Joan Leland
Registered On: Apr 25, 2011 20:27:05 GMT -5 ~
Posts: 144
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Post by Joan Leland on Apr 15, 2013 15:52:47 GMT -5
"Classes are all well and good but they will never replace experience, something the turn over rate had a very serious effect on" Joan responded with a glance back to Nathaniel "People are also prone to cutting corners when they discover there is a quicker, but not always safer, way of getting their work done" The solutions to such problems were sadly a lot more complex. Training will only ever cover the basics of the job, at this point the long term patients are likely to be more experienced in the layout and workings of Arkham than the guards are.
It's just as well she misses Iris' quiet response though or there would probably be words had later.
At least it seemed as though there would be some improvements, particularly towards the containment systems "A few upgrades to other places in the building, for instance medical and the rooms we conduct therapy in may also be beneficial, not only simply for added security against particularly violent patients but also for those with specialised needs. At the moment they are running the risk of being confined to their room, which isn't particularly healthy. Though I understand in some cases it's simply not sensible or practical to give them the extra freedom" Croc springs to mind, she can't help but imagine he'd just run a rampage given the chance.
The idea of simply hiring in already trained staff was an interesting thought, it certainly seemed like a potential way to significantly improve one problem area, provided they hired the right people "Guards with a higher level of knowledge from the beginning could certainly be a step in the right direction, though I can't imagine a place quite like Arkham experience wise. We would have to decide upon the most beneficial skills to look for then find some likely source to perhaps hire from"
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2013 19:29:43 GMT -5
If Nathaniel had been his father, Iris’s commentary probably would have been taken with a grain of derision and offensive, but with Nathaniel it goes the exact opposite. He didn’t even blush and instead simply laughed. “I know I love paid naptime,” he shared quietly with her, smiling. His eyes even glance around finding the drooping members of the staff. “Seems I’m not the only one either. Doesn’t Arkham have such the focused staff?” He had, however heard Joan and his father. And he had to agree in points with the both of them.
“Upgrading the entire system from containment cells, to the medical bay, and the therapy rooms does sound important. Being confined to one area for extending periods of time leads to a plethora of nasty side effects not only mental, but physical as well. A body needs motion and change as much as rest,” he nodded to Joan, “and I am also aware from experience that Arkham in a workplace all its own. Nowhere else do you find the patients that this facility was improved to specialize in.”
He leaned back. “We need people specialized in the technology, but we also need people who can be versatile. People who are confident, but not cocky and people whose mental evaluations point to strong self-esteem, but not manipulation. We need team players not rogue wolves. We need to find reliable people not just physically imposing ones. Our patients here find out make people tick and they use it to dissect and manipulate people. We need people are harder to take advantage of or who are not easily shaken…if that’s possible.”
And that was the kicker. To work here and do well you needed one of two personality types and the second was type that would land the owner behind the same bars they defended in the end. You either were hard to manipulate or you were able to play the game better than the patients you came into contact with.
Nathaniel knew which personality type prevailed in the Asylum.
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Post by Deleted on May 16, 2013 16:13:44 GMT -5
Nathaniel's comment causes an amused grin to come to Iris's face. The reasons for it vary from person to person, but there just isn't many people here that are really up to the challenge of the patients. And she doesn't know if she's not one of them yet - she's still too new to her job and knows that she's yet to find herself in a situation that truly tests what she's made of. Though she's eager to prove herself, she's also not so arrogant as to assume that she'd make it through with flying colors - one truth about the asylum is that anything can and will happen. She can only hope that she's up for the challenge when it arrives.
"They're paid to work with patients, not to care about meetings," she replies, still keeping her voice quiet, "And so many of them have been here for long enough that whatever enthusiasm they may have had before has been completely drained out of them." She shakes her head at that, but returns her focus to the meeting. Though she may see it as a useless exercise - the odds that their esteemed director will continue to think that their ideas are sound once the meeting concludes, that the funding for the suggested changes will be secured, that they will be implemented properly, and that they will all work as well as one would hope aren't nearly as high as the optimistic discussion currently underway would lead you to believe - she can at least pay attention in case she ends up needing to remember something that was said later. Some might call her a pessimist, but she considers it only realistic to believe that when something is stuck in a rut it will most likely stay in that rut.
Of course, the problem with paying attention to the meeting is that it means hearing people say things she finds ridiculous, and after Nathaniel responded with amusement to her last comment, she can't help but make another. As Dr. Arkham mentions Wayne Enterprises and LexCorp, she sarcastically murmurs, "Ah yes, get the billionaires to throw money at us - that will solve everything!" No, no it won't - not when there's so many problematic human factors in the mix that will always undermine even the best technology.
