Healthy Workforce Institute

What Healthy Workforce Institute does

Healthy Workforce Institute (HWI), legally RTConnections, LLC and doing business as HealthyWorkforceInstitute.com, is a privately-held, women-owned small business founded by Dr. Renee Thompson in 2011 to eradicate workplace bullying and incivility in healthcare. The company is operationally based in Pittsburgh, PA, with a Florida-domiciled LLC entity and an Oldsmar, FL return address; the full-time core team numbers 1-10 employees, supplemented by a bench of contracted consultants including Dr. Mitchell Kusy, Dr. Cole Edmonson, Diane Salter, Priscilla Meyers, and Randy Keirn.

HWI's core technology is its proprietary, trademarked Healthy Workforce Framework™ — a three-pillar (organizational, leader, team) methodology packaged with behavior scripts, assessments, and implementation tools — alongside the Healthy Workforce Culture Framework™ launched in 2024. Products and services span the Healthy Workforce Academy eLearning platform (self-paced courses including 'Eradicating Bullying & Incivility: Essential Skills for Healthcare Leaders'), custom consulting engagements, workshops, keynote presentations, a Healthy Workforce Culture Change Certification Program, a Graduate Nurse Anti-Bully Curriculum, the 'What If You Are the Bully?' self-reflection tool (2025), and a catalog of physical and digital products (books, toolkits, Be Kind Buttons, Bee Kind Cards, and a 12-month activities calendar). Content is distributed through a Coffee Break podcast and video series, and the firm is ANCC-accredited for nursing continuing professional development.

The business model blends professional-services revenue (keynotes, workshops, custom consulting delivered through enterprise field sales and conference-driven demand generation), subscription/recurring revenue (Healthy Workforce Academy eLearning sold via self-service and Infusionsoft storefront), and one-time product sales (books on the firm's own storefront and Amazon plus bundled kits and physical merchandise). Customer concentration sits primarily with U.S. hospitals and health systems (Mayo Clinic, Kaiser Permanente, Memorial Sloan Kettering, UCSF Benioff, Texas Children's, Cedars Sinai, UPMC, Trinity, Sutter, Novant, Jefferson Health, and others) with limited disclosed international activity in Canada, Ireland, and the UAE. The firm is bootstrapped and self-funded, with no institutional investors, and operates under SBA WOSB and ANCC NCPD certifications.

Name

Healthy Workforce Institute

Legal name

RTConnections, LLC

Website

https://healthyworkforceinstitute.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Healthy Workforce Institute is a privately-held, women-owned consulting firm that helps U.S. hospitals and health systems eradicate workplace bullying and incivility through custom consulting, keynotes, workshops, an eLearning Academy, certification programs, and a portfolio of books and tools anchored by the trademarked Healthy Workforce Framework™.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Workforce Consulting

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Workplace Wellness & Wellbeing Education (EDAAAHAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Corporate/Workplace Wellness Coaching (HSADAGAL), Health, Wellness & Lifestyle Noncredit Programs (EDAAAEAH), Employer Wellness & Population Health Programs (HLAEAAAH)

Keywords

• Healthcare workforce consulting
• Anti-bullying training
• Nursing professional development
• Healthcare leadership workshops
• Workplace culture change

Headquarters

HQ city

Oldsmar

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Keynote Speaking: High-energy keynote presentations to motivate healthcare audiences to take action against bullying and incivility. Keynotes are booked for conferences and organizational events.
2. Education & Workshops: Equip teams with skills and tools to address bad behavior and cultivate professional work culture through tailored workshops.
3. Healthy Workforce Consulting: Transform organizations through custom Healthy Workforce interventions to hardwire and sustain healthy workforce culture.
4. eLearning Academy: Online courses and programs for cultivating and sustaining healthy work culture, accessible through the Healthy Workforce Academy platform.
5. Book Sales: Sale of published books including 'Enough! Eradicate Bullying & Incivility in Healthcare' (2nd Edition), 'Do No Harm Applies to Nurses Too!', 'From Exhausted to Extraordinary', 'Celebrate Nursing', and books by Dr. Mitchell Kusy.
6. Product Sales: Sale of physical and digital products including New Leader Toolkit, Be Kind Buttons, Be Kind Packages, Bee Kind Cards, 52 Tactical Tips eBook, and 12 Month Activities Calendar.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Healthy Workforce Institute delivers custom consulting, workshops, and keynote presentations to healthcare organizations seeking to eliminate workplace bullying and incivility. It also operates the Healthy Workforce Academy, an ANCC-accredited eLearning platform offering self-paced courses for healthcare leaders, and sells books, toolkits, and physical culture-reinforcement products directly through its online shop.

