Nursing Home Talk Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil
Working in a small city run non-for-profit nursing home, has really opened my eyes, ears and voice. The fact that everyone was interconnected or inter-related was unmistakeable. The view initially, was one of home and family, but the internal dynamics soon became all too clear.
Everyone knew each other and each other's business, personally and professionally. The gossip mill was alive and thriving at the nursing home, and it bled right into the community. The morale was at an all time low and the Director of Nuring and Administrator had turned over for the third time in a year. Those employees that exercised their power (most of which were not in any position of power), were even proud of this. They knew they could make or break anyone in those positions if "they" did not meet the standards.
People lived in fear of retaliation from the "power group". No one saw the RN come in 15-30 minutes late almost daily. No one heard the LPN, in a crowed room of residents listening to daily devotions, yell across the room, "shut up back there". No one spoke up to report the LPN that injected insulin through a demented resident's clothes because she's, "not going to deal with his behaviors and I do what I need to to get done".
Until I arrived, then I watched, I listened, I heard, I investigated and I became the advocate that we are supposed to be for vulnerable adults. Discipline was issued, education provided and the chain of "untouchable power" broken. Every member of a health care team is a resident advocate. The problem is that not everyone wants the role. The role is a part of the job each and everyday as soon as you enter the door. You see it or hear it; you own it! Doing the right thing is an obligation and it feels good. Do not get trapped playing hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.
Let Ecumen Consulting stop your game playing and put you on the right path.
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