“Our purpose is not to provide excellent healthcare, although we do do that, it is to love.”

New employee orientation is often inspiring and motivating to me as a nurse.  I have worked for other hospitals with religious affiliation but the Mission and Vision statements here struck me differently today.  

“Mission: As people of Providence, we reveal God’s love for all, especially the poor and vulnerable, through our compassionate service. ” 

“Our purpose is not to provide excellent healthcare, although we do do that, it is to love.”

“Vision: Together, as people of Providence, we answer the call of every person we serve: Know me, care for me, ease my way.”  
I do know that some of the mission and vision statement is a publicity and image thing where administrators can say that out of one side of their mouth and then when no one is looking tell you in no uncertain terms that it is all about the bottom line.  But as each of the presenters spoke and as a staff nurse showed me around the labor and delivery unit it seems to be a theme.. Our job is to love those who come through our doors by giving them time, attention, and the best quality of health care based on evidence based practice.  

The other encouraging thing is that this hospital is a five star hospital based on HCAHPS score,  the first one I have ever worked at with such a good rating.  Silverton Health Family Birth Center had a 95% patient satisfaction scores giving them the Press Ganey award, their HCAHPS score is four stars which is still excellent. I have worked at hospitals from two star rating to four star rating, I hope this unit lives up to it’s five star status. It is the only five star hospital in Alaska as of right now, and the only one in the Providence system.  Out of curiosity I went back and looked at the scores for the other hospitals that I have worked at and was not surprised by their scores.  A huge part of our job satisfaction is being able to leave the patient feeling like they were well taken care of.  So, when we have the tools to do that it reminds us why we became a nurse to begin with…people…the love of people. 
After work we drove around the island a bit.  We needed gas so we had to turn around.  The roads go further than I expected them to.  We will have to fill up before heading out next time so we can explore farther.