Bullying and incivility remain some of the most damaging — and often unspoken — challenges in healthcare. They drive nurse turnover, weaken teamwork, and can even impact patient safety.

In this episode of Beyond the Benchmarks, Renee Thompson, founder of the Healthy Workforce Institute and author of Enough: Eradicate Bullying and Incivility in Healthcare, joins the conversation to unpack what toxic workplace culture really looks like inside hospitals and why it continues to persist.

Renee shares powerful real-world stories from her nursing career, explores why accountability is so difficult when disruptive individuals are high performers, and offers practical strategies leaders can use to transform toxic units into healthy, high-functioning teams.

This episode covers:

• Why nurses leave when bullying goes unaddressed

• The difference between incivility and repeated bullying

• How culture impacts communication and patient outcomes

• What leaders can do to support staff and create accountability

A must-listen for nurse leaders, healthcare executives, educators, and anyone working to build a healthier workforce.

In this episode of Beyond the Benchmarks, host Stephanie Dorwart, CEO of Altius Healthcare Consulting Group, sits down with Dr. Kay Kennedy — nurse, educator, researcher, and nationally recognized leadership expert — for a powerful conversation on what it truly means to lead in healthcare today.

Drawing on more than 40 years of experience from the bedside to the C-suite, Dr. Kennedy shares the story behind Human-Centered Leadership, a research-backed framework designed specifically for healthcare environments. Built from the voices of nurses and leaders across roles, this approach reframes leadership as something that starts with self-awareness, is sustained through relationships, and ultimately drives better outcomes for teams and patients.

Together, Stephanie and Dr. Kennedy explore:

• Why leaders people would “follow to the ends of the earth” all share the same traits

• How burnout, turnover, and disengagement are often leadership problems — not staffing problems

• The role of mindfulness, emotional regulation, and self-care in effective leadership

• Why frontline nurse leaders must be empowered — not sidelined — in staffing and productivity decisions

• How human-centered leadership improves engagement, retention, patient experience, and quality outcomes

Dr. Kennedy also shares exciting news about the expansion of her work through a new partnership with Healthcare Plus Solutions Group, allowing this leadership model to reach organizations nationwide — and internationally.

If you believe productivity is about more than numbers, culture is built through relationships, and leadership must be both human and accountable — this episode is for you.

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www.altiushcg.com

In this episode, we explore how thoughtful innovation can create real, measurable impact in healthcare—without losing sight of the people doing the work. We begin with the story of Klickitat Valley Health and how strategic automation helped the organization save more than $1 million annually, freeing staff to focus less on manual processes and more on patient care.

From there, the conversation looks ahead to what’s next. We discuss the growing role of 3D visualization and extended reality in surgical planning, and how these technologies are reshaping the way clinicians prepare, collaborate, and deliver care. But technology alone isn’t enough. A major theme of the episode centers on change management, trust, and why successful AI adoption depends just as much on people and culture as it does on tools and systems.

As Stephanie Dorwart puts it, “Automation done right gives people time back—and gives them their purpose back.” That idea serves as a throughline for the entire discussion.

Our guest, Ted Dinsmore, brings a global perspective to the conversation. As President of SphereGen, Ted has spent his career designing automation, AI, and extended reality solutions for healthcare systems around the world—from building multilingual electronic medical records in Switzerland to creating virtual assistants for hospitals across the United States. His passion lies in making advanced technology accessible and practical for healthcare organizations of all sizes, including rural and community-based facilities.

To learn more about SphereGen and the innovations discussed in this episode, visit the SphereGen Learning Center at www.spheregen.com. You can also explore Altius Healthcare Consulting Group at www.altiushcg.com.

Be sure to listen and subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or Amazon Music—and join the conversation about what’s possible when healthcare innovation is grounded in purpose, trust, and leadership.

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