She manages to hold her peace as her supervisor and Nathaniel yet again take a turn in speaking. Not that she agrees with much of anything Dr. Leland is suggesting - the ideas are nice, but not enough in her opinion. It's Nathaniel that she believes is closer to the truth, though even he doesn't seem to be thinking quite broadly enough. Though it's certainly true that the personality of the staff is very important - though she's a fairly recent hire and she suspects that she'll prove to have the sort of personality to thrive here, she also suspects that wasn't really considered when she was given the job. No, it was probably more that she looked new and promising to the field - 'worth a shot', as they say.
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Jeremiah Arkham - Black Mask
"All my life... I have been dancing on the edge of madness."
Player: Jere ~
Registered On: Mar 26, 2012 22:05:58 GMT -5 ~
Posts: 314
~ Relationship Status: The More the Merrier
~ Character Profile
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Post by Jeremiah Arkham - Black Mask on Jun 17, 2013 3:41:25 GMT -5
Jeremiah continues to ignore the obvious fraternizing that is occurring between his son and Iris. At least he attempts to do as the softest hint of their laughter makes it to his ears. He’s not interested in their jokes, and if this wasn’t supposed to at least appear to be a serious meeting, he’d not care they were socializing, but it is. This is a supposed to be a serious meeting—their annual staff meeting to discuss the prior year and what they planned to do next year. And out of all of them, the only one seeming to take this with the fortitude he expected was himself and Joan.
“Cutting corners,” he replies sharply and gives a hard glance to Nathaniel and Iris, “is a serious problem, but what do we blame it on? We train the guards and it is hands-on. Still they try and fail to make things simpler. The majority of patient breakouts and patient and/or staff injury is the result of said staff attempting to cut out an ‘unneeded’ safety protocol.” It’s obvious in his voice he doesn't know the solution to that particular problem. He isn't sure how to get it through the guard’s head that they cannot cut corners, not for anything because it’s the moment they do that something always goes wrong. He would have thought that they’d seen enough deaths among their ranks to know better. Apparently he was wrong and they were still failing to learn the lesson. His logic was sorely false.
He nods to Nathaniel’s further exploration of upgrades to medical and therapy rooms. “I want these patients to be safe, taken care, and both mentally and physically fit. And I want them secure from the outside. Every one of our patients are subject to human decency no matter their crimes. I’m not out to torture or make them ill. Arkham is designed to contain them just as Blackgate was to hold their more stable brethren, but it is true. There is nowhere like Arkham anywhere else. Nowhere that caters to the kind of patients we do.”
He begins to pace as he quiets for a moment to think. “I can talk to the board about a personality profile to assess our candidates more thoroughly in the case of doctors and the like. As for training and choosing guards more efficiently, however, perhaps,” and he wants to cringe at the idea requesting anything from Jim Gordon, “perhaps a chat with our police commissioner would offer insight. I give internship opportunities to hopeful doctors and therapists from the local university. Perhaps the same could be discussed for our police academy.”
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Joan Leland
Registered On: Apr 25, 2011 20:27:05 GMT -5 ~
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Post by Joan Leland on Jun 29, 2013 16:07:00 GMT -5
Joan nods to Jeremiah's words before following his look back to Nathaniel again, this time though she fixes on Iris instead, while she doesn't catch what Iris murmurs she can tell there's been some quiet discussion between the two "Perhaps there's something you'd like to add Dr. Ledford?" she sees it as encouraging her to speak up during staff meetings, mutterings aside she has been fairly quiet so far while the more experienced members of staff talk.
A long pause and she glances back to Jere "Due to the unique nature of Arkham it's difficult even with profiling to predict how someone will react in a long term position here" There would likely always be those who appear to be perfectly capable doctors who can stand up to the challenge but the place has a way of getting to you after a while "Any more than can be done to help get the correct staff should be done though. The commissioner should have a bit more experience finding those who can be trusted to at least hopefully not take bribes from the patients" She adds a little emphasis to her words and keeps an eye out the corner of her eye, checking if anyone looks particularly nervous. She's certain at least one or two of the doctors are probably on someone else's payroll but she doesn't expect them to give themselves away so easily.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2013 22:52:50 GMT -5
At his father’s scrutiny, Nathaniel makes sure he seems to be visually paying attention. His eyes face forward for the most part, though he glances at Iris and with a raised brow, “I doubt they’re even enthusiastic about their patients. Paid to work with them, sure…but they don’t do a good job and patients are suffering as a result.” He decides that at least at the moment he’s finished offering up solutions to the general audience, though he leans forward still whispering to Iris, “But I think the idea to fire everyone and then do interviews again would be too radical for this bunch.”
