Supervisors
Having removed my jacket for the upcoming blood draw, I sat down. And would do so for the next hour.
Over 60 minutes I observed many things. One, after having trouble inserting IVs into the arms of a few of the older patients the two nurses on duty were running behind schedule. Two, the other patients around me were starting to grumble.
Healthcare facilities are crowded places. Sometimes two patients come in back-to-back and demand more care than any two you have seen in a month. Those are the breaks. From the time I spent working in a doctors office I can attest to how annoying it is to kill yourself—working as fast and as competently as possible—only to listen to the next patient complain and complain about how long they just waited. You apologize and promise you will do better, but really you wish they could show some form of human understanding. You want to explain this isn’t a Friendly’s and patients can’t be served up short order.
However this isn’t that story. While the two nurses continued to struggle, two supervisors sat in the same room only feet away behind a long desk doing paperwork. Not grinding paperwork either, they were closer to loafing it—laughing over a story from the weekend, talking about the color of the paint on the walls.
I can’t say for sure why the supervisors at the clinic didn’t help out, but I’ll take a few guesses. I don’t think it was because they were lazy or being spiteful, I think it never even crossed their mind. Some places teach their employees, “yes we all have our jobs, and yes there is a division of labor, but that goes out the window when the customer(or patient in this case) experience is being sacrificed..” And some places do not. In this particular scenario they were part of the latter.Or maybe they really did want to help, but just didn’t have the confidence to step in. Often the farther you move up, the farther you move away from basics of the workplace. This is a no go, the people who give the orders need to be able to carry out those orders if needed.
Or maybe I’m being overly judgmental and both supervisors had legitimate reasons to allow patient volume to build relentlessly while talking at a desk.
Not likely.
We focus on massive overhauls in fixing our problems. And while there is certainly room for reform in the healthcare system—as well as many other institutions–some of the problems can be alleviated by simple adjustments, entering the workplace and being open to the possibility of stepping out of our comfort zone to ensure things run smoothly.
February 11th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
Wow! Do I relate to that Matt! Not everyone can be first. And when a patient needs more time and attention other patients and staff need to adjust accordingly. I am often posted alone(In an outreach for ambulatory patients) for 10 hour shifts responsible for the clerical as well as the clinical. When things get busy as they most often do.I apply the “Disney” philosphy telling the patients left waiting that The wait time will be approx half an hour knowing it is really closer to 15 minutes, then when they are called in so much sooner then expected their mood is great! My little trick I have learned out of necessity. Why it is not in “The budget” for two nurses/techs to be there is the obvious question but I learned long ago not to expect a clear answer to that ever! Your observations are as always Spot On. Keep up the good work .
February 12th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
MConor, It has been a while since you’ve written an essay/opinion piece. Thank you. Hope you didn’t get too much blood on your keyboard.