Health Care & Servant-Leadership: Part I
A story in today's New York Times reveals a very disturbing trend in the nation's hospitals: In a nationwide survey of more than 2,000 adults published last fall, 55 percent of those surveyed said they were dissatisfied with the quality of health care, up from 44 percent in 2000; and 40 percent said the quality of care had gotten worse in the last five years. The story describes the nation's nursing shortages, budget woes, and shortened hospital stays occuring around the country. Without even describing the problem of rising health care costs, the stories of those who have had horrible experiences during their visits are incredible and disappointing. Even a hospital employee describes her experiences when checking into the same hospital in which she worked.
Clearly there is much work the nation's hospitals can do to help create a servant-leadership culture within their organization. We are blessed in our region to have two first-rate hospitals, not to mention the Mayo Clinic only 1 hour west of here, and stories such as the ones in this article are the rare exception. Yet there is always room for improvement: The hospital employee described in the story, who knew the nurse checking her in, was rolled into the hospital in a wheelchair and describes how the nurse did not even acknowledge her and only spoke to the person pushing the wheelchair. Her amazement in being talked over as if she were a child reminds me of how my wife, who has MS and is in a wheelchair, has felt on a couple of occasions when checking into the hospital.
It is bad enough that many Americans must pay more and more for health care with fewer and fewer options in choosing their doctor. We must work at creating a servant-leader environment so that stories such as those in this story do not continue to become commonplace.
Clearly there is much work the nation's hospitals can do to help create a servant-leadership culture within their organization. We are blessed in our region to have two first-rate hospitals, not to mention the Mayo Clinic only 1 hour west of here, and stories such as the ones in this article are the rare exception. Yet there is always room for improvement: The hospital employee described in the story, who knew the nurse checking her in, was rolled into the hospital in a wheelchair and describes how the nurse did not even acknowledge her and only spoke to the person pushing the wheelchair. Her amazement in being talked over as if she were a child reminds me of how my wife, who has MS and is in a wheelchair, has felt on a couple of occasions when checking into the hospital.
It is bad enough that many Americans must pay more and more for health care with fewer and fewer options in choosing their doctor. We must work at creating a servant-leader environment so that stories such as those in this story do not continue to become commonplace.
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