Increase Safety, Improve Patient Satisfaction and Clinical Outcomes, Enhance Caregiver Morale
While Vistelar’s origins (early 1980s) are in law enforcement (verbalization training origins; tactical training origins), the team at Vistelar has provided our consulting and training services to the healthcare industry for decades.
We have worked with healthcare systems, hospitals, clinics, home healthcare agencies, residential treatment centers, mental health institutions and social service agencies.
We’ve trained nurses, physicians, security staff, behavioral health professionals, social workers, pharmacists, residential care workers, administrative staff, home-visit workers and healthcare educators.
Vistelar’s training is provided via a range of modalities, including:
- Live classroom programs
- On-demand online programs
- Instructor-led online programs
- Blended programs (both online and live)
- Published books
- Train-the-trainer programs (certifies instructors to teach our curriculum within their organization).
All of Vistelar’s programs are are grounded in academic research and real-world application and the principles taught have been synthesized into a structured framework that makes course material easy to learn, remember and apply — and simple to teach.
Vistelar provides consulting and training focused on addressing the entire spectrum of human conflict at the point of impact — from interpersonal discord, verbal abuse and bullying – to crisis communications, assault and physical violence. Therefore, we offer a wide range of programming (see below).
Of equal importance to our training breadth, all our programs our taught FROM THE PERSPECTIVE of the entire spectrum of human conflict.
Therefore, Vistelar’s programs are NOT just “technique” focused (e.g., initial introduction to prevent conflict from escalating, verbal de-escalation, communicating with a person in crisis, use of strategic positioning or proxemics, physical protection tactics, non-intrusive stabilization tactics, appropriate use of restraints). We also focus on the “tactics” of an encounter: the meshing of the non-verbal, verbal and physical techniques – the continuum of options that exist in any interaction – to deliver the best outcome.
In other words, we emphasize the application of techniques across the spectrum of conflict — the “Five Cs of Communications” (see list below) — using a level of intrusiveness appropriate for each technique being applied.
1. Contact: how to make an initial contact that doesn’t escalate a situation and is focused on treating others with dignity by showing them respect
2. Conflict: how to stay safe and prevent disagreements from progressing to emotional or physical violence
3. Crisis: how to stay safe and de-escalate a situation when the subject is apparently under the influence of personal stress, drugs & alcohol, or mental health issues.
4. Combat: how to apply the appropriate personal protection and physical control tactics to stabilize a situation when words alone fail (and, for security personnel, how to apply non-lethal and/or lethal techniques as required to keep everyone safe in a violent encounter).
5. Closure: how to normalize a situation after an incident, which includes reassuring the subject, providing medical treatment and debriefing the incident.
This “tactics” approach to training includes “skill-station” drills – where numerous techniques are applied together in real-world scenarios – which allows the delivery of training in short modules.
All of Vistelar’s programs are taught using our proprietary Emotionally Safe Performance-Driven Instruction™ methodology that improves retention of the course material and, more importantly, ensures students can actually perform the learned skills in the midst of stress (fire drills versus fire talks). This unique approach to training emphasizes student interaction, scenario-based skill practice (using a proprietary video recording/review technology), memorable stories (“peace stories”) and analysis of real-life events captured on video.
Another focus on Vistelar’s training is to teach “how to look professional on camera no matter how the situation ends up.” In the current video-centric world, it’s now critical that contact professionals know how to ensure their actions (non-verbal, verbal, physical) are viewed as appropriate when viewed on camera and that their incident report matches the video record.
Vistelar’s conflict management training programs are vital for anyone tasked with interacting directly with the public – in any situation where conflict is likely – to keep everyone safe, reduce complaints/ litigation, enhance caregiver morale/collaboration and improve clinical outcomes.
Here is a summary of the personal, organizational, legal and emotional benefits of Vistelar training:
Personal
- Reduced interpersonal conflict
- Increased self-confidence and persuasion skills
- Enhanced physical safety
- Improved work, family and social relationships
Organizational
- Reduced complaints, liability and injuries
- Improved performance, morale and workplace safety
- Better team cooperation and collaboration
- Lower workplace stress levels
Legal
- Reduced threat of litigation
- Less use-of-force incidents
- Improved post-incident reporting
- Better matching of report with video record
Emotional
- Less escalation of conflict to emotional/physical violence
- Improved ability to engage in difficult conversations
- Increased competence in addressing verbal abuse and bullying
- Enhanced psychological well-being
Vistelar has developed a broad range of training programs specifically for healthcare, including:
- Interventions For Patients With Challenging Behaviors (AKA: Verbal Defense & Influence For Health Care Professionals)
- Point-Of-Impact Crisis Intervention For People With Special Needs
- Principles of Subject Control (P.O.S.C.®) For Health Care Professionals
- Safe and Effective Use Of Restraining Devices (using RIPP® soft medical restraints)
- High Level Control Tactics For Health Care Professionals
- Non-Intrusive Patient Stabilization
- Emergency Room Response and Stabilization
- Personal Safety Awareness
- Facility Security, Active Shooter Training, Mass Emergency Response
- Protection From Impact Weapons
- Personal Safety Training for Home Health and Social Service Workers (online program)
- Campus Safety: Strategies For Surviving An Active Shooter (online program)
- Non-Escalation, De-Escalation and Personal Safety Training For Front-Line Healthcare Staff (in development)
Healthcare is by far the most violent profession in the private sector, with a rate of assault several times higher than the average for other professions. Healthcare violence results in caregiver injuries, and negatively impacts employee morale, patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes.
