Well I've just updated my May '10 entry called 'Nursing Notes....200 years later' and let my pen flow a little more freely! As Helen Keller said, "College isn't the place to go for ideas."...Neither is healthcare. Very little has changed....so ideas are what we need...
The challenge of how to start small on any large scale change is overwhelming when you work inside the healthcare system. Unless you've travelled outside of it and experienced a different world for a while, you can not possibly know how the rest of the world negotiates value out of companies who want to sell you something but who do actually want to genuinely help you achieve your objectives and do have something great to offer. Instead, in healthcare we screw them down as hard as we can after using them for months of research and development and then go and ask for a better quote from their competitor who has not invested a cent and laughs all the way to the bank and cares very little about the success of your project. You may have gained a few dollars, but you've lost a relationship and probably a success story.
Imagine applying a simple concept like this in your hospital....on a small scale...working with a supplier and building a relationship....
....I've seen it done...in Australian and US IT projects.
We need to make friends with some Suppliers who can invest in us, help in the research and development and stop treating them like 'used car salesmen'. That's how the rest of the world lives....in a cooperative relationship that's mutually beneficial...we both have something to offer each other. Meanwhile, antiquated systems remain...and nursing becomes obsolete...
I know I can hear your 'but, buts'....BUT ...as Florence said,
"I attribute my success to this - I never gave or took any excuse."
It can be done.
