Message from the President

It’s always good to get a new point of view. It helps ensure that we don’t let our own bias get in the way of understanding existing reality and of identifying opportunity.

For me, the quickest way to get a new point of view is to find someone with fresh eyes.
I find those fresh eyes in the cafeteria. They are usually sitting in small groups. And they are wearing student badges.

We, of course, train hundreds of them each year. Many of them are nursing students or medical students. They come from many different colleges and universities. They have some of the best views on how things are really going at Lakeland.

I met four of them this week. After getting acquainted and sharing and listening to a few stories, I got to the point of my impromptu lunch meeting: “How are things going?” “What have you learned?” and “What can we do better?”

Our conversation took a turn that you might easily predict but I haven’t heard before. I heard it from all around the table. They feel stressed; it feels frequent and significant. In fact, the choice each one faced related to what kind of unit they might like to work on and depended a lot on how stressful that kind of work might feel.

The conversation provided the opportunity to talk about stress, how to avoid it, how to manage it, and even how to use stress to our advantage. It also gave me a chance to think about what we could do to make health care, and their new role in health care, less stressful. As I listened to the students it became clear that the Lakeland team had already done that.

The students felt uniformly supported and encouraged.

I listened as the students shared what it felt like to have our team not just help train them but encourage them and help them gain confidence. As three students left to return to their responsibilities one student remained behind to continue his story.

He described how “everybody, everywhere” was so very helpful. Those terms, “everybody, everywhere,” are ones I listen for carefully. Those words indicate consistency. When it comes to good things in health care, more consistency, and less variation, is a good thing.

He went on. He said he expected that the individuals in the units he was assigned to would do their best to help him feel supported and relaxed. What was remarkable was that even those who had no direct responsibility in his training seemed patient, respectful, and helpful.

I sat there with a smile on my face. I have heard this kind of report from many patients and many families. I’m so grateful to each of you when I hear comments like that. But this was the first time that I have had students, without any prompting from me, tell me that was their educational experience here at Lakeland.

That encouraging and supportive culture, that loving and respectful culture, is good for our patients, it’s good for each one of us, and it’s good for our students. Way to go, team!

If you would like to read more of Message from the President, click here.