Seeking clarity

We often find ourselves overwhelmed by a complex case – or even numerous cases that are not so complex.

The first step is to try to seek clarity. How do we do this? Well, we start from the beginning and go over everything again.

How and why?

This process happens numerous times on shift – we have little “mini-rounds” sessions where myself and the other clinicians talk through difficult cases from start to where we are now.

It could be to try to determine whether we are missing something, figure out our next step, or work out how we are going to manage what we have diagnosed.

We must always seek clarity to provide us with a pathway forward, reduce stress and anxiety, highlight the next course of action, identify things we have missed, and increase productivity.

Getting together

Have set times for when you regroup. For example:

• after morning consults, when you have to develop a plan to work through all the cases you have in hospital
• after your initial round of diagnostics
• if you have not developed a plan one hour before afternoon consults

Whatever you decide, have set times where you can stop and think, and seek to clear things in your head. The best way to do this is to have a reminder in your mobile phone, or simply agree a set time with your colleagues when you can have a team huddle.

If going through this process helps clear things for you, imagine what would happen if teams did this within their own group of co-workers. Team members would know what was happening, and who would need to do what and why – leading to productive teams with clear pathways.