Recognizing the unique contribution our care providers bring to their roles every day combined with the need for personal and professional recovery, Children’s Hospital Colorado provides compassion circles in several formats. The Intention is to create a safe space where healthcare providers are invited to recover, be heard, be held up and seek healing. Each compassion circle follows the same structure and flow including Checking in, First thought, Thinking rounds, Partner connection/pairs work, Commitment rounds and Appreciation rounds. Here are the formats we currently offer.
New Graduate Nurse Residency “Fire-Side Chats”
Program: The Residency program is a yearlong transition-to-practice program.
Population: New graduate nurses coming into the organization for their first ever job as a nurse.
Structure: The fire-side chats are part of the curriculum throughout the year in regular intervals about every other month. Trained facilitators guide the small groups through the same practices each session.
Focus: Each session has a theme and topics for thinking rounds based on where the cohort is in the year.
Topics include: transition from school to bedside; creating a safe community for support; realities of being a nurse.
Compassion Circles for Providers
Program: Compassion Circles are offered every other week as a drop-in option for anyone interested.
Population: Physicians, Faculty or other invited care providers.
Structure: Open structure with some guided topics and practice to create connection and recovery.
Group Mentoring
Program: Uses the Compassion Circle Structure to offer space for small group mentoring.
Population: Any team looking to set aside time to connect in small groups.
Structure: Facilitators walk group through the process and the groups continue, with support, on their own.
The need for recovery for our team members has never been more important and using the framework of Compassion Circles has brought a unique process that infuses support for each other with compassion and healing. As of TODAY, hundreds of our team members have experienced a compassion circle and requests continue to grow as word spreads of how helpful they are.
February 2021
The Children’s Hospital Colorado can be found at childrenscolorado.org.