ABSTRACT
One day when I was walking to the ¶oors to round on the staŽ, I stopped so one of the men from Environmental Services could get past with a cart of linen he was taking to the ¶oor. When he oŽered to let me go ahead of him, I insisted that I could not delay his important mission. He was very sincere when he explained that he was not important-that he was only a housekeeper, and I was the one that was important. Another lightbulb went on. ese people weren’t resistant or uncaring; they just felt unworthy. Ihad been asking the impossible. Ihad been asking them to wow people when they did not see the importance of the work they did. He saw himself as someone delivering sheets and blankets-period. He thought it stopped there. Iasked him if he knew the role he played in our mission. Our mission was to make the community that we served healthier. I told him about when Iwas ayoung girl and Iwould get sick. e thing that always made me feel better was clean sheets. I remember snuggling up in the freshly made bed and how much better that made me feel. I went on to say that medicines and surgeries heal, but the little touches that show we care make people feel better all the way through and
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through. He was one of those responsible for those little details like clean sheets and ›rst impressions. Our customers see the care we put into maintaining a clean healing environment before any of us have a chance to greet them. I had seen him several times since I had joined this team. When I saw him after that conversation, he held his head high with a new sense of pride. I knew, though, that it would have to be reinforced on aconsistent basis for him to keep that feeling. How was that going to be possible? Inever realized how much Idid not know until Istarted this job. Idid not know how to do it, but Idid know it had to be done, and that Greg and I could not do it alone.
