NWONL - Presidents Message "Where is the love in healthcare?"

I had one of those moments just the other day where you get into your car--or cue up your Spotify-- and the song playing is the theme to everything happening in your world lately. The Song was "Where is the Love", by the Black Eyes Peas. As Will.i.am asked me what was wrong with the world, I realized that I had asked myself many times over the past month the same question regarding how healthcare workers are being treated today.

In 2003 when the song came out, I dealt with the occasional rude or angry patient or family member.  At the time, I worked in a Medical ICU, and the industry was encouraging us to call patients clients, and patient satisfaction was gaining popularity. The following year when my leadership team asked us to read Fred Lee’s "If Disney Ran Your Hospital", I was all in (because I understood) the things people were frustrated about felt fixable. Empowering our teams to solve problems de-escalated many situations.  Even the most irate client could be reasoned with, and we could prevent future frustration. In 2003, incivility happened, but It certainly was not the daily, or sometimes hourly occurrence it is 20 years later.

The respect for healthcare providers and those in serving industries has deteriorated. My teams have been called names I wouldn’t repeat, have been hit and spit on, and have had weapons used against them seemingly unprovoked. Although our teams are still empowered to solve problems, they don’t always feel safe doing so. The toolkit I needed to be a leader in 2003 (when the Black Eye’d Peas filled a third of my CD Changer) differs from the one I need in 2023. To be a leader today, I need to be skilled at setting boundaries with the people I want to help, while protecting those I serve. I need to think about the worst-case scenarios that might occur while being mindful of the trauma history in my community. I have to create meaningful partnerships with legislators, police, and community members in addition to the strategic relationships I fostered in the past. Crisis planning is no longer just about preparing for the next natural disaster... 20 years ago, I never thought I would have lobbied to put a metal detector in our Emergency Department. 

Despite all of this, I still lead in healthcare. Because for all of the times that I ask myself, “Where is the love?” I also have it answered.  The love is in the patient we saved who came back to thank us. In the mother who survived a high-risk birth because we had the resources to help her.  In the mentally ill patient who recovered to support their family and in the patient, who received a diagnosis from our physicians that no one else could provide. Despite the new challenges in healthcare, I refuse to give up on the meaning in our work.  Our team members show up to work daily because they realize they make a difference, they are the love.  Our leaders show up with renewed vigor to support their employees and to keep them safe, they are the love. Healthcare leaders join together to solve the problems of the future, they are the future of love. 

It is not as catchy a title, but maybe Will.i.am will write me a song called, "I still see the Love"...

-Desi

Desi McCue, President NWONL