Drinking sand

A comment made in today's newspaper article got me to thinking....Ruth McDaniel was quoted as saying that "morale is such a nebulous thing and it's hard to characterize". The newspaper also mentioned that McDaniel denied that there was a morale problem. Personally, I don't see how that statement can be made...it feels as though morale is at an all-time low.

So, the question becomes, what can be done on the personal level? That applies to each and every employee, as well as every patient and family member. And, yes, it applies to senior management at LPNT as well as community leadership in Danville, Pittsylvania and Caswell. Problems at DRMC, whether real or perceived, will impact healthcare choices in the area and people will begin to respond by choosing a facility other than DRMC. This becomes especially painful when those who are commercially insured choose to go elsewhere.

And, for the value of this blog, what we get out of it is only as good as what goes into it. There have been suggestions by some (including from managers at the hospital) that there is no value in comments made anonymously on this blog. True, some folks have used the cover of anonymity to take low shots at community leaders, management and even each other. But the vast majority of posts on this blog (and I've read them all) have taken the conversational tone of employees talking with each other. Some are very well informed and some seem to come to the blog looking for information. If the blog made you sign your name to every post, I feel that posts would drop off by a large percentage. So, I think it's better to make sure that the comments don't get out of hand and delete a few, than to shut down an outlet for anonymous discussion.

Back to the bigger issue...perhaps the recommendations made by the Citizens Commission will give LPNT some valuable insight into issues that need to be addressed. All we can ask is that LPNT is forthcoming with the community about issues (such as Joint Commission). When more people feel that they are getting all the information they need to do their job, then maybe that paves the way to better results.

There was a quote that I used much earlier in the life of this blog, but I'll bring it back here. Maybe more people are relying on the anonymous ramblings of this blog, rumor and fiction because they aren't hearing the real information they need coming from their leaders (whoever those leaders may be)....so I'll stop rambling and leave you with some pretty good words from "The American President"...

"People want leadership. And in the absence of genuine leadership, they will listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership...They're so thirsty for it, they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand.
People don't drink the sand, 'cause they're thirsty...They drink it 'cause they don't know the difference."