One of my biggest fears is the vast world of things I am responsible for but have limited control over. We live in a human, broken world. We can’t prevent, but we can mitigate and we can act when adverse events occur. A recent health care publication reported that a registered nurse who had been charged with a couple murders due to overmedicating patients may be charged in 19 more cases in a number of Pennsylvania health care communities where she worked!
This could happen anywhere, just like events like mass shootings and other horrors can happen anywhere. None of us can ever be 100% safe, but we don’t have to live in fear. We are people of faith and hope! Our faith, our mission, and our procedures still allow The LSC Way, Abundant Life.
After food and breathing in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs comes safety, a foundational need. It’s so foundational, like breathing, that we don’t talk about it much, but maybe we should.
Safety starts with our over 2,400 teammates. Recruiting and retaining competent teammates is not enough; we want teammates who love the people they and we serve! That defines almost every LSC teammate. When a bad apple slips through, they generally don’t last long. I will admit that has gotten harder in this worst workforce shortage in modern history, and government reimbursement doesn’t offer us the funds to recruit and retain the very best. A well-known chicken restaurant can afford to pay better. But we do the very best we can with the resources society allows us.
Safety includes seldom-seen, internal essentials like policies and procedures, supervisor training, and technology (from cameras to AI) to help us safeguard the people who have chosen to be served by LSC.
As we have discussed before, swift action and transparency are hallmarks of our response when a problem arises. We don’t hide, we act, and we learn for the future. Integrity is one of our core values, so it’s The LSC Way.
We ask for your prayers that our residents/clients and LSC are protected from bad actors and all harm, and we ask for your grace and understanding when things go wrong in this human, broken world in which we have been called to serve.