Vistelar’s consulting and training services are designed to address the epidemic of violence in the healthcare industry by providing strategies for creating environments of care that are incompatible with violence, resulting in better and safer working conditions for caregivers, enhanced customer satisfaction levels and clinical outcomes for patients and an improved financial bottom line for healthcare organizations.
Program Descriptions
Interventions For Patients With Challenging Behaviors (Verbal Defense & Influence For Health Care Professionals)
Vistelar’s Verbal Defense & Influence training program is guaranteed to reduce complaints, liability and injuries, while improving performance, morale and overall safety.
The program also has internal benefits proven to improve organizational performance and employee morale, while reducing internal bullying and workplace stress.
Verbal Defense & Influence training is aimed to prevent and manage conflict using Non-Escalatory and De-Escalatory verbalization skills. We offer a wide array of training options that involve direct end-user training, train-the-trainer (instructor) options, and online training options.
For a general description of the VDI program, click on this link:
To view the course objectives for the VDI For Healthcare course, click on this link:
Point-Of-Impact Crisis Intervention (PICI) For People With Special Needs
For the first responder to any situation that could escalate to violence, the initial goal must be to keep everyone safe until the situation can be stabilized and, if necessary, to ensure the appropriate medical/mental healthcare is provided. That’s the focus of Verbal Defense & Influence training.
If the situation includes someone who is in crisis, the extended VDI program (referred to at the PICI portion – Point-of-Impact Crisis Intervention) trains how to minimize the stressors, communicate effectively and use the most effective crisis intervention tactics to bring the situation to a safe resolution.
Although it’s beneficial for the first responder to a crisis situation to understand the different types of mental illnesses and conditions, at the point-of-impact what’s far more important is to know how to:
- Use the appropriate verbal protocol to diffuse and alleviate crisis situations
- Determine when words alone are failing and action must be taken
- Physical intervention tactics
The PICI portion of the program focuses on the development of non-intrusive, but effective, crisis intervention protocols that addresses the safety of both the first responder and the person in crisis. Team tactics are stressed for both informal and formal team response, including the coordination of medical, mental health and law enforcement/security personnel.
For a more detailed description of the PICI program, click on this link:
Principles of Subject Control (POSC) I and II For Health Care Professionals
Safe and Effective Use Of Restraining Devices (using RIPP® soft medical restraints)
Benefits to RIPP Restraint Training
- Reduce liability
- Complaints
- Injuries
Because our highly interactive/engaging training style teaches how to decided when to apply restraints, verbalization (before, during, & after), when to remove restraints, and debriefing.
Provide your staff the best restraint training and management available from the restraint leader.
- Incorporate the verbal intervention, containment / stabilization / personal defense, and use of RIPP Restraints into a combined, integrated, smoothly operating system of patient care.
- Restraint training entirely without the use of traditional handcuffs.
- Training to restrain hands, arms, legs, and other body parts.
- Training to restrain to wheelchairs, restraint backboards, and restraint beds.
- End-user and Instructor Courses available.
It’s not just about applying restraints, it’s about ten critical components necessary as part of the restraint process:
- Arrive
- Assess
- Alarm
- Evaluate
- Enter
- Stabilize
- Initial Medical Assessment
- Long Term Monitoring
- Communication
- Documentation/Debriefing
To download our RIPP Training brochure, Click Here.
Read the Book: Confidence in Conflict for Healthcare Professionals: Creating An Environment of Care That Is Incompatible With Violence
Working in Healthcare Should Not Require You To Be A Victim
Healthcare is by far the most violent profession in the private sector, with a rate of assault several times higher than the average for other professions. Healthcare violence results in caregiver injuries, and negatively impacts employee morale, patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes.
Joel Lashley is a recognized authority in healthcare violence, with extensive firsthand experience in keeping the peace within hospitals, clinics and residential treatment facilities. Over the last two decades he has developed, implemented and tested strategies for creating environments of care that are incompatible with violence, resulting in better and safer working conditions for caregivers and higher customer satisfaction levels for patients.
In this book, Mr. Lashley argues that violence against healthcare workers should not be accepted as “part of the job” and offers proven solutions to combat the epidemic of healthcare violence.
Here is just some of what you will learn:
- The seven myths of healthcare violence
- Why traditional service-recovery methods often make things worse
- How strategies that support peaceful environments also increase patient satisfaction
- How to perform Vistelar’s ten tactics for communicating under pressure
Click here to get your advance copy on Amazon.com.
Learn More
To learn more about how Vistelar can help create a safer healthcare community, please submit the form below.