Breaking the transactional mindset: A new path for healthcare leadership built on a commitment to human experience

Numerous health care publications have focused on the compelling need to improve patient experience and the associated improvements necessary to address workforce well-being. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated and illuminated long-standing problems in health care including workforce shortages, inequity in health care delivery outcomes, care provider burnout, and overall societal structural racism.1,2 The Beryl Institute’s Nursing Executive Council (NEC) manuscript Rebuilding a Foundation of Trust: A Call to Action in Creating a Safe Environment for Everyone3 focused on actions and behaviours to heal relationships and build trust between care providers and leaders with commitments to safety, empathy, shared decision making, transparency, growth and development. Research studies abound offering new frameworks and interventions intending to strengthen systems of care that respect whole person needs. The nursing profession has always been anchored in holistic person-centered care yet continues to be challenged in work environments laden with fragmentation and barriers to human caring. The purpose of this paper is to review the dominance of transactional business mindsets and practices today that may foster those challenging environments and assert that the use of Service-Dominant Logic (SDL) demonstrates the importance of human relations in developing effective and sustainable organizational performance. Ultimately it can help us lead differently at all levels as we work to transform the human experience in healthcare. Experience Framework This article is associated with the Culture & Leadership lens of The Beryl Institute Experience Framework (https://theberylinstitute.org/experience-framework/). Access other PXJ articles related to this lens. Access other resources related to this lens