Monday, October 18, 2010

The secret of quality is love

A friend forwarded this link to a wonderful interview between Bob Wachter and Peter Pronovost, and appended the following note:

Check out the quote below; wow! (Bold mine)

'.......that to some extent Donabedian had it right when he was interviewed on his deathbed and asked what the secret of quality is. He said the secret of quality is love. Because if it's not in your heart and if you don't truly believe that this is the right thing to do, and there's a humbleness that I'm human, we're never going to make progress on infections.'

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Simple yet profound. A good way to start off on Monday. Thanks!

Mark Graban said...

A hospital in The Netherlands calls their goal for Lean to be "loving care" so providers can reduce hunting and gathering time to instead have more time for patients and caring encounters. A beautiful sense of purpose.

Carole said...

Succinct and true.

Julie said...

From Facebook:

I witnessed this first-hand 20 minutes ago! Though not line infection related, the actions of the staff were incredible to see. A pair of nurses came upon a patient they knew in the hallway. She was on a stretcher, on her way to a major procedure. They were so happy to see her, and provided hugs and whispers of 'good luck' when she told them where she was off to. The entire exchange was maybe 15 seconds but was so positive and caring. All involved were visibly lifted up by this chance meeting.

The above love-fest took place at none other than our dear ol' BIDMC.

Mark said...

From Facebook:

A hospital in The Netherlands calls their goal for Lean to be "loving care" so providers can reduce hunting and gathering time to instead have more time for patients and caring encounters. A beautiful sense of purpose.

Isabel said...

From Facebook:

Let's just say a blogger you and I know once mentioned the word love/the concept of loving care in a comment on KevinMD's blog and got attacked for it (see http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2007/08/gospel-according-to-schwab.html). Nice to know some people aren't quite so repelled by it.

Pesha said...

The secret to everything is love.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Levy:
Exactly to the point and at the heart of medicine. Loving care, compassionate care are buzz words in providing care today but so few are able to articulate what this means. I guess thats because it means different things for everyone. The example described from a witness at your institution between two nurses and a patient is certainly a great example. However, not all providers are “touchy feely” nor do they spurt compassion; but that doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t compassionate.

I have a provider at your institution that isn’t “touchy feely” but she is very compassionate and loving in a style that is suited to her personality.
I use to say she isn’t “warm and fuzzy” but I’m in the best hands. I secretly use to wish she was more demonstrative. However, I have come to learn, embrace and truly appreciate her style. She cares through her deeds rather than words. Her actions are heartfelt and aren’t just words or catch phrases. She always does the right thing and does it first.

This provider is very unassuming and deserving of so many accolades and wish there were a way to discuss her with you in private.

RalfLippold said...

So profoundly true - only what you love you really do passionately and well :-)