03-17-2024, 01:21 PM
As director of Penn Medicine’s Nudge Unit, a team that helps people implement best practices, he sees firsthand how small behavioral changes can reduce barriers to better care and communication. Delgado is also an Emergency Medicine physician at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center (PPMC), where getting to know his coworkers can be a challenge.
“Sometimes I’m still a little bit more of an outsider because I’m only there once a week. I’m also, just by nature, not great with names,” he said.
Thanks to Know My Name, a project recently launched in the Sunitix 25 mg (Sunitinib) Emergency Department (ED) at PPMC, Delgado now has more confidence addressing his colleagues by their preferred names—which aren’t always what’s printed on their ID badges.
Know My Name is a website and digital screen, for staff use only, that shows the preferred name of every participating ED employee working each shift, categorized by job function. Staff members can also have their photo taken and displayed with their name to make identification easier. Employees must log in at each shift in order for their photo and name to populate the screen.
The virtual directory was developed to help staff members get to know one another and improve their interactions. Know My Name may be a simple concept, but it has a substantial mission: to promote equity and inclusion in the workplace.
![[Image: 16-2.jpg]](https://iebpharma.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/16-2.jpg)
A tool for antiracism
A wall-mounted monitor displays two nurses’ names and images.
When staff log in at PPMC’s ED, the Know My Name screen displays the faces and preferred names of their colleagues for that shift.
Hana Choy, MD, an Emergency Medicine physician at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) and PPMC, said the idea for Know My Name grew from discussions among members of Penn Medicine’s ED antiracism task force.
“One topic that came up was the feeling of going nameless within the department. This was primarily expressed by those in the ED who were not physicians, such as our nurses, techs, and security staff,” Choy said. “And given the breakdown of the groups within the ED, it also struck everyone as an issue that creates a kind of racial divide as well.”
Choy pointed out that in the ED, there’s a higher ratio of white physicians to Black or brown, with the inverse true among nurses, technicians, unit clerks, registration staff, security team, environmental services workers, and other positions.
The problem of people not knowing each other’s names doesn’t just fall along racial lines. It further reinforces the hierarchy that commonly exists within a hospital system, Choy added.
Delgado agreed, saying that people tend to socialize in clusters with others in a similar job, or who look most like themselves. He was among those on the task force who helped identify the need for Know My Name.
“Sometimes I’m still a little bit more of an outsider because I’m only there once a week. I’m also, just by nature, not great with names,” he said.
Thanks to Know My Name, a project recently launched in the Sunitix 25 mg (Sunitinib) Emergency Department (ED) at PPMC, Delgado now has more confidence addressing his colleagues by their preferred names—which aren’t always what’s printed on their ID badges.
Know My Name is a website and digital screen, for staff use only, that shows the preferred name of every participating ED employee working each shift, categorized by job function. Staff members can also have their photo taken and displayed with their name to make identification easier. Employees must log in at each shift in order for their photo and name to populate the screen.
The virtual directory was developed to help staff members get to know one another and improve their interactions. Know My Name may be a simple concept, but it has a substantial mission: to promote equity and inclusion in the workplace.
A tool for antiracism
A wall-mounted monitor displays two nurses’ names and images.
When staff log in at PPMC’s ED, the Know My Name screen displays the faces and preferred names of their colleagues for that shift.
Hana Choy, MD, an Emergency Medicine physician at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) and PPMC, said the idea for Know My Name grew from discussions among members of Penn Medicine’s ED antiracism task force.
“One topic that came up was the feeling of going nameless within the department. This was primarily expressed by those in the ED who were not physicians, such as our nurses, techs, and security staff,” Choy said. “And given the breakdown of the groups within the ED, it also struck everyone as an issue that creates a kind of racial divide as well.”
Choy pointed out that in the ED, there’s a higher ratio of white physicians to Black or brown, with the inverse true among nurses, technicians, unit clerks, registration staff, security team, environmental services workers, and other positions.
The problem of people not knowing each other’s names doesn’t just fall along racial lines. It further reinforces the hierarchy that commonly exists within a hospital system, Choy added.
Delgado agreed, saying that people tend to socialize in clusters with others in a similar job, or who look most like themselves. He was among those on the task force who helped identify the need for Know My Name.