Can A Thousand Eyes Help You?

Working in a hospital or nursing home where patient needs must be met 24 hours a day can get quite hectic. How many patients are on your floor or wing? How many staff people are available during the shifts? How often do we get interrupted by unusual events that also need our attention?

Prioritizing is very important and some tasks are left on the back burner. This is typical in health care when life saving action is necessary and patient care is always first.

When was the last time paperwork or non-urgent tasks were postponed? Last night? Earlier today? Just a few minutes ago?

Time goes by so quickly when it's busy and the new shift has arrived. They feel as if they were dumped by the previous shift's workers. "Sorry, it was a real zoo here the last few hours."

The good news is we all can play a role in preventing loose ends from making our day more difficult.

Take the Thousand Eye Approach.

We have the benefit of each other to help us get through the day. Health care workers who are in tune with keeping shifts running smoothly know when to step in a take care of a task that would really be inconvenient at a later time.

Restocking supplies, picking up a spill, delivering a message promptly or following up on a message can be time savers later.

We have each other to help us with their Thousand Eyes. We may not always have 500 people right at our side who take the initiative to alert us to possible problems that can be prevented, but we have enough co-workers around us to give us this support and each of us can return the favor.

It can get out of hand, however. The Thousand Eye approach can turn into a big tattle tale or complaining session. This idea is not designed to be that way. Friendly reminders or favors are much better received when the intention is understood that it is not a criticism.

"Hey, it's the thousand eyes." Let someone know you're looking out for them and ultimately the patients who are the final beneficiaries of our attention to detail. People in different levels of the chain of command should be able to feel free to communicate with each other in this manner when "the thousand eyes" are are here to help.

Be one of the thousand eyes.
Be devoted to your team.

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