A warm greeting might seem like a small gesture—but in healthcare, it can be the difference between calm and chaos. In this episode of Confidence in Conflict, Marcus (former healthcare security director) and Natalie (nurse practitioner and clinical team leader) unpack the concept of the universal greeting—a simple, structured approach to starting any interaction with acknowledgment, respect, and clarity.

Drawing on neuroscience, field experience, and cross-cultural communication practices, they explore how a well-delivered greeting creates safety, builds trust, and sets the tone for positive outcomes with patients, families, and colleagues alike.

Healthcare is full of unpredictable moments—but what happens before an interaction begins can determine whether it ends in conflict or connection. In this episode of Confidence in Conflict, Marcus (former healthcare security director) and Natalie (nurse practitioner and clinical team leader) explore the often-overlooked phase of the Unified Conflict Management Framework: Context, or pre-contact preparation.

Drawing from real-world scenarios, clinical experience, and evidence-based practices, they break down how preparing your mind, body, and intentions before engagement is one of the most effective strategies for staying safe, reducing stress, and achieving better outcomes.

Hospitals are designed for healing, but without a culture of dignity and respect, even the most advanced facilities can become unsafe environments. While policies and protocols matter, the daily behaviors of staff—how they greet, listen, explain, and interact—are what truly shape safety outcomes.

In this episode, Marcus (former healthcare security director) and Natalie (nurse practitioner and clinical team leader) examine how treating people with dignity and showing them respect isn’t just about being nice—it’s a strategic safety skill. Drawing on neuroscience, real-life stories, and decades of field experience, they make the case that respect is one of the most powerful tools healthcare professionals have to prevent conflict and create safer environments.

Hospitals are built for urgency—but working in constant crisis takes a toll. In environments where emotions run high and stakes are life-or-death, healthcare professionals are expected to remain calm, focused, and in control. But how?

In this episode, Marcus (former healthcare security director) and Natalie (nurse practitioner and clinical team leader) dive into the art and science of non-escalation—the proactive skill of staying grounded and professional even as chaos unfolds around you. Drawing from real-world experience and evidence-based strategies, they share actionable tools for maintaining composure, protecting safety, and reducing the ripple effects of stress in clinical environments.

Join Vistelar in exploring how verbal strategies and presence can prevent conflict before it starts. Discover why your voice is one of your most powerful tools for staying safe in healthcare environments.

Learn how tone, pacing, and volume affect patient interactions, master word choice strategies that naturally de-escalate tense situations, and understand how to acknowledge emotions before providing information.

Key topics include delivering difficult news, setting boundaries while maintaining rapport, handling uncertainty with confidence, and adapting communication for diverse backgrounds.

Note: This podcast uses synthetic voices to share training and communication strategies developed by Vistelar.

Guest Moderator - Brine Hamilton, CHPA

Special Guests - Joel Lashley, Gary Klugiewicz

Today, the largest institution in America for the treatment of mentally ill people is the Los Angeles County Jail, followed by jails in New York and Chicago. How is it that we wound up housing our mentally ill and cognitively disabled people in jails? Is it just a fact of life that mentally ill and cognitively challenged people commit more crimes than healthy and neurotypical people, so they end up in jail? …Or is the answer more complex?

In addition, emergency rooms absorb around 12 million mental health emergency visits a year. These visits can be not only enormously costly but largely ineffective, due to a lack of training by clinical staff to manage their patient’s mental health needs.

In this episode Brine talks to Gary and Joel about how and what kind of trained techniques can have a positive impact on an institution's collective response to a critical incident.

Some key takeaways from the discussion will include:

- The role of a special management team comprised of various professionals in responding to crisis situations within an institution and how consistent interdepartmental training is crucial to achieve a positive outcome

- How treating individuals with dignity by showing them respect keeps everyone safer

- Why employing "Non-Escalation" can be as important as "De-Escalation"

- Using empathy - what is the other person's reality vs. your own - is essential when communicating with someone in severe crisis

On this episode Allen talks to two of the researchers who conducted a study of the effectiveness of Vistelar's training at the Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division (MCBHD). They spent countless hours observing as the majority of MCBHD's staff received end-user training that ranged from verbal non-escalation/de-escalation to team stabilization tactics. From environmental services to physicians, participants from across the organization participated in the training and ultimately the study.

The data gathered, through surveys, focus groups, and quantitative data showed an overall positive impact on various concerns that prompted the training in the first place. The training showed some of the following benefits:

Reduced role conflict between different staff members

Improved individuals' conflict resolution skills

Increased safety or perceptions of safety while at work, reduce burnout and turnover

Today, Brine Hamilton is joined by Joel Lashley, the author of Vistelar’s book titled Confidence in Conflict for Healthcare Professionals. Joel has worked in public safety for over 30 years, including 18 years of service in the health care setting. He also co-developed a program for managing the challenging behaviors of children, adolescents, and adults with autism and other cognitive disabilities for police officers, corrections officers, and healthcare providers.

Their discussion dives into the topic of how good report writing and good training go hand in hand.

Some of the takeaways include:

How under-reporting in healthcare settings leads to less safe environments of care

- The elements of writing a complete report

- Why good training leads to better, timely and more complete reports

- How a well written incident report can be used to justify one actions when questioned by those in authority

- How The Persuasion Sequence can be used as a simple roadmap for writing a great report

On this episode, guest moderator, Brine Hamilton, talks to Mike Cummings and Lisa Terry about how to affect change within an organization. Both Mike and Lisa have decades of leadership experience and are recognized experts in the healthcare security industry.

During the interview they focus on the processes they followed for overcoming organizational barriers to creating change. They describe practical and actionable tips to advocate for new initiatives. These include creative ways to tap into available resources, influence key stakeholders and utilizing data in decision making. Mike and Lisa also talk about how to create sustainability to ensure continued and future success.

https://vistelar.com

On this episode, Allen Oelschlaeger is joined by Dr. Jim Bohn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesbohn), a change management and leadership expert. He has decades of organizational executive experience and is author of several books. He currently runs his own consultant practice and is a certified speaker for Vistage.

The discussion focuses on the issue of intra-organizational conflict – i.e., conflict that is internal to an organization (rather than with clients or the general public). It is the second episode of a three-part series on this topic.

Some of the core principles discussed include:

How seemingly mundane issues can spur bigger conflicts within an organization

Why intra-organizational conflict is actually a bigger issue within organizations than conflicts will clients or the public

How the issues of power, turf, and fear drive a lot of conflict

The value of having a common goal and leadership focused on driving their team towards that goal

The role of the annual performance review

When a new team is put together, the need to form, storm, norm, perform.

Why leaders need to demonstrate their values, not just talk about them

To learn more from Dr. Jim Bohn, check out his books on Amazon or connect with him on LinkedIn.