3. Get to know
each other
Not surprisingly,
anonymity can be
toxic. If a person
knows everyone in the
OR only by roles —
scrub nurse,
anesthesiologist,
resident — it's easy to
dehumanize them and
treat them poorly. It's
much harder to do if
that same person knows every person's name, their spouses' names,
their kids' names and their passions outside of work. Experts
recommend that institutions make a concerted effort to break down
the walls between co-workers. This can be as informal as regular
inter-staff lunches or as advanced as bringing in outside experts to
conduct training.
For 12 years, I worked shoulder to shoulder with a pediatric
orthopedic surgeon in the OR, then I became a manager and we had
offices down the hall from each other. We frequently attended weekly
lunches and regular meetings. One day, I was charting in a patient's
room and he said, "Nurse, nurse ... I don't know your name." I said,
"It's Rebecca, the same name I've had for the past 12 years we've
worked together." After that he made a point of greeting me every
time we saw one another. "Rebecca, Rebecca, Rebecca." I finally said,
"You are laying it on too thick," and we laughed about it. Pivoting on
that one moment of incivility, we actually got to know each other as
human beings and we're now real friends.
N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 4 9
SUBTLE EXPRESSION Backstabbing and passive-aggressive behavior is no less
hurtful or damaging to staff morale than more overt forms of incivility. It's important
to recognize these behaviors and take steps to stop them.
