Assume the best
Emily E. Volk, MD
August 2023—The benefit of the doubt: a risk worth taking in health care?
Many of us work in practices, hospitals, or departments that are short-staffed. In the aftermath of the pandemic, it is harder now than ever to find qualified people, from pathologists to clinical laboratory scientists to phlebotomists. Those of us who still work in laboratories are feeling the stress of carrying an extraordinary load.
To the extent that it is possible to do so, we must lessen our burdens. One of the few things we can do in this regard has to do with the added burdens we create in the experience of our surroundings. How often do we ruminate, rant, or regale one another with our frustrations? I have certainly indulged in these activities, but I have learned over the years—with much help from others—that venting is not as beneficial an activity as I once thought. It takes a lot of effort and energy to vent, and it rarely leads to solutions.
A far more useful approach is to ask oneself, or to ask someone who comes into your office to vent about another team or team member, why is that person struggling and how can we help?
As I have tried to replace my own venting with a more positive and productive approach, I have found an immediate benefit: I stop reinforcing the idea that anyone wants to fail. I have never met anyone in health care who fundamentally wanted to fail. They may not have the tools or information they need to do things properly or they may have priorities that are by necessity ordered differently than our own, but they do not deliberately set out to fail (or to make me fail).
If we approach these problems with a little bit of generosity, we can come to the immensely relieving conclusion—and in most cases the absolutely correct one—that others around us also want to do good. Indeed, just like us, they want to do the right thing and have perfectly good reasons for their actions, attitudes, and words. And this isn’t just about individuals. It’s important to try to give the entire system the benefit of the doubt because every health care system is made up of many people trying to do the right thing.
I know this isn’t easy, and I certainly don’t always get it right. Furthermore, we may not always agree on what the “right thing” is. But it really is remarkable what happens when we stop venting, quit blaming, and just focus on the simple question: What do they need and how can I be useful? When we bring genuine curiosity to the conversation, we can find solutions.
How many times have we heard things like “The lab was late with results” or “The lab must have lost those results”? Well, here’s something that just happened to me: We found out that our laboratory staff had the wrong phone number to report results for preoperative patients. The lab team had been calling an empty room with a phone that didn’t roll over properly. Our surgery colleagues were probably muttering their frustrations about not getting results on time, and it was all because of a single piece of outdated information. In my experience, this kind of thing happens all the time.
Building relationships with key team members can make all the difference. All laboratory leaders in health care systems should have certain contacts in their cell phones: the chief nursing officer, the chief operating officer, the head of environmental services, the OR nursing director, the chief medical officer, and maybe even the CEO, depending on your organization. If you are in an independent clinical lab, having contacts to key clients, office managers, and physician group leaders may be useful. When we make these connections and humanize ourselves with our nonlaboratory colleagues, they are more likely to stop thinking of us as “the lab” and start thinking of us as partners in the care of our patients.
It’s just as important for us to see our peers as people rather than as “surgery” or “nursing” so we too can stop depersonalizing and build a healthier environment. What I’ve tried to do as a leader is redirect conversations where we are dehumanizing and shift the perspective to individuals. Many of my colleagues have heard me say, “I’ve never met anyone named ‘the lab’ or ‘nursing.’ Who is the responsible person who could help us in this situation?”
If you have any opportunity to build these critical relationships, seize it. Show up in person (or at least with your webcam on) to those daily huddles you might be avoiding or just not prioritizing. Establish regular touchpoints with people who can help you and your team work more effectively. When you’re the anonymous “lab,” it’s easy for people to blame you for problems and be less likely to work with you to effect change. But when folks know who you are, they will answer your emails and take your phone calls. Folks respond better with a personal connection and when you offer the benefit of the doubt.
Dr. Volk welcomes communication from CAP members. Write to her at president@cap.org.