Breath Life Into Your Mission Statement
Oh the questions of human existence. They should also be the questions of your hospital's existence. Mission statements can be for the organization as a whole, but also for each part of the organization that feeds into the larger mission. Whether your mission is for the organization or for the med/surg first floor, your mission should have the same characteristics:
Missions should be broad in scope but specific in action
You don't want your mission statement to put your organization in a box. "We will treat elderly women who have breast cancer." That may be a great mission for a department, but it doesn't allow innovation and creativity in the services your organization offers.
Mission statements aren't meant to change with the newest fad
Mission statements are meant to last the test of time. Your mission statement in the 90's may have been to develop an organization to meet the needs of managed care. However, we have seen managed care decline dramatically, and that would not be an appropriate mission for today.
Your mission statement should specifically identify the market that you serve
This is the who, what, when, and where of your statement. Some hospitals may serve a town, some may serve at state, and some may serve a special group (think the VA).
Your mission statement should convey the special qualities of your organization
This is about how your differentiate yourself in the marketplace. It helps you to distinguish your hospital from the one in the town 10 miles away. As we talked about in earlier posts, service quality can be a great way to differentiate yourself from your competitor.
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