Susan E. Mazer, Ph.D. Blog

Thoughts and ideas on healthcare

Hi, and welcome to my blog! I'm Susan E. Mazer -- a knowledge expert and thought leader on how the environment of care impacts the patient experience. Topics I write about include safety, satisfaction, hospital noise, nursing, care at the bedside, and much more. Subscribe below to get email notices so you won't miss any great content.

COVID-19: When Fear Is a Risk Factor and the News, a Pathogen

March 12, 2020

Global, natural, and man-made disasters have become a painfully common occurrence. In the last two years, the world has faced hurricanes and earthquakes, mass shootings, terrorists driving trucks into crowds, and a recurrence of measles, whooping-cough, and tuberculosis. Now, we have COVID-19, a virus that remains unknown while it spreads throughout communities. What is new

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Honoring Dr. Leland R. Kaiser’s Legacy of Healing Health Care

January 18, 2019

If we are fortunate in our pursuit of meaningful work, we will find a mentor, a leader who will help us find our way. A guide who will let us know that no matter what is going on around us, we can put on the blinders of “purpose and mission” and move forward. I was

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Mayo Clinic: From Their Past We Can Find a Better Future

January 11, 2019

This past November I visited a dear friend at the Charter House, an adult living community connected to Mayo Clinic. She has been living there for 15 years. And, I have come to visit her many times. A month ago, she took a fall and broke multiple bones in her shoulder. It was decided to

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Thanksgiving is About Loving Kindness

November 21, 2018

Thanksgiving is about giving and gratitude, emphasis on the giving. And, this past year has brought about great changes in the world and right here at The C.A.R.E. Channel. Some of our longtime staff have moved on and others, new to us, bring new ideas and wonder to The C.A.R.E. Channel. My personal experience is

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Palliative Care and Hospice: Walking With Us To the End of the Path

November 16, 2018

Years pass without much notice, especially as an adult child realizing how our parents age. For us, they seem to stay the same for years and years… then, as if overnight, they are old. They are more frail, slower in responding to us, unable to fully understand all that is going on around them, and,

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Chaplaincy Week: The Chaplain as Healer

October 19, 2018

This is Chaplaincy Week. This is a week to celebrate the role our Chaplains play in caring for us and our patients. Their role is growing as we deal with challenges that are not so easily resolved with surgery or medications alone. For the patient to fully heal beyond their diagnosis, we must tend to

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When Pain is Pain

September 21, 2018

Pain teaches us what it is very early on in life. We learn that if we hurt, we get a kiss, or something extraordinary from someone bigger than we are, telling us “now, it doesn’t hurt any more, right?” However, sometimes we learn differently and suddenly and unforgettably. When I was a child, I had

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Health and Healthcare in India

February 16, 2018

My recent trip to India was not my first one. In 2002, I went to Delhi and was driven to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Every other trip has been to Mumbai. My husband Dallas Smith has been to India so many times that he can no longer remember how many. Despite this, we

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A New Look at Whole Person Care

January 5, 2018

This past year, healthcare has taken both steps forward and steps back. In many ways, healthcare leaders remain stuck and unable to agree on what the major issues are: disease or cost? Staffing or safety? Population health or reimbursement? Improving Health With Whole Person Care In a recent post on Managed HealthCare Executive, healthcare CEO Leanne Berge calls

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Population Health is About More Than Just Treating the Body

December 8, 2017

While healthcare is increasing its dependence on data, exactly which data matters to the quality of care remains in limbo. Population health is about data and people. It is about the “collective” and the “individual.” And, in both cases, the question is about which data helps the patient that is in your clinic, emergency room,

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