I was talking to a staff member last week and we discussed my heartfelt philosophy about the significance and importance of every employee and that even though each role may have varying accountabilities, no matter what your "title" is, each one is very special and has something valuable to contribute to the organization.

In healthcare, no one individual can even begin to take on the enormous responsibility to accomplish what occurs day in and day out to care for patients and provide the array of services we do...in some ways, what happens in healthcare could be viewed as very simplistic and straight-forward (you know, follow the policy, carry out the written orders, obey the regulations, complete the checklist) and there are many times where the same type of patient and their condition or other non-clinical circumstances occur and we know how to adequately care for them in our sleep...then, there are plenty of times where the unexpected happens, the patient didn't respond as warranted, the formula was wrong, the technique that was used 100 times before went awry, and the tried and true procedure went out of kilter.

I'm glad that I'm never alone, I don't have to make a decision in isolation, I have great resources to bounce an idea off of, and no matter what designation is on someone's name tag, everyone can work together to provide the highest quality experience for our patients, in fact, for me as a hospital administrator, I cherish the feedback and ideas from staff who are working closely in the care and service environment on a regular basis.

Sometimes I need inspiration to varying degrees: creative, efficient, strategic, business, enthusiastic, intuitive, and insightful...those usually don't come from one person, but many...so remember that no matter what position you hold in the organization, you are an important part of the healthcare team.