Reflections on a Difficult Spring

This has been a tough spring so far. This country has seen some of the most incredible natural storm devastation in history. While the economy is showing signs of improvement, there are far too many who continue to suffer. Politics reached all time levels of nastiness in this State, and the temperatures just can’t seem to jump higher than 55 degrees. So, how do we make sense of all of this on a professional level?

Personally, this news forces me to step aside from the day-to-day pressures of my law practice and think about how to make sure there is value in what we do. The practice of law is extremely rewarding. The work we do impacts people in ways that we can’t really imagine. The words we use to communicate, the guidance we provide, and the way we treat people in our professional and personal life should reflect an appreciation for goodness in what we experience, empathy about the news we receive, and joy for the happy moments we share with one another.

This is tough work, and we have a responsibility to own our behavior and understand its impact on others. We can allow all of these horrible events to drag us down or we can reflect upon all that is happening around us and find ways to encourage those who we work with and those we represent to deal with challenges with higher levels of empathy, grace and compassion. This does not mean we give up on strong advocacy. It means that we give more thought to how our message is delivered and its impact on those who receive it. Take the personal challenge of changing the environment around you by your words and your actions.

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Ethics and Quality and Potential

One thing I am watching in my field is the tie-in to Quality (with a capital Q). Several years ago, a mentor of mine made this connection evident for me. There is a clear link between a mindful environment, with ethical and moral space, and Quality Improvement (yes, that sentence was 90% buzz-word). This is to say that diminishing moral distress (generally, know what the right thing to do is, but being unable to it) increases the frequency of good care experiences. My mentor got Lean Six Sigma certified because, it appears, “quality” is more than a descriptive term—it’s an approach to assess problems and to facilitate change.

Once I got clued-in, I began seeing the link everywhere. The Veteran Affairs Hospitals and clinical ethics programs are doing wonderful things (too lengthy to describe) and creating evidence. You see, high-level health-care people like evidence and measures and metrics, which has always been an area where clinical ethics has traditionally had problems producing. I love the VA because it has lots of potential, and does really good work: it’s actually very hard not to like and sets the standard in the field. The call now is for everyone else to catch-up, or even better yet, to innovate. That’s what my team has been working hard on, though we at times look back on what’s come before for inspiration.

I guess the link-in for up-and-coming JDs would be QI that exists in legal fields. Looking at QI as a meta-analysis by practitioners (at my hospital, most QI analysts are RNs) to improve the delivery of service, are there opportunities in this field for lawyers (I am sure there are) that can be taken advantage of? The underlying point I suppose I am making is that this is one approach to finding fulfilling work.

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