Canceling Christmas

In order to stay fully accredited, we must endure inspections by JCAHO every three years. This is our year. We know that it's going to happen, but not when. Because JCAHO has been inspecting our sister hospitals the last few weeks, it's safe to assume that our turn is coming up fast.

Personally, I don't really care, but management is going bonkers. They've gone from just being nervous to practically psychotic. Management has gone so far over the edge that they threw away all of our Christmas decorations stored in boxes in the closet. We have been accumulating these decorations for a number of years and have been through numerous JCAHO inspections without anyone commenting on or caring about our decorations before. And, why would JCAHO care? They are only interested in safety issues, like cleanliness and the safe administration of drugs. What possible threat to safety can Christmas ornaments in a closet present?

If management wants to impress JCAHO, maybe they should clean this pigsty of a hospital. The carpet is filthy, paint is peeling off the walls, the counters are dusty and the IV poles are specked with dried blood.

Maybe I'm the crazy one here, but I think that JCAHO would be more impressed by a clean hospital than a dirty one with no Christmas decorations in the closet. We are all quite angry right now and have decided that there will be no Christmas this year. Perhaps we can just post a sign at Christmas that says, "Ask management why we didn't decorate for Christmas this year."