“Safety Is A Six Letter Word” a poem
Retired from the military, she was brought back into nursing during the COVID pandemic.
Her work now takes her to the northern islands to work on patient safety, a lifelong passion.
Reflecting on the impact of the pandemic and what it now means for her profession and workforce expectations, she is now dedicated to both making sure those she serves have the care they need as well as growing the voices of younger professions.
In an ever-changing resource climate, safety still rules supreme but is challenged by the numbers and decision making around staff, time and resources. We discuss how she rarely encountered such challenges in the battlefield context, where windows of opportunity were smaller and more tightly monitored.
At the time of our conversation, a community member had spoken to a local paper of their concerns about the pressures under which healthcare providers found themselves.
Certified Listener Poet Kirsten Broadfoot
Cohort 4
November 2022
Safety Is A Six Letter Word
When we speak of safety, we also speak of skill.
Or really a belief in its presence.
Skills that define and distinguish,
Skills we can trust,
Skills we surrender to when we place ourselves in your care.
Sitting next to skill, shimmers the often-elusive accountability,
Or the ability to account or tell a story.
My story. Your story. Our story.
The story of what happened,
Or is happening,
Or could happen to all of us.
Us. U and S.
The last two letters of FOCUS.
The setting of clear sights,
Centring us at the heart of activity as
Someone to attend to.
Without focus, what becomes of your skills?
The heart of our story?
Why even tell the story at all?
Because that story empowers us,
Firing up the engine of safety.
That story spurs us to be better.
No, to be everything we are and can be
Together.
Together as a team,
Unit,
Family,
Community of care here on our island home.
Far from the mainland but close to each other,
Our togetherness is what keeps us safe.
Safety is a six-letter word.
Skills, Accountability, Focus, Empowerment, Togetherness.
And above all else,
You.
When we place ourselves in your hands,
We offer up ourselves to you.
You keep us safe and
Must stay that way.
For what is our safety without yours?
