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The Triumph of Counting and Scripting

Chaplains, hairdressers, therapists … it’s everywhere.

Shadowing her on her rounds, I watched as she managed to create brief peaceful moments with suffering patients and their families again and again, making temporary sanctuary between the thin blue medical curtains despite the buzzing alarms, fluorescent lighting, and constant stream of footsteps on the linoleum floors nearby. I was surprised to learn that in addition to consoling the bereaved and calming the anxious, Erin (the names in this piece have been changed) had to fill out three separate charts—including the standard electronic health records system that many clinicians use—for every person she visited. Research finds that checklists and manuals can confer greater legitimacy upon many kinds of service work and hedge our bets against incompetence and discrimination, while also protecting workers from demanding or chaotic situations and clients.

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