Pulse of UTMC

I’d like to introduce you to somebody I met this morning.

This morning I was heading from my daily radiation treatment to my office and coming up a stairwell. A custodian stepped aside and said something I couldn’t quite understand. I stopped, asked him to repeat himself, and he told me that he always stops to let a woman pass. I joked that the two of us had plenty of room to pass each other, but he said his gesture was made out of respect.

Now I’m not exactly a “traditional” woman in the stereotypical sense, but I found this man’s manners to be refreshing. What was even more refreshing is that his kind gesture was a catalyst for a short conversation. Noticing an unfamiliar accent, I asked where he was originally from. I learned that Rudolph (who, I found out from two of his co-workers later goes by “Rudy) came to the United States from Ghana in West Africa (he’s got a great accent, by the way).  He asked what department I work in and where my office was.

John Nance, author of Why Hospitals Should Fly, visited our campus this summer and made numerous presentations to students, faculty and staff. He talked about the importance of mutual respect and personal connections in a hospital setting, and how it ultimately can result in safer care for patients.

Rudolph and I aren’t treating the sick or injured, necessarily, but we engaged.  That may not seem like a very big deal, but it was to me. You see, now I will always make eye contact and say hello to Rudolph when I see him. If there’s a piece of trash on the floor, I will think, “Maybe I ought to help Rudolph out and pick this up.”

So, I ask those of you reading this – would you be willing to share ways – however small – that you engage with the folks with whom you work? Or maybe share a new habit you’ve decided to make in order to be more engaging with the folks around you.

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

I want to dedicate today’s journal entry specifically to physicians and health-care providers at UT Medical Center.

Today can be just another day.

But it doesn’t have to be just another day. It can be the mark of something remarkable.

As a medical facility, we talk about transforming the culture here. We talk about implementing the incredibly high-reaching iCARE plan.

On Thursday, Aug. 20, faculty, staff and students interacting with patients and visitors at UTMC hospitals and clinics are invited to publicly proclaim their willingness to provide “extreme patient centeredness” by signing an iCARE banner that will be displayed in the hospital during the coming months. Get more info on the festivities.

A recent visit to UTMC by John Nance, author of Why Hospitals Should Fly, helped remind many of us – whether we are an administrator, a physician, a nurse, a custodial worker, or a telephone operator, realize that there are simple things everybody who works here can do to make patients the safest they can be while in our care, all the while making UT Medical Center an enjoyable place to work.

It’s the little things that can make a big difference – for our patients, for our co-workers, for ourselves.

Things like:

• Getting to know even just the names of others who work here
• Speaking up when something might not be right – no matter what
• Acknowledging – and embracing – the fact that human error is unavoidable
• Stopping and picking up trash instead of walking over it

It all starts with each of us. It’s all about remembering why we have chosen to work at an institution that cares for patients. If we can keep that in mind, the rest should fall into place.