Urging Nurses On
Comments prepared for graduates of the Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing Program at OHSU’s La Grande, OR, Nursing Convocation on June 16, 2017
Graduates, Faculty & Staff, Dr. Hagen, Parents, Family, & Friends, on behalf of the OHSU School of Nursing, I would like to welcome you to the 2017 convocation ceremony for graduates of the Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing program at the La Grande campus. My name is Devon Berry and I am the Executive Associate Dean. As we prepare to honor the graduates for their accomplishments, I want to take just a moment to let you know how much Union County, Northeast Oregon, and the Pacific Northwest stand to benefit from these graduates IF they will refuse to be good. You heard me correctly — IF they will refuse to be good. Now that I’ve got you wondering who invited me, let me share a quote from the well-known business writer Jim Collins(1).
Good is the enemy of the great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great. We don’t have great schools, principally because we have good schools. We don’t have great government, principally because we have good government. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life. The vast majority of organizations never become great, precisely because the vast majority become quite good — and that is the main problem.
Did you know that of the 36 counties in Oregon, Union County is ranked number 8 for the things we know contribute to good health? In other words, when it comes to things like being physically active, having access to doctors, graduating from high school, and experiencing low levels of pollution, you’re doing better than 75% of the rest of the counties in this state. I’d say that’s pretty good.
But if these graduates are content with good, it will mean that 16 out of every 100 people in Union county will live in poor or fair health, 27 out of every 100 will suffer with obesity, 25 out of every 100 deaths due to motor vehicle accidents will involve alcohol, children will die at rates 50% greater than the average in Oregon, and there will be more than double the number of sexually transmitted infections than in those counties performing the best in this area. And three of those areas — obesity, alcohol-impaired driving deaths, and sexually-transmitted infections, have all increased significantly over the past decade in Union County(2). My great challenge to you is to not be satisfied with “good” or even “pretty good”. Go for great because this is the only path to excellence and it is best for the communities you will serve.
This will require you to cultivate discontent — not the kind that tears down and destroys, but the kind that builds up and creates… never satisfied with good, always searching for better. That appetite is not easy to maintain — so here are three places you can always look to find an inexhaustible source of fuel for your discontent.
- Disparities in health. There are almost a 1000 studies that confirm people experience better or worse health outcomes for reasons that should have nothing to do with care — such as their color, their gender, their religion, or their socioeconomic status.
- Errors in care. Medical errors are the 3rd leading cause of death in the U.S., leading to over 250,000 deaths each year (3).
- Spending more for less. The U.S. spends more than any other country in the world on healthcare for health outcomes that are among the worst in first world countries — we die younger and live sicker (4).
Whether you go to practice in an urban, suburban, or rural setting, you will have challenges. Here is what you need to know graduates: By virtue of your education, you now have the potential to change these realities. Whether or not that potential will be fully realized depends on your grit — your persevering determination to not be satisfied with good, but to constantly push for great. This is what distinguishes an OHSU nurse — and this is what you are about to become.
http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/oregon/2017/rankings/union/county/outcomes/overall/snapshot