Nathaniel has plenty of large, radical thoughts, but he’s aware of where he’s seen on the totem pole, Jeremiah’s son or not. He may be privileged, but that his father will actually take his ideas seriously? That he doubts, though he does agree that staff have a “cutting corners” problem. That would be a hard solution to fix, and while he believes that talking to Gordon is a good idea, he can already imagine how that’s going to go. The problem with Arkham Asylum is that is has gotten off the path it used to be on. Maybe it was all good intentions, but now? He sighs, though in a moment that turns into a small smile at Iris’s snipe.
“I’ll bring the popcorn if you bring the drinks. I wouldn’t want to miss the billionaire money-throwing extravaganza,” he leans towards her, but he agrees. It won’t solve anything. There really are too many human errors that it would undermine the changes. There is cancer in Arkham Asylum and it has yet to be found or even cut out. And until that moment there is nothing that could be done.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2013 5:49:34 GMT -5
This meeting may be very important to Dr. Arkham - in fact in spite of her opinions of him she'd doubt that he'd not hold meetings that he didn't think were important - but for her it simply isn't. Has anyone here done anything but state the obvious? No. So what use is it? Though she isn't so belligerent in that opinion that she doesn't pointedly stare back at Dr. Arkham when she sees him looking at her, as if to say, 'Yes, you have (some of) my attention.' She simply doesn't care about the meeting, and she doesn't think that she should have to care.
Which is why, when her supervisor asks for her input, she summons every ounce of dignity that she has to draw upon, she simply says, "No, I do not, Dr. Leland." Ending that statement with a very long look as if to indicate that she didn't appreciate the question at all, her attention then shifts back more to Nathaniel. Who does Dr. Leland think she is, asking that? Her mother? Her teacher? The woman may be her supervisor, but that only means that she's supposed to oversee how she's handling her patients and not tell her what to do in a meeting. If she wants to spend the entire meeting whispering to Nathaniel and not make any comments to everyone, that's her business. Like him, her biggest ideas aren't about to be taken seriously enough, so what would be the point?
Once attention has shifted sufficiently from her, she gives Nathaniel an amused grin for his comment. It only encourages her further though, so she comments, "And notice how your father felt the need to specifically mention that he does not want to torture patients or make them ill... because apparently that doesn't go without saying..."
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Jeremiah Arkham - Black Mask
"All my life... I have been dancing on the edge of madness."
Player: Jere ~
Registered On: Mar 26, 2012 22:05:58 GMT -5 ~
Posts: 314
~ Relationship Status: The More the Merrier
~ Character Profile
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Post by Jeremiah Arkham - Black Mask on Jul 17, 2013 4:29:45 GMT -5
Jeremiah can’t help but smile just a bit when Dr. Leland also draws attention to the other people who are not falling asleep, but whom to be having a discussion of their own. Though Nathaniel has spoken, so he doesn’t pose the same question to him and he decides to let it fall after Iris at least stares back and admits that she has nothing to say. He supposes that he’ll take that she’s somewhat listening over no listening. Maybe she just needs to discuss her ideas and if that’s with Nathaniel he’ll allow it, though he’s not sure he’s very comfortable with how easily they’re getting along. That’s another thing he squelches. He gets his mind off it by returning his attention to Joan.
“I doubt it’ll be that easy, but as you’ve said, any more that could be done should. The current profile is quite a few years old, a new one would do it well anyway.” Yet there would always be the ones who could pass the tests, get through every loophole, and yet either be frauds or soon suffer as others have. Arkham is a place that got a person. You didn’t have to be insane to work here, but sometimes it drove you that and sometimes being a bit on the quirky side helped. And sometimes the insane treated the insane. His mind went to Jonathan, to Harleen Quinzel, and then looped to him. He cut the thought off there. “I’ll definitely contact the Commissioner. You’re right he will be very versed in what types would do well here and be trusted at least enough not to be bought by the imprisoned.”
He also needs people who won’t make the patients worse. There are already enough of them. Himself included. He doesn’t need the competition and it just made everything more complicated. So yes, saying what he did about not wanting to torture patients obviously didn’t go without saying.
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Joan Leland
Registered On: Apr 25, 2011 20:27:05 GMT -5 ~
Posts: 144
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Post by Joan Leland on Aug 10, 2013 16:20:36 GMT -5
Joan subtly offers a look in Jeremiah's direction, one that's probably easily recognised by the older members of staff, it's meaning: 'This one could be trouble' though for once the thought isn't about one of the patients. As it appears Iris has nothing useful on her mind to add to the discussion, Joan is left to assume Iris is spending far too much attention whispering to Nathaniel and very little on the meeting and she doesn't exactly approve, there's more important things to think about than flirting. She tried but she certainly isn't Iris' mother, there's very little she can do if the young doctor doesn't wish to be involved in the discussion to improve the asylum.
