OSM560-April_DIGITAL_rev_Layout 1 4/8/13 11:09 AM Page 140
SAFETY
haps, low stress during a routine day) while the person you're talking to is hearing your words through the filter of a totally different
reality (the third urgent request she's received in the past 10 minutes
during a day when nothing seems to be going right). When verbal
barbs start flying, they might not be caused by what you're saying,
but when you're saying it.
• Meet issues head on. Begin by making it clear that the person
you're confronting does a great job and is a valued contributor —
that's not a catchphrase to soften the blow, as most of your staff and
surgeons really work hard on a daily basis — but something has
occurred that you need to discuss. Emphasize that you want them to
be aware of the issue because it affects patient care, not because
you're trying to reprimand them.
• Role-play. Effective role-playing is about humility. It shows your
surgeons and staff how to shed their egos in order to participate in
potentially hurtful conversations. Identify real or conceived difficult
scenarios that have led to or could lead to conflict, and have surgeons, scrub techs, surgical nurses and anesthesia providers practice
difficult conversations during those acted-out scenes.
Reverse roles during the exercises to give both participants a sense
of how others perceive their actions and how they come across to colleagues. During my turn in the role-playing hot seat, for example, I
played a scrub tech, who in turn played me, the surgeon. He gave me
a really hard time, telling me that I really screwed up during a case
1 4 0 | O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E | A P R I L 2 013