Product overview

The Healthy Workforce Institute offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services focused on eradicating bullying and incivility in healthcare. The core offering is the Healthy Workforce Academy (eLearning platform) providing courses like 'Eradicating Bullying & Incivility: Essential Skills for Healthcare Leaders'. This is complemented by multiple books including the flagship '#1 Amazon Best Seller Enough! Eradicate Bullying & Incivility in Healthcare, 2nd Edition', 'Do No Harm Applies to Nurses Too!', 'From Exhausted to Extraordinary', and 'Celebrate Nursing'. Additional books by consultant Dr. Mitchell Kusy include 'Why I Don't Work Here Anymore' and 'The Playbook for Leading Change'. The New Leader Toolkit bundles the eCourse, Enough! book, Do No Harm book, and 52 Tactical Tips eBook. Physical products include Be Kind Buttons, Bee Kind Cards, and the Be Kind Package. The institute also offers keynote presentations, workshops, and consulting services, along with free resources like the Healthy Workforce Framework Toolkit, 33 Scripts, and the Coffee Break Podcast. ANCC accreditation validates their nursing continuing professional development programs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Healthy Workforce Academy: Online eLearning platform providing courses for healthcare leaders to cultivate and sustain healthy work culture.
• Healthy Workforce Framework™
• Coffee Break Podcast

Products and services

• Healthy Workforce Academy (eLearning Platform)

Quantifiable outcome

• Organizations report improved team culture, reduced disruptive behaviors, and increased staff engagement after implementing HWI programs
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers19 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 January 2023HWI CEO Dr. Renee Thompson named 2026 AONL Fellow and serves as keynote/pre-conference speaker at AONL Annual Conference. HWI cited as key resource in AONL's Nursing Leadership Workforce Compendium Section 2, Chapter 4 on Positive Practice Environment.
• American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHWI achieved ANCC accreditation for nursing continuing professional development (NCPD), enabling the organization to provide accredited education that meets evidence-based criteria for professional nursing growth.
• Association for Nursing Professional Development (ANPD)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHWI partner organization supporting nursing professional development. The ANPD logo appears on HWI's website partner section indicating collaborative relationship.
• Sigma (Honoring Nursing Excellence)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational nursing honor society listed as HWI partner. Diane Salter has presented at Sigma Theta Tau's International conference on Creating Healthy Work Environments.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• VitalSmarts / Crucial Learning: Crucial Learning (parent of VitalSmarts) offers Crucial Conversations and other workplace communication/influence training courses sold to healthcare leaders and teams. Highly comparable as a workplace skills training vendor competing for similar nurse leader and HR budgets and offering both in-person workshops and digital learning.
• The Beryl Institute: A global community of practice focused on improving the human experience in healthcare, offering certifications, resources, and community for healthcare leaders. Comparable as a healthcare-focused workforce/experience education and certification community competing for similar nurse leader mindshare and budgets.
• The Workplace Bullying Institute: Founded by Dr. Gary Namie, WBI is a leading workplace bullying advocacy, research, and training organization offering books, trainings, and consulting on bullying prevention. Directly comparable mission and customer overlap (employers seeking to address workplace bullying), though WBI is broader than healthcare.
• Crucial Learning (separate VitalSmarts entity): Crucial Learning's healthcare-specific 'Crucial Conversations' and 'Getting Things Done' programs are widely deployed in hospitals and health systems. Comparable as a healthcare-targeted, workshop-plus-digital leadership skills training vendor.

Broad incumbents

• Press Ganey: Press Ganey is a large healthcare workforce and patient experience analytics firm offering employee engagement surveys, nursing excellence solutions, and consulting to health systems. Broader and larger incumbent that overlaps with HWI's nurse retention and culture transformation value proposition.
• Huron Consulting: Global consulting firm with a healthcare practice offering workforce, culture, and operational transformation services to hospitals and health systems. Comparable at the enterprise consulting layer for healthcare culture work, though Huron is a much larger, broader portfolio player.
• Gallup: Gallup provides Q12 employee engagement research, surveys, and management training used by many healthcare organizations. Overlaps with HWI's value proposition on engagement, retention, and culture change, though Gallup is a broad incumbent across all industries.
• Center for Creative Leadership: CCL is a well-established leadership development provider offering programs, assessments, and coaching for healthcare and other sectors. Comparable as a leadership training vendor selling to nurse executives and healthcare leaders, though CCL is a broader portfolio incumbent.
• FranklinCovey: FranklinCovey sells enterprise training programs including leadership, culture change, and communication curricula to healthcare systems. Comparable at the enterprise training and culture change layer, though FranklinCovey is a much larger broader portfolio incumbent.

Others

• Sigma Theta Tau International (Sigma): Sigma is the international nursing honor society that HWI lists as a partner and where HWI consultants present. Not a direct competitor but a complementary nursing professional development ecosystem that channels similar buyers (nurse leaders, NPD specialists) toward continuing education and conferences.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/RTConnections
• Facebookfacebook.com/HealthyWorkforceInstitute
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/rtconnections
• Instagraminstagram.com/healthyworkforceinstitute

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Healthy Workforce Institute