The InVisionary

During the early days of my career, I was fascinated with being a Med Tech. As a college student, I felt this was a great start to my career as an aspiring anesthesiologist at the time. I was fortunate to have a job at one of the retirement homes in my college town. Within a few months on the job, passing meds every day to over 60 residents became routine. I ended up feeling like I was an encyclopedia of medications, which also came with feelings of complacency and like I knew it all.  

Little did I know that I would get to eat a piece of humble pie one day. On this day, just like any other day, I reported to work from school and immediately gathered my meds for my daily routine. After a few med passes, I went to my next resident and discovered their medications were missing on my medication cart. It immediately dawned on me that I must have mistakenly given the previous person all of the missing medications. 

Needless to say, the medications consisted of blood thinners and heart medications. I did not know what to do at first – my heart was beating so fast thinking I may have killed someone. At 20-years old, my mind was all over the place, even thinking that I may eventually go to jail. Something immediately told me, “the truth will set you free.” So, I ran to the nurses’ station to ask for help, and told them it was an honest mistake. The resident was quickly transported to the hospital and received treatment for toxicity. The relief I felt when I saw the resident return to the facility safely was an experience I will never forget. I was told that my timely reporting saved the resident’s life.

That day, I learned the importance of being open and honest. Most of us work unsupervised, or support people who are deaf or non-verbal, and who depend on us as advocates for their livelihood. Providing an open and honest account of our everyday encounters is an integral part of our guiding principles, and keeps the people we support safe, healthy, and in an environment that allows them to grow. 
 
Being open and honest is also one of the staples of our success as an organization. As a team member, I have seen great success during licensing and preparation as a result of our team’s honesty – providing accurate reports amid failure to meet deadlines or regulatory requirements. Being able to be vulnerable and report our mistakes – despite leading to an investigations and potential loss of employment – is what separates us from other providers as the best workplace to be.