Not that things were likely to improve quickly if at all but indifference to the situation never did get them anywhere and they already have far too many doctors who aren't paying attention. She tries not to focus on Iris, that was not a problem she was supposed to be trying to fix right now. Back to the topic at hand and Jeremiah "If it was ever easy to fix all our problems, Jeremiah then it would have been done long ago. These are still not radical ideas that will revolutionise our work but as with the most high profile of our patients we appear to be fighting a very long battle and somewhat losing then anything we can do we must do" Sadly revolutionary ideas she was all out of, there was no easy fix for this sort of thing and she wasn't convinced there ever would be.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2013 0:33:46 GMT -5
Nathaniel is aware that this meeting is important to his father, but like Iris he feels they aren’t stating more than the obvious, the surface imperfections one can just slap a new coat of paint on and call it acceptable. They don’t want to hear radical ideas and though Nathaniel’s eyes flicker to his father, it’s no different than how he’d been behaving. He paid attention, enough to know where in the conversation they were and then he’d look to Iris to respond to her. Which is why as Dr. Leland speaks to her he doesn’t look at either of them, that’s none of his business, but he understands the meaning. They’ve been caught, but what can a person do? It’s not that he’s uninterested, it’s that he’s uninterested in people who aren’t thinking forward enough and who would shun his ideas if so.
Nathaniel was convinced that there was a very simple solution, but it was one the problem themselves had to see. You could fix security, construct cells, make everything new and shiny and state of the art, but that was the tail. The tail could only operate if the head was thinking straight and Nathaniel knew, much as he adored his father and this place—he’d be inheriting it after all—the head wasn’t thinking straight. The head was confused and lost and had been for a while.
He gives Iris a small smile, “Tells you how far this place has fallen,” then it’s a bit more serious, “and no one sees the real problem or if they do, they’re afraid to voice it.” Even he is afraid, but his eyes scan back to his dad and fix on him for a long time.
Jeremiah. Jeremiah Arkham is the problem and Nathaniel knows it. He turns back to Iris. “They’re going to fill in the cracks with bricks and mortar, but it won’t be enough water will still seep through.” For as much as what could be done, should, the small problems everyone else was focusing on was on the what they could see of the iceberg.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2013 5:25:23 GMT -5
Though Iris is fully aware that looks are being exchanged between her supervisor and her boss - and not complimentary ones - she maintains her look of attention. Just because she feels that this meeting is entirely pointless and not worth any of their time doesn't mean that she won't listen to it. If they're not satisfied by the amount of attention she's giving the meeting then they should either raise the caliber of the meeting or lower their expectations. Either way, she's not that worried that it will result in more than a few ruffled feathers among her 'superiors' - she is, after all, a good therapist, and much that has been discussed at this meeting only underscores that they need more people like her.
"Or they're not afraid, but they know it's useless to bring it up," Iris whispers back to Nathaniel. Because she's not exactly afraid to speak up. She knows that Dr. Arkham must be (one of) the primary problem here, and she'd be all too happy to call him out on it if it weren't for the fact that it would do nothing but cause her to be in need of a job. One that would end up being in a place less advantageous to her career, and all for nothing, so she stays silent simply out of good sense. But she does that so often that it's practically a hobby.
His last comment causes her lips to purse thoughtfully for a moment before she quietly says, "They shouldn't be trying to stop the water at all - they should be trying to direct it." But that's just her take on the situation. And possibly the only thing anyone is going to get from her about what she thinks ought to be done.
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Jeremiah Arkham - Black Mask
"All my life... I have been dancing on the edge of madness."
Player: Jere ~
Registered On: Mar 26, 2012 22:05:58 GMT -5 ~
Posts: 314
~ Relationship Status: The More the Merrier
~ Character Profile
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Post by Jeremiah Arkham - Black Mask on Sept 26, 2013 3:45:13 GMT -5
Jeremiah catches Joan’s look and his gaze drifts again to Iris and Nate. He can agree, she might be trouble, and perhaps that sentiment is supported by the fact that it is his son she’s speaking to. He’s the one who’d garnered her attention and she him it seems. And it’s true, he doesn’t feel either are paying the proper amount of attention to the meeting. They’re far too focused on whatever discussion they’re having amongst themselves. While no, he can’t really scold Iris—she’s awake at the least which isn’t the same as some of the others in the room—he can have a talk with his son. But for now, in order to not color the meeting wrong, he chooses to ignore it. Any talk can be had later about their behavior.
