Shriners Membership Seminar

On Oct. 3, I got to live out a dream: a presentation for my fellow Shrine Nobles. The annual Shrine Membership Seminar gives Shriners and Masons the skills, tools and motivation to help increase membership in our fraternity. And why is that important? To help insure the financial viability and future support of the Shriners Hospitals for Children. I was honored to share the stage with Tony Dungee and, best of all, my favorite Shriners kid, Leigh Dittman. I'll write more about Leigh later, but I promise you this is one of the coolest kids you'll ever meet – and Carson loves her, too!

Special thanks to Imperial Sir Gary Bergenske and Imperial Potentate Jack Jones for the opportunity to help inspire and motivate our brethren!

Central Florida Health Educators

Okay, so this was just such a fun program! Sept. 11, I was honored to present for the Central Florida Health Educators in Daytona, FL. This is a group of professors, nurse educators, etc. etc. etc. who instruct any and all students into the world of health care. Plus, it was the first time I've ever presented with a mannequin laying behind me on stage!

Special thanks to Leilani Bautista-Keene and Linda Misko for being such fantastic hostesses! We filmed this program for my upcoming health care promo video and Leilani and Linda did an awesome job of finding just the right educators to interview for their feedback on my program! Thank you!

Indiana University Culture Fest

What do you get when you put 3200 Hoosiers and one Marcus in the same room? Fun, that's what!Indiana University's Culture Fest is a huge component of the freshman Welcome Week experience - and an opportunity for students to learn the value and excitement of diversity.

So, what's a small town white boy from Missouri doing talking about different cultures? A lot, actually! See, as we discussed at Culture Fest, everyone has a story. And every story has a message behind it. IU freshmen learned my story and, hopefully, that gives a little inspiration to share their stories-and to learn from those of others.

Special thanks to Melanie Payne, Patrick Hale, Tyler Coward and Kaley for being such awesome hosts! Oh, and to Melanie for running around Culture Fest loading me up on ethnic food – yummy! Thanks for all the FaceBook sign ups and awesome comments, too-totally makes my day to know I'll be remembered at IU!

Go Hoosiers!

Relationship Based Care Symposium

On July 31, I had an almost surreal experience. See, for years, I've been touting the benefits of insights and strategies for excellent patient care. I want to promote the fantastic care I’ve received, and teach other health care pros how to give their patients as much dignity and independence as the hospital can bring! Creative Health Care Management: http://www.chcm.com/ Is an organization with this mission... and more! CHCM created the first national Relationship Based Care Symposium which was held outside Syracuse, NY in late July. I was one of the keynote speakers for the event, along with Stephen Covey and the author of "Kitchen Table Wisdom." (Quite an honor to be asked to speak alongside two such professionals!) Relationship Based Care Symposium highlighted changing the dynamics and culture of health care institutions to promote relationships-with everyone! Caregiver to patient, patient to housekeeping, housekeeping to pharmacy, pharmacy to maintenance, purchasing to techs – anyone and everyone under the canopy of the hospital is in relationship with others. It's a huge undertaking to create this culture, but it gets things done in a more nurturing, compassionate environment! Just wonderful! I'd like to say a personal thank you to Jayne Felgen, CHCM's president, Mary Kalaroutis, Donna Wright, Susan Edstrom, Sue Welliver, Chris Bjork and Gen Gwancie (sorry, Gen, I probably misspelled your last name!) Such a fantastic experience to work with a group of folks who are so committed to such a worthy cause! Thank you, CHCM, and all the attendees of the Relationship Based Care Symposium!

On July 31, I had an almost surreal experience. See, for years, I've been touting the benefits of insights and strategies for excellent patient care. I want to promote the fantastic care I’ve received, and teach other health care pros how to give their patients as much dignity and independence as the hospital can bring!

Creative Health Care Management: http://www.chcm.com/

Is an organization with this mission... and more! CHCM created the first national Relationship Based Care Symposium which was held outside Syracuse, NY in late July. I was one of the keynote speakers for the event, along with Stephen Covey and the author of "Kitchen Table Wisdom." (Quite an honor to be asked to speak alongside two such professionals!)

Relationship Based Care Symposium highlighted changing the dynamics and culture of health care institutions to promote relationships-with everyone! Caregiver to patient, patient to housekeeping, housekeeping to pharmacy, pharmacy to maintenance, purchasing to techs – anyone and everyone under the canopy of the hospital is in relationship with others. It's a huge undertaking to create this culture, but it gets things done in a more nurturing, compassionate environment! Just wonderful!

