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I’ve been thinking...

I’ve been thinking about Willie Nelson, Jesus, and blind spots in hospital medication-use processes.
By Mark Neuenschwander

Some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged for help. After touching the man’s eyes, Jesus asked if he now saw anything. “I see people, sort of like trees walking.” So, Jesus touched the man’s eyes a second time. When they were opened, he saw everything clearly. It took the first two decades […]

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I’ve been thinking about drugs, wars, Christmases, and your hospital (the one you work in and/or the one you go to as a patient).
By Mark Neuenschwander

On my daily walks, I’ve been listening to Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. I’m at Christmas of 1943—the year Bing Crosby’s newly recorded “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” began tugging at souls on radios across America. The tug persists. Though the bestseller’s central figure, Louis Zamperini, did […]

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I’ve been thinking about Tina, Sarah, slinkies, and how improv may improve your group’s productivity.
By Mark Neuenschwander

During the 2008 presidential campaign, I thought Tina Fey did a good Sarah Palin—so good that when the governor from Alaska joined the comedian on Saturday Night Live, it seemed as if Tina Palin and Sarah Fey were impersonating each other. A mesmerizing duo. On my morning walks in the woods this week, I’ve been […]

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I’ve been thinking about presidents, engineers, nurses, and the law of unintended consequences.
By Mark Neuenschwander

The bulk of the word consequence is sequence. In sequence, outcomes (intended or not) follow actions. Typically, consequences is used in reference to negative outcomes. In 1974, Richard Nixon had neither intended nor anticipated the devastating sequence of events that would follow the Watergate break-in and subsequent cover-up. He had not expected his actions would […]

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I’ve been thinking about baseballs, moon shots, patients, and parades.
By Mark Neuenschwander

Between innings at a Mariners’ game, I got chatting with a visitor from New York about how in 1958, the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. Adding injury to insult, I mentioned how their Hall of Fame centerfielder, Duke Snider, moved onto my block in the All-American City of Lynwood. Not good. Clearly, the Bum’s abandoning […]

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I’ve been thinking about New Orleans, positive-patient identification, and whether or not I should have my palm read.
By Mark Neuenschwander

Stumbling onto “South Carolina’s Homepage,” The State, I read about some hospitals that are into reading palms, which prompted me to rush over to wikihow.com to brush up on the subject. The brief preamble of How to Read Palms says, “The objective is to evaluate a person’s character or future by studying the palm of their hand,” followed by nuts and bolts: […]

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I’ve been thinking about the Dodgers, Webinars, leadership, and the importance of sitting near an exit.
By Mark Neuenschwander

My late father-in-law habitually looked for the nearest exit before taking his seat at movies, banquets, or ball games, insisting, “Always be ready to escape a disaster.” My colleagues and I arrived a few minutes late for our last breakout session at a leadership conference. The chairs, maybe one hundred, were facing the entrance. The […]

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