“Get mad. Then move on,” said Colin Powell after a particularly trying day with George W. I’m doing lots of the first bit at the moment, but having trouble with the second.
My favourite quotation about losing your temper is: “He who angers you conquers you,” which, in my case, is absolutely true. Losing your temper in an argument, equals not only losing said argument, but looking pretty silly - puce is not a very flattering colour. Apologies almost invariably have to follow. Anger is also quite difficult to live with, as my husband will no doubt testify. This weekend has been particularly troublesome, and I only need