnover

Enhancing Patient Care

The Schwartz Rounds® study also showed that they help caregivers improve their ability to connect with their patients emotionally, understand the effects of illness on patients and their families, and meet their patients’ needs.

The benefits of more compassionate care include:

• Higher patient satisfaction
• Shorter lengths of stay
• Fewer readmissions and costly procedures