DON’T SETTLE FOR GOOD ENOUGH – ISSUE NO. 361

This past Sunday, May 8th, as I was returning home from speaking at the Tennessee Association of Central Sterile Processing Services meeting held at Tristar Centennial Medical Center in Nashville, I was thinking of my mom since it was Mother's Day. My mother had told me many times, "Stevie, don't settle for good enough". I was thinking how what my mother told me growing up held true to the meeting I just left. We had close to 100 professionals who attended the meeting called, "A CS Revival". This program was an offshoot presentation from a program I did over a year ago: "Healthmark College of Clean". This new program utilized other experts in the field. The speakers were Richard Schule from Steris, Rod Parker for Stryker and myself. I began thinking of what my mother had said and how it applied to everybody there because each person who attended wanted to learn and be better at what they do. Many paid their own ways. Some drove 5 hours and left very early in the morning to attend. As a group, they were interactive with questions; they all wanted to improve and they were not settling for good. They wanted more. The host facility bent over backwards to make this a great educational event. For me, I saw something that I usually do not see. The VP of Perioperative Services, DeNene G. Cofield, for TriStar Centennial Medical Center, not only attended the meeting, but gave the opening welcome and stressed to every attendee how important they are in the care of the patient. You dovetail that enthusiasm with the board of the Tennessee Association, lead by their President, Donna McLaughlin, CRCST, CSPDT, and assisted by so many, including Katie Beets and Angela Lewellyn, and you get people energized to go beyond good to being the best. I am sure if you're like me, your mother gave you lots of advice. Mom's simple line "don't settle for good enough" pertains to anything really. You do not want to settle on just doing a good job. You want to be or do the best or to get to best practice. You do not want good products, you want the best products to do your job. I know I can speak for everybody at Healthmark, from the team members in receiving, mail marketing, production, customer service, the sales team and every other department, including our owners; we are here to help you to not just settle for good but to help you become your very best. My mother has been gone for over 13 years and still today she has a great influence on me. I can hear her right now, "Stevie, don't settle for good enough". Mom, I will not. I will keep trying to be my best. I think I have the title for the CS Revival Encore, "Don't Settle for Good Enough". Thanks for the advice, Mom.