Oddly, I want to take a minute to talk about an episode of Grey’s Anatomy. I don’t remember the specific details, but I’m sure the patient was a lovely little old lady who was kind and completely lucid. I’m sure they set it up so that you were rooting for her.
She had kidney failure and was dying, but if they could find a donor match maybe they could save her.
I’m sure it was life and death and time was running out, and then they found it. A perfect donor.
They rush to surgery. Prep and drape the patient. Tension is high. Then it happens. Meredith drops the kidney! Right on the floor! Holy crap! The freakin kidney!
Did they cancel the surgery? Freak out and run out of the room?
No, they thought it through. Washed the kidney off in betadine, made sure antibiotics coverage was optimized, and proceeded with the surgery.
I don’t work in transplant, so I can’t say if what they DID was realistic, but I can say that things aren’t perfect all the time. And the way they problem solved was dead on.
It happens all the time, everywhere.
The equipment you need isn’t sterile. It will take 2 hours to sterilize it, the patient is intubated, and you’ve already made an incision.
The joint replacement rep says, “We have the implant you want, but there’s only one and it’s expired.”
The anesthesiologist looks over the drapes and says, “The patient isn’t ventilating well, and there is crepitus. I know you just said you need about three more hours, but what do you think you can get done in one?”
There are problems everywhere.
The most valuable people are those who help solve them. The least valuable people are those who decompensate and immediately start looking for someone to blame.
How do YOU handle mini disasters? Failed a test … do you look to blame something or someone? Or do you change your approach and experiment?
Don’t get along with someone at work… Do you blame them or figure out a way to either avoid them or make it work?
Panicking and blaming limits your choices. Look for ways solve it.
Struggling to remember all of your facts and key terms… How do you solve that?
Struggling to find the time to get it all done… How do you solve that?
Maximize Your Time and Efficiency
Brian Wallace
P.S. Broke and worried you’ll be trapped there forever? Tomorrow I’ll show you how to solve that one.
