Friday Night at the ER – Systems Thinking for Healthcare and Public Health
Abstract
Maintaining the health of the public is becoming increasingly complex. Complex situations require leaders and managers to employ systems thinking to ensure optimal organizational performance.
Friday Night at the ER is a board game simulation that puts participants in charge of departments within a hospital for 24 hours on a Friday night – often the busiest time for an Emergency Room. During the fast-paced game, participants must make decisions to manage patient flow through key departments in the hospital. In the debrief, participants learn the concepts of systems thinking and how to improve management decisions. They learn about the importance of collaboration, innovation and use of data in the workplace. Progressive strategies for each of these concepts are provided, and participants are asked to reflect on how far along their organization is in employing these strategies. While set in a hospital, the simulation is relevant in any work setting, and particularly relevant in public health workplaces.
Keywords
Systems Thinking, Collaboration, Innovation, Data-Driven, Mental Models
Friday Night at the ER – Systems Thinking for Healthcare and Public Health
Maintaining the health of the public is becoming increasingly complex. Complex situations require leaders and managers to employ systems thinking to ensure optimal organizational performance.
Friday Night at the ER is a board game simulation that puts participants in charge of departments within a hospital for 24 hours on a Friday night – often the busiest time for an Emergency Room. During the fast-paced game, participants must make decisions to manage patient flow through key departments in the hospital. In the debrief, participants learn the concepts of systems thinking and how to improve management decisions. They learn about the importance of collaboration, innovation and use of data in the workplace. Progressive strategies for each of these concepts are provided, and participants are asked to reflect on how far along their organization is in employing these strategies. While set in a hospital, the simulation is relevant in any work setting, and particularly relevant in public health workplaces.
