Gavin Ritz opines that a LO approach to the clinical role of a hospital is
not practical. I think I agree. But I wonder if we have the same
reasons. Gavin, why did you say that?
My reasons lie mainly in the hospital's lack of influence on clinical
practice. Physicians and nurses and the other clinical professions do not
look to the hospital for help or advice about their clinical practice --
and they probably shouldn't.
However, the hospital is a locus -- a physical place in which people come
into contact with each other, often with a common (patient care) goal.
This is an under-rated advantage, I believe. Lots of good things can
happen, for learning, when people are in contact with each other --
especially when this contact happens around meaningful work.
So, if the hospital begins to see itself as a site where learning can
occur -- even if nothing more -- could it not ask questions such as, "How
can we structure this site to maximize the opportunities for clinical
learning?" "What services can we provide so that the informal learning
that happens here can be made more readily available to others?" (etc.,
etc.)
--"John Gunkler" <jgunkler@sprintmail.com>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>