I haven’t been “yelled at” in years. I haven’t been “in trouble” in a very, very long time.
A bit ago, I got a bit of a dressing down. I did something that could have put a patient in danger. It could have meant bringing the patient back to the OR.
When finishing up a case, I didn’t secure a drain as well as I could have. I did secure it, but not the way the doc likes and not as well as he would have done it. The drain pulled out in the PACU. Just for a frame of reference, that drain would probably have stayed in for about two days.
The concern was that the patient might develop a seroma and need to go back to the OR to have it evacuated and a new drain placed. Normally, not a huge deal, but this was a spine case and a seroma near the spinal cord can cause pressure to build and some real problems.
I got a text from the doc that night asking a bunch of questions about what could have happened. Then, let’s just say he also let me know he was not pleased with me.
So, what did I do?
I picked up the phone and called him. I apologized and took 100% responsibility. It was on me 100%. Case closed. You can’t get over it if you’re wishy-washy.
It sucked, but I owned it.
The patient did just fine and is currently doing fantastic. It took about two weeks and working with that doc two more times, but I think we’re over it.
Here’s the point: you’re going to make mistakes. It’s going to happen. What matters is how you handle the mistakes.
Here’s another example for you:
A few months ago I was doing a group order of The Final Step with the students at A.T. Still University . Everything was moving along great when I get an email from a student. The book they got was messed up. They couldn’t read the lower right portion of almost any page in the book.
The next day I shipped out a brand-new book to this individual.
That night I got emails from two more students who couldn’t read parts of their books. It was printed really light and kind of smudgy.
Ugh, now I’ve got a problem. A real problem.
I solved it exactly the same way I solved the problem above.
I immediately emailed everyone who ordered and said, “I’m sorry. There’s an issue with the printing. Please contact me if your book has a problem in any way. I’m having a new set of books shipped out to you tomorrow.”
Then I hopped on the phone and called my printer. They graciously turned around a set of new books and shipped them right over. Smooth as could be.
The answer is taking 100% responsibility. It’s the only strategy that works.
Could I have blamed the printer? Of course. Could I have blamed the patient for pulling out the drain? Of course.
Would it have helped? Nope.
The student running the group order got back to me a few says later with this email.
***
We got them and will take care of the notifications! [Meaning letting everyone know about the new books]
Thanks for working hard to rectify the problem! I am loving the book so far, and I had my best EOR test grade of clinical year after using it!
Natalie
***
Handled like this and everyone is happy. Hiding and running? No one is happy. Even if you get “away” with it, you’ll damage your integrity. You’ll be less you.
Alright, if you’re curious about setting up a group order of The Final Step for you school, hit reply and I’ll send you the details. If we go ahead and set one up, your classmates will get 25% off the price of The Final Step and you’ll get your copy for FREE for handing out the books when they come in. It’s a sweet deal.
Hit reply and we’ll go over the details.
Brian Wallace