I'd like to say a personal thank you to Jayne Felgen, CHCM's president, Mary Kalaroutis, Donna Wright, Susan Edstrom, Sue Welliver, Chris Bjork and Gen Gwancie (sorry, Gen, I probably misspelled your last name!)

Such a fantastic experience to work with a group of folks who are so committed to such a worthy cause! Thank you, CHCM, and all the attendees of the Relationship Based Care Symposium!

Columbia University

Wow, second year in a row to have an awesome event with Columbia University nursing students! Thanks to all who took part in the day's events and especially to those future nurses who've signed up to be Facebook friends!

A HUGE "Thank You!" to Dr. Norma Hannigan for believing my medical programs have enough info to warrant a second trip to Columbia! (And for being the kind of educator we are fortunate to have shaping the healthcare profession – she makes me want to go back to school)!

It’s hard to express the mindset the day put me into – somewhere between ecstatic, humbled I'm able to help and realization that this is why I do what I do. Thank you!

When It's Simply Not Your Fault

A perfect storm....that's what I call the situation of Lisa Strong of Davie, FL.

Several years ago, with a history of kidney stones, Lisa went to the E.R. due to discomfort and fever she associated with her last bouts with kidney stones. Proactive? Absolutely...and quite necessary since kidney stones and kidney infections can (if left untreated) lead to death.

When she arrived at the E.R., Lisa explained this is probably a kidney stone...but this is where the water gets murky. Did she emphatically state this point? Was her 106 spiking fever causing any type of hallucinations? Did the doc on hand not hear Lisa's statement?

No one knows for sure, but it's well documented that Lisa's proclaimation of her history with kidney stones was not written down. This led to a misdiagnosis...a misdiagnosis that ended in a horrible way.

It seems the doctor, working on limited information, diagnosed a completely unrelated gall bladder issue. The result? Infection set in and, ultimately, all four of Lisa's limbs were amputated.

Folks, can you even imagine? I cannot. To lose one's limbs is one thing. To lose it due to a misdiagnosis is another. But to have been proactive in taking care of oneself and THEN to have a doc's mistake cost one their appendages? Unthinkable.

What does this teach us? Communication, communication, communication. Check, then double check and triple check. And listen to the patient!

Miscommunication will happen. After all, every interpersonal relationship will, at some point, lose the message sent somewhere between the speaker's mouth and the listener's ears. Yet, when something is as potentially deadly as the situation in which Lisa Strong found herself, there is no excuse for not checking, double checking and triple checking.

Learn more about Lisa at:

www.LisaStrong.org

Best of luck, Lisa...and if your situation teaches other health care pros to be more diligent in their diagnosis, I hope that will, in some small way, create something good and meaningful out of a senseless situation.

This I Used To Believe

I'm a big NPR junkie, especially of the show, "This American Life."

On a recent episode, there was a short segment on people who have changed their strongly held belief...and why they changed. One essay was by Courtney Davis, FNP. Her essay regarded her former belief: patients need happy, upbeat caregivers. From this guy (who has seen way too much happy sappy B.S. from caregivers), I'm happy to hear Courtney changed her belief. Her reason for the switcheroo? Evaluating her own actions as her mother lay dying.

"I didn't know then that I could have climbed into bed and held her, that I should have wailed when she was gone. I no longer comfort others with false cheer."

Just a few nights ago, I was at a reception with some acquaintances. One of the gentlemen asked (in that all-too-skittish way) how I'd lost my sight. I've perfected a quick answer to this question, one that gives the entire story in as few words as possible, but one that leaves the door open if that person wants to know more. However, the biggest thing I want to convey in my answer is that I'm okay. This experience didn't break me. Instead, it reinforced me.

When I gave my usual answer, it was obvious this person had more questions. I assured him I was happy to answer anything he wanted to know. Yet, he still felt the need to ask questions that punched like kid gloves. "Um, you don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but were you angry?" and "I don't mean to pry, but how did you get through that?" and "Please don't think I'm trying to insult you, but how do you use a computer?"

The overall feeling I got from this person was that he believed his questions could possibly make a bad situation worse. Not possible. And if questions are respectful, they're always welcome. Yet, he clung so tightly to the notion that questions are disrespectful or hurtful. Kinda like the mom with the kid at the store who sees an amputee and has questions. Almost always, the parent will hush the child. Why? As if the amputee doesn't know his/her legs have been removed? As if a legit question about my computer will mean I'm more blind?

Caregivers-do not be afraid of the truth. To dance around reality highlights just how horrible the situation is for the patient. They're not stupid, they're not oblivious...and it's insulting to have no one recognize and legitimize that their situation, well, just sucks.

False cheer...there's no place for it in a hospital setting. Thank you, Courtney, for your words and attitude and respect of patients.