Being the Professional You Were Meant to Be

by Debbie Pottinger, BSH, RRT

What is Professionalism?“It’s what each of us strives to be daily.”

“It’s what comes to the rescue when your least favorite patient arrives spitting and hitting.”

“It’s how you treat others with respect and dignity, even if they dislike you or treat you rudely”

“It’s more of an attitude…it’s about how we conduct ourselves and how we accomplish our tasks”

“It’s never being or acting rudely”

What is a professional…

To be a professional is to be involved in work we like to do... to develop in-depth skills in our chosen area of life’s work not just because we get paid for it but because we are truly interested in being of service to others.

Are You a Professional ?

How you look, talk, write, act and work determines whether you are a professional or an amateur.

“Anything you do, do it as a Professional to Professional standards”

Professional vs Amateur

Professional AmateurLearns every aspect of the job Skips learning process

whenever possible

Does not let mistakes slide by Ignores or tries to hidethem

Level headed and optimistic Upset and assumes worst

Enthusiastic, cheerful, content Anger, hostility, victim

Produces more than expected Just enough to get by

Punctual & Prompt Shows up late, misses deadlines

The first step to making yourself a professional is to decide that you ARE a professional

Are You????

How we perform under pressure is one of the key ways of practicing professionalism

How do you perform under pressure?

People who practice professionalism understand that everything they do, either positive or negative, has an impact on those around them.

At the same time, everything others do, either positive or negative, has an impact on the professional.

Therefore, the professional, at all times, strives to behave in a positive and ethical manner.

Remember: You are the service that you’re providing.

Make sure that every person you work with or come in contact with will remember you favorably.

How does anger affect professionalism?

Let’s look at statistics:

Studies have shown that healthcare professionals have depicted the hospital as a virtual war zone, using numerous military metaphors: “I become fatigued by having to do all these battles;” “I was getting flak;” “We feel sabotaged.”

In one example, Smith and Hart conducted a study to examine how Med-Surg nurses managed angry patient situations.

When anger was perceived as a personal attack, nurses tended to disconnect. They did not understand the patient’s reality. As their own anger arose, they tried strategies such as time out, transferring blame, seeking peer support, and smoothing it over by acting as if nothing had happened

A better outcome was achieved in the study by participants who were able to remain connected with the patient, analyze the anger, and not take it personally.

Anger towards patients/families

Anger in the healthcare setting oftentimes, is directed toward inappropriate targets and/or expressed too intensely.

Thus, healthcare professionals must be prepared to deal with the anger of patients, family members, physicians, and colleagues - as well as their own anger

Unfortunately, the response to a patient’s anger is often a defensive one that actually fuels more anger. For example, a patient who is in pain, waiting for an analgesic, does not want an explanation (“we’re short of help”) instead, the patient wants reassurance that something will be done.

Your gut level toward the patient may be annoyance, irritation and, basically, “Why me?”

Isn’t it interesting that when you have touched the bottom of your empathy and the care that needs to be delivered is at the top of your professional capacity, that professionalism has to shine?

This is the point where you have to make a conscious and deliberate decision to stretch yourself to give the professional care that your patient deserves.

This is where we move from the depths of our human emotional reactions to the heights of our ability to deliver a higher level of quality care for each and every patient and demonstrate true professionalism!

What we must understand is that underneath the angry demands are deep fears of abandonment.

While negative feelings toward patients are understandable, and limits should be set (“I will check on you in 15 min”)..the ultimate solution is giving consistent care that alleviates their fear.

One of the most important things healthcare professionals can do for the difficult patient/family is to listen to them.

Find out the story behind their issue. Just because you listen to their story and try to understand their feeling, does not imply that you accept their point of view. It means that you heard them.

“Blowing off” the patient’s and families frustrations is one of the greatest preventable “trust busters.”

Patients and families hold dearly to what we say and promise. They take us literally.

Physician anger:

Another manifestation of dysfunctional anger in healthcare settings is verbal abuse of healthcare professionals by physicians.

At the moment of an angry attack by a physican the healthcare professionals’ feelings of helplessness are understandable. The attack is often unexpected as well as unfair. But you must learn to cope effectively with physician temper tantrums, not only to preserve your own self esteem but also to prevent adverse consequences to patient care

Anger of healthcare professionals at with each other:

Disturbing aspects of research with healthcare professionals shows their anger at each other.

Words taken verbatim from transcripts illustrate how we wound each other with our words. “faultfinding”, “backbiting,” “snapping,”etc. (Brooks et al., 1996; Smith et al., 1996). More subtle manifestations included damaging gossip, nonverbal signals, and chilly silence.

How can we avoid negative feelings that may arise between co-workers? Accept our co-workers, and appreciate their point of view.

Ask for explanation and additional facts, when you need it.

Be in a problem-solving mode. It is more important to solve the problem than it is to be right.

With good communication, and a little understanding, you'll not only improve your professional relationships, you'll be more productive.

Because we’re all unique, each of us deals with our anger in our own way. Sometimes we express it in a way that feels good in the moment, but causes more problems afterwards. Sometimes we keep our anger inside because we don’t want to make trouble…but that just seems to make us feel worse.

Healthcare professionals who are comfortable experiencing and acknowledging their anger usually respond more effectively to the expression of anger in other people.

Handling others’ anger begins with handling our own. Thoughts and feelings are closely linked.

The Thought-Emotion Link (Wrong reaction)

Incident: Angry family member

Your Thoughts Your Emotions Your BehaviorWho do they think they are Annoyance Yell/tell them offHow dare they! Anger, rage Negative body

language

You’re the owner of your own emotions. Only you have access to the systems in your body that lead you to become angry. You’re in complete control of that process.

Tips For Dealing With Anger

Stop, take time to calm down and reflect, count to 10 to buy time to think rationally

Don’t personalize every negative statement you hear

If you have been part of the problem, admit it and remember the power of a sincere apology

Thought for the day:

“Anger is an emotion under inner control not external control”

“You can't change another person's personality, but you aren't powerless to change the situation.”

So, let’s ask again….Are you a professional?

Remember to look at the big picture. Be adaptable, flexible and use good sound judgement. Be open-minded and fair.

Conduct yourself in a manner which demonstrates your dedication to professionalism.

We are a team, and the actions of one - good or bad- reflect on us all.

By being professional we will serve our patients and each other in the best possible manner !!!