Those of us in healthcare security leadership must do our best, based on best practices and industry standards (as well as our own innovative, forward-thinking, ideations) to create safer workplaces. We must both create safety AND help people feel safer. The two sometimes do not arrive together. We may do something very fundamental such as assess an area and then, for instance, based on the … Continue reading Security Theater: Avoid It
Hi All, Contact Professionals familiar with the teachings of Verbal Judo should immediately reflect on George Thompson’s great teaching on this point and the difference between respect and RE-spect. If you’re not familiar with it, go here for a perennial classic. If you actually follow the discipline of Verbal Judo, then you know that there are, literally, no times in life when you’re not showing … Continue reading Respect at all Times
Hi All, Read this nice article on the efforts of one particular school district to make their environments safer. Cameras are, of course, a necessary piece of a Security Management program. Be cautious, however, of over-reliance on them or, more accurately, mis-reliance on them, that is, blindly thinking that they will bring great prevention dividends. Don’t get me wrong; cameras are immensely valuable. Just be … Continue reading Camera Surveillance: Use it Wisely
In this world there are examples of human beings who are inspiring. One such person was Dr. Paul Farmer, Anthropologist, Physician, and Humanitarian. Dr. Farmer has been an inspiration to me for a long time. I work daily as a Healthcare Security Leader. Some might think that this is a profession very distinct from the role of a global health advocate and physician. Perhaps, if … Continue reading A Tribute to Dr. Paul Farmer from a Healthcare Security Leader
If you want to build a ship, don’t herd people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery If you want your Team Members to really excel in performance, and blossom professionally (as well as personally), do not simply hand them a role description. No, … Continue reading Teach them to long for the immensity of the sea
Hi All, Please read this article, entitled “Cops Are Illegally Detaining and Hurting Mental Health Patients.” It raises very important issues with which I’ve personally witnessed health systems struggle for years. This article highlights the very important subject of how to manage behavioral health patients (really any patient who exhibits volatility or violence) with available hospital resources. And what exactly are the most fitting resources … Continue reading The Challenges with Law Enforcement Management of Hospital Behavioral Health Patients
Hi All, Please see this valuable article about violence in healthcare. It’s a useful article in that it highlights the growing violence which healthcare professionals must face every day. Healthcare in the present era is not the healthcare of our parents and grandparents. Most nurses today experience levels of anxiety and aggression in patients and visitors that simply did not exist years ago to the … Continue reading Creating a Non-Escalatory/Safe Culture is far more than simply using a “Technique”
Here I share an article, with some minor changes, that I initially published on LinkedIn. See this important video of a Law Enforcement Officer assaulting a hospital patient. Click here for the article/video. The important topics of ethical intervention and bystander mobilization are made obvious in the video footage, specifically, by their conspicuous absence. Note how the video came from one Police Officer who … Continue reading Ethical Intervention & Bystander Mobilization for Protection Professionals
Salt Lake City Police are now trying to shore up the damage done by Detective Jeff Payne after he wrongfully interfered with nurse, Alex Wubbels, by handcuffing her and placing her in a patrol car as she attempted to care for her patient. Go here for a good article in which there is a useful video to watch of the “arrest” of Wubbels. This has … Continue reading Hypervigilance & Ethical Intervention with a Utah Nurse
Conflict Transformation & Ethical Guardianship 