After quite some time in a hospital that more often than not feels like a war zone I applied and was interviewed at a nice shiny new hospital. It's part of a larger system of hospitals that has been established in this region for a number of years and this is their new baby. I was offered a job in the Intensive Care Unit, which I love, both for the acuity of the patients (so much to learn!) and the fact that the nurse/patient ratio is quite low. This is a very good thing.
I've been orienting at this shiny new hospital all week long. Every day I go in and learn more about service excellence, performance standards, protocols --the "this is how we do things here" speeches. I keep getting teary eyed as I listen because the culture they have created is so vastly different from where I've been. They actually staff enough people that you can help people one at a time. A few days ago I told my husband, "I feel like I have just entered the Disney of hospitals." Ironically, they quoted a book today called, "What if Disney Ran Your Hospital?" What if a hospital visit became a good experience? What if the staff exceeded your expectations? What if they used their profits to reinvest in more staff, better equipment, more help for the community? Imagine that.
So I sit and listen and get teary because even if they live up to half of what they profess my days will be so different from how they have been that I will actually walk out at the end of the day with my head held high knowing I did a good job and was able to live up to my goal in helping people. And that is an exceedingly good thing.
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