Dartblog

Dartblog receives frequent letters from employees at Dartmouth and DHMC, dedicated and hardworking people who want only the best for their respective institutions. Like students and patients, these are the people who suffer under the heavy hand of poor managers for whom stasis is more important than progress. I hope that you will agree that the below letter has the ring of truth to it, the sincerity of someone committed to making DHMC a better place:

Dear Joe,

I was reading your articles on the Dartblog website, “Nurses Stir at DHMC” and “Fare Thee Well, Tom Crady”. It’s about time SOMEONE got it right!!!! I thought maybe the “Secret of Dartmouth” was only painfully obvious to myself and very few others.

I work at DHMC as a nurse and have been pondering what exactly is wrong with these two institutions. I had recently came to the same conclusion as yourself after experiencing it myself and speaking to college employees. I am one of those high performers you speak of and nearly every day that I work there I butt my head against lazy/inept coworkers, emotional drama, administrative rumors, passive aggressiveness, general tolerance for substandard work/behavior/decisions. I find that innovative ideas are bucked for “it’s always been done this way”. I could go ON and ON. I have worked in 3 different departments and it has all been the same. They seem to flagrantly disregard ideas/employees that would make the hospital a successful, cohesive, progressive place. They certainly keep their high performers down where they can’t go disrupting what has become so comfortable for so many.

In contrast I have worked in hospitals in three large cities outside of New Hampshire. While each place was it’s own entity different from the rest, not one place tolerated the behavior that DHMC tolerates from patients and staff. We allow behavior/requests from patients and their families that interferes with good care in order to accommodate their demands. Sometimes it feels like parenting a two-year-old you are not allowed to discipline. What concerns me is that they interfere with the care we try to provide them to their own detriment.

As a licensed professional I have standards of practice to uphold. If you’re not shouldering the burden of 1 or more “relaxed” coworkers who love to delegate their work to you or blatantly avoid it, then you are fighting to protect your licence while working in mediocrity that you abhor. As you said, it is not the money or the benefits, it’s the refusal to acknowledge those of us who DO. One thing Dartmouth doesn’t realize is a truly good and successful company values it’s employees leading to their sense of loyalty for the institution. If they would weed out the dead weight we could really see DHMC progress and make great strides in our community. I have lost my patience and know that if I gave as much to another employer or even found self employment it would be more rewarding than burning out there while doing everyone else’s work and being watched like a hawk by the unit tattle tales. But then, I always say…if you’re too busy working you don’t know what others are doing….

Thank you for your article.

[Name withheld by Dartblog]