Consider this message in a current advertisement:
This is it.
This is what matters.
The experience of a product.
How it makes someone feel.
When you start by imagining
What that might be like,
You step back.
You think.
How will this help?
Will it make life better?
Does this deserve to exist?
These thoughts are from a company that makes phones, music players and computers. I couldn’t help but read this print and web ad from Apple over and over, wondering if we in healthcare are asking ourselves questions about the patient experience that are nearly as tough. In particular, after reading the last three lines, I kept thinking:
How do I help?
How do I make lives better?
Do I deserve to take care of patients?
These are questions we must ask ourselves regardless of rank or role. Our technical training has earned us a spot on the healthcare team but it does not differentiate us from any of our colleagues nor make us shine in our patients' eyes. The antibiotics and fluids I prescribe work just the same when my partner orders them for her patients. The medications you successfully administered could have been given properly by another nurse. Sure, there are times when these tasks call for a bit of finesse. In the balance, however, technical skills rarely set us apart when it comes to great care.
Do I deserve to take care of patients?
I do if I’m sure to address what I call the patient’s “core concerns”:
What is happening to me?
Will you listen/talk to me?
Will you look out for me?
And those who truly understand this commitment will also listen, talk to, and look out for their co-workers, knowing that those efforts ultimately serve their patients as well. And these are also the people who see the strength in saying "yes" to those in need, creating great experiences for others knowing it's the shortest path to their own satisfaction and freedom in the work place. As author Pandora Poikilos wrote, “We are so accustomed to the comforts of "I cannot", "I do not want to" and "it is too difficult" that we forget to realize [that] when we expect others to dance around us, we are not achieving greatness. We have made ourselves weak.”
How do I help?
How do I make lives better?
Do I deserve to take care of patients?
I'm using these questions to stimulate conversations about the patient experience. Ask the next person you interview to reflect on them. And ask these questions of yourself. I’m doing the same.
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