He can’t deny, however, not be disinterested in what they could be saying that is so interesting.
Yet at least he’s able to have some conversation and Leland is one of his best doctors. Jeremiah agrees that no, these aren’t revolutionary ideas and though he has some, he’s feign to implement them just yet. Instead he simply nods. Nothing would be an easy fix, he knows that. “Of course, Joan, still I wish there was an easy button, but working with who we do it will always be a battle even with the best systems. But everything we can do now, will be done. I’ll start by contact the Commissioner.”
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Joan Leland
Registered On: Apr 25, 2011 20:27:05 GMT -5 ~
Posts: 144
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Post by Joan Leland on Oct 22, 2013 15:05:33 GMT -5
Joan is more than willing to hear new ideas and opinions on what to do, that was after all the entire point of the meeting. If those ideas and opinions go against her thoughts on the proper care of patients and even the law then they'll have problems but they're there to try and help people, not drive everyone even more insane. That has often felt like another losing battle and one which she rarely trusted anyone else to be on the same side of. Even Jeremiah was questionable but she wouldn't be doing the patients much good if she was fired and she had a distinct lack of proof of anything. Years working at Arkham had made her a bit paranoid but not necessarily wrong.
The asylum was really a lost cause but still it was one Joan stubbornly refuses to give up on. Without further ideas being brought to the table though Joan can only nod to Jeremiah's words "If you require any assistance I'll happily help as usual, Jeremiah" With a glance over the room to see who's still awake or even paying attention she's not gaining a great deal of hope and she sighs quietly before soldering on "Is there anything else in need of discussion?"
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2013 18:27:31 GMT -5
Nathaniel’s fingers are quiet as they tap against the arm of the chair he’d taken. He certainly is hoping that there is nothing else to discuss. Not that there isn’t more he could bring up, but like Iris he feels this entire meeting is a farce. His smile is attentive and pleasant, but his eyes are just the slightest bit dulled. One can say they’d be open to suggestion, but he seriously doubted they’d want to hear that he thinks they should just start over from the ground up. They needed to raise their caliber indeed. He thinks these people need to have their feathers ruffled. They need to see the fire coming and run instead of like turkeys staring up mesmerized by rain and drowning.
He inclines his head and his scoff is amused and tired in the same breath, “Could be,” he agrees, but even a cursory glance says that the majority doesn’t care either way. They’re leaning on their hands, heads jerking as they jolt awake when their hands fall. His eyes find his father and he knows. Yes, Jeremiah is part of the problem and he wishes he could see it. See it before it’s too late, but too late for what he’s hesitant to think of and his stomach knots pleasantly in the surge of fear, but his face shows no change. He’s glad that no one else can hear Iris, though. She is a good therapist from what he’s seen and heard and to lose her in this job would be a pity.
“Redirect it,” his voice muses and he smiles. “You and I are going to have to talk again, I’m interested in that theory. I’m curious how you see it being redirected,” and he means it. That idea just struck him and his intrigue is instantly caught. And besides…
He won’t deny that it’s an absolute excuse as well to talk and see Dr. Ledford again.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2013 1:33:24 GMT -5
Iris is of the same opinion as Nathaniel: this meeting was a waste to begin with, so it can't end soon enough for her. Fortunately, the conversation of those actually discussing things with the entire group seems to be striking a concluding sort of note, so hopefully they can all get out of here shortly. Which is good, because she has paperwork that she could be doing. And she would actually enjoy doing the paperwork more than she would enjoy a minute more of this meeting. And she's sure that if the group were to take a vote on that, an overwhelming majority of the people present would agree with that sentiment.
But she can't help but smile when Nathaniel seems to be intrigued by that little hint of what she would be saying if she did decide to speak up. If you were to ask her, the asylum needs and entire paradigm shift. But that's just not going to happen - not with Dr. Arkham running the place. In her daydreams where she has money and prestige instead of student loans and a lowest tier psychologist job, she's fantasized about starting a rival asylum within Gotham City and then watching as all the patients start coming her way as everyone recognizes which system actually works better. But alas - even if that scenario were to in any way play out it would take a decade or more. And she has hopes that something else will happen to change things before it comes to that.
"Mmm," is her only response to Nathaniel, a wordless sound of agreement. It would be fun to share her vision with someone, even if it's completely hypothetical at this point. And she certainly wouldn't mind talking further with Nathaniel, and preferably in a setting where her boss and her supervisor aren't exchanging looks about it.
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