Healthcare workers' perceived role and the patient experience

by Doug Della Pietra Three men are laying bricks. Someone goes up to the first and asks, "What are you doing?" He replies, "Laying bricks." The inquisitor moves to the second and inquires, "Sir, what are you doing?" He responds, "Feeding my family." Finally, the questioner asks the same question to the third man laying bricks who says, "I am working here with a great team! We are building a magnificent cathedral that many will visit and that will be here for years and years after I am gone." How do people at your hospital answer the following question when asked, "What are you doing?" or "What do you do here?" How do you wish they would answer? (See my desired response in a couple paragraphs.) You may recall the story I shared last December in "4 key ingredients for creating an exceptional patient experience" about the maintenance man at a local hospital who compassionately offered to assist my mom when he saw her holding a wall-rail while catching her breath. That simple act of empathy and compassion made a lasting impact on me. If we followed up with that maintenance man and asked what he did at the hospital, I wonder if he would say the usual sorts of job description tasks like: "I repair equipment" "I fix electrical switches/outlets" "I put together new machinery and equipment" "I do some general cleaning" "I keep up and routine preventive maintenance projects" "Laying bricks" (I had to throw that one in there!) Or might he surprise and inspire us, as hap...
Source: hospital impact - Category: Health Managers Authors: Source Type: blogs