Hello All, Isn’t that a great quote to start the day with? “I’m still learning” – attributed to Michelangelo. I am still learning too – and we should never stop! The last three blogs were deep. So I decided I should be more lighthearted this week! (I didn’t want to lose all of you as readers!) Here is an idea that I stole shamelessly from one of my dear friends, Loretta, many years ago. I start every day with a little bit of trivia and knowledge from the National Day Calendar website: https://nationaldaycalendar.com Did you know there is a national day of something each and every day? February 28th is both National…

Hello All, I wish I knew the name of the person who provided this great quote: “The difference between stumbling blocks and stepping stones is how you use them.” As a leader, there were times I should have used them as stepping stones versus stumbling blocks. (In fact, I may not have just stumbled, I fell flat!)  I am sure that there were times when I could have helped my staff use those stones better too! This leads me to what we can do as leaders when errors occur. I am going to share some personal thoughts; and I am also going to share information that I have recently gotten…

Hello All, Happy Valentine’s Day! The day of hearts and flowers – hearts and souls – love and kindness. Perhaps it is appropriate that I will be continuing the conversation about errors – and how to protect the hearts and souls of the patients and the staff – on this day. I know many of you have heard me say the following frequently (though I am sure a few people just rolled their eyes and said “a million times”!). ALL of the employees are the heart and soul of an organization. The bricks and mortar may be beautiful – the landscaping may be perfect – and it is the employees that bring the…

Hello All, Happy Friday! I hope your team won in last week’s Super Bowl! I always hope for an exciting game, and this game certainly was. They are two young and talented teams. We will be hearing great things about them for years to come! I have been thinking about errors and the aftermath of errors. (Bob does say it must be scary to be in my head!) Let me give you the two different reasons this has been in my head! In 1999 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published a report called “To Err is Human”. This report was groundbreaking and shined a huge spotlight on healthcare. The report…