Educational Programs

Workshops/Presentations |Conference Keynotes & Workshops | Conference Environmental Experiences |  Community Events | Meeting Facilitation

Our founders, Susan Mazer and Dallas Smith, are accomplished speakers, meeting facilitators, authors, and performers. They offer a variety of continuing education programs on how to create healing environments, empower staff, improve the patient experience, reduce noise, and the role of nursing in patient care. They can also help make your conference a memorable experience for attendees, lead meetings, and produce community events.

Accredited Staff Workshops
We are a provider of continuing education (CE) courses through the California Board of Registered Nursing.  Many states offer reciprocity with the California Board for CE courses. Our courses cover a variety of topics, including:

Designing Environments that Heal© A full-day or half-day participatory workshop that reviews the documented effects of the clinical environment on patient outcomes and provides strategies to improve patient care by using the environment as a therapeutic protocol. Each participant receives a workbook and tape. Limited to 60 participants.

Beyond Silence: Orchestrating the Patient Experience© A 60- or 90-minute program that discusses effective strategies to improve the patient experience and focusses on creating and sustaining a therapeutic environment as a means of supporting both caregivers and patients.

Curing the Noise Epidemic©  A 60- or 90-minute program that explores the problem of noise in hospitals and offers strategies to improve noise levels, thus enhancing confidentiality and privacy.

Florence Nightingale: In Her Own Words© Drawing from biographical literature and the writings of Florence Nightingale, Susan Mazer and Dallas Smith portray in drama and music the story of the eminent founder of modern nursing.

The voice of Nightingale speaks to issues of patient environments, nurse/physician relationships, statistics, professional conduct, and women's rights. This 60-minute dramatic presentation celebrates the role of nursing as envisioned and defined by Nightingale.

Custom courses can also be developed.

Contact us for more information, including a complete curriculum of each course offered.

Conference Keynotes & Workshops

Susan Mazer and Dallas Smith have presented at many national conferences and company meetings. Keynote or workshop sessions can be customized for general, as well as specialized audiences in the healthcare industry. Some conferences they have spoken at include:

• The Association for the Care of Children's Health conference
• American Acoustic Society (ASA) and Institute for Noise Control Engineers (INCE) annual symposium
• Cancer as a Turning Point conference
• HEALTHCARE DESIGN conference
• Lousiana PeriOperative Nurses Association (LAPAN) conference
• National Association of Neonatal Nurses conference
• Nursing 2002
• Planetree national conference
• Michigan Organization of Nursing Executives regional meeting
• Press Ganey client conference
• Symposium on Healthcare Design
• The Association of Healing Health Care Projects conference
• The Clinical Laboratory Management Association conference
• The Healthcare Forum

Contact us for more information.

Conference Environmental Experiences

Are looking to create a special or different conference experience?  We can help you do this be providing environmental music and images. 

From our groundbreaking work in the design of environments for healthcare settings, we apply and make visible the same ethic and standard of care in conference settings. Our custom video productions or live performances provide a memorable expression of your mission, vision, and commitment.

We believe that each conference event is an opportunity for regeneration, expressing the balance between the individual and the community.  Some of our conference clients include:

• Healthcare Design
• Nursing 2002
• The Healthcare Forum
• The Symposium on Healthcare Design
• Clinical Laboratory Managers Association (CLMA)
• The Association of Healing Health Care Projects
• Michigan Organization of Nursing Executives
• Association for the Care of Children's Health
• Annual Planetree Conference
• National Association of Social Workers, Nevada Chapter
• Georgia State Association for Marriage and Family Counselors
• Washington County Hospice
• Children's Hospice International

Contact us for more information.

Community Events
Susan Mazer and Dallas Smith also perform evening community events, which feature both lecture and concert performances of their original compositions as well as traditional jazz pieces.

Many institutions have used this as an opportunity to inform the community of their commitment to creating and implementing healing environments. They also provide an event for board members, families, and other interested individuals who would otherwise not be able to attend the staff workshops presented during work hours.

Meeting Facilitation
We also offer meeting facilitation using Open Space technology -- a pioneering approach that is recognized internationally as an innovative way to conduct more productive meetings.  It recognizes that groups large and small with common goals and objectives demonstrate the capacity to rapidly create effective meeting agendas and deal with complex issues.

Open Space offers an opportunity to discuss what is important to you with those who have done similar work or resolved challenges now facing you.   It allows you to share your experience and knowledge with those who most need it.

Contact us for more information.