This is a story about an experience.
In 2006, my Manager called for a crisis meeting with the Seton Medical Center’s Patient Advocate Director, my Medical Director, Program Director, my Manager, and our patient, including her son sitting across the room. I was very nervous, and my imagination went wild with the BIG QUESTION of what did I do so badly that I have all these big names in the room?
We healed her wound a week ago, but I found myself yelled at in the room. It was very apparent that our patient was not happy with our service (or me), and I am the case manager assigned to her. She came from another clinic due to a failed treatment of a difficult to heal wound on her ankle a few months ago. She stated she had a poor experience with our service with no specific complaint.
At that time, I had a full clinic to run, several patients to case manage, six people to supervise, a million things to follow up, and a mountain of projects to complete. This patient didn’t care about it, not because she is an awful person, and she’s not in the clinic to observe the day-to-day operation.
I realized my problem lies in this particular perspective, and this became my inflection point.
For her, the outcome did not define her total experience; instead, it was in every moment of interaction and undivided attention she received from me.
LIVE. LOVE. SERVE…….REPEAT.
