The Three North Wing (3NW) staff breakroom at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center is colorful, bright and sun-filled. The walls feature photos of the nursing staff, announcements for special events and thank you cards from grateful patients. Next to the window, 20 small canvases hang close together to comprise a large painting. Together, the canvases form the image of a health care professional framed by buildings and standing in front of rolling hills.
The beautiful painting is much more than a wall decoration. It represents the diversity of 3NW team members and the vocation that unites them all. It reminds each person that they are a welcome member of the team.
In December 2022, dozens of 3NW staff painted the shared art piece, titled “Unity in Diversity.” The painting event and the artwork are part of a larger initiative to celebrate each person’s unique background, improve teamwork and cultivate a more collaborative environment.
A unique and meaningful team-building activity
The nationally recognized 3NW team includes nurses, clinical care partners, nurse managers and other staff members. They care for patients before, during and after orthopedic surgery, including complex joint replacements, traumatic injury repair and a range of elective surgeries.
As unit director of 3NW, Kelsey Zwang, MSN, RN, CCRN, NE-BC, understands that effective teamwork is essential to excellent care. “Every year, we work with our Unit Practice Council on an evidence-based project to improve one specific aspect of the care we provide,” said Zwang. The Unit Practice Council (UPC) is a group of UCLA Health nurses who look at the national benchmarks and help the team determine the project’s focus. “When we looked at the data, we saw an opportunity to improve nurse engagement, teamwork and interprofessional relationships,” she said. “With that goal in mind, we wanted to focus on celebrating the diversity of our team.”
Working closely with unit-based Unity in Diversity (UID) Council representative Susanne Detto, Zwang and her UPC team began finalizing the details of the project. The UID is a professional governance council that encourages nurses to spearhead initiatives focusing on equity, diversity and inclusion.
Zwang, who is also an artist, had read about other hospitals’ efforts to promote diversity and inclusion through art. The project planning team was inspired by the artwork of London, U.K.-based artist Lynnie Z., who explores diversity through her work. “We had been talking about using creativity as an outlet to support nurses in their work here, and we decided that a shared art project would enable us to work together to create something beautiful while also making people feel that they can express themselves and their true feelings,” she said.
Custom artwork reflects the 3NW team
Zwang and her team prepared 20 canvases and sketched a rough image of their vision for the piece. When participants arrived at the event and began painting, each person’s creativity started to come through. They painted the canvases, chose colors they were drawn to and tapped into their creative expression to make the panels unique.
“Our creative concept was for half the person to be an RN with a blue scrub top and the other half to be a care partner, which represents the whole of our team,” said Zwang. The left half of the canvas features a nighttime scene with a moon and stars, and the right half depicts a daytime scene with clouds and the sun. “By representing day and night scenes, we wanted to showcase our teamwork across the day and night shifts. And the person at the center represents anyone who works with us here — male, female, non-binary, from any background, ethnicity or race,” she said.
The painting brings together many disparate images. The process of creating the artwork brought people together, too. “We wanted to make sure people feel proud of their different contributions, that they can see themselves in the art, and that they feel welcome and encouraged to express themselves as their true selves,” said Zwang. “We wanted this to be a tangible reminder of the fact that together, we all create a beautiful picture.”
The project took about a year from the first planning meeting to the artwork’s big reveal. When all panels were complete and the collective work was hung in the break room, the 3NW team invited UCLA Health leadership to attend a “gallery opening” event. Attendees viewed the completed work while enjoying refreshments and a discussion about the work’s significance.
Creating a supportive team culture
From the project’s inception, Zwang and the UPC knew they wanted it to be more than just a fun activity. On a broader scale, Zwang’s goal was to better understand how team members felt about their place on the team. She also wanted to empower them to bring their perspectives to the table.
Zwang and her team worked with the UPC to create a short survey. The survey’s questions addressed various topics, including how nurses felt their ideas were received and whether they felt comfortable expressing their true feelings at work.
Participants filled out the surveys before the project started and again several months later. After the project was complete, most people said they felt a stronger connection with their team members. The surveys showed significant increases in how participants:
- Felt others cared about them
- Felt their ideas and suggestions were perceived by the team
- Were encouraged to express their true feelings
Part of a broader effort to promote equity, diversity and inclusion
The 3NW leadership team has worked with the UID Council on many initiatives to foster inclusion and increase diversity. One effort involves improving staff members’ communication with patients. “We have so many team members who speak different languages here at UCLA Health,” said Zwang. “We are now encouraging them to complete a language proficiency assessment so they can speak to patients without a translator.” The team is also gathering data about which languages are represented so they can share that information with patients.
Other efforts focus on connecting with the LGBTQ+ community. Team members ask patients about their preferred pronouns and are encouraged to include their own preferred pronouns when introducing themselves. “We want our patients to know that we hear them, we see them and we will do what we can to communicate with them on their terms,” said Zwang.
She points out that all these efforts revolve around improving patient care. When team members and patients feel as if they are valued for who they are and encouraged to share their true selves with others, everyone benefits. “We want to convey that we’re all in this together,” said Zwang. “We’re unified, and we’re all welcome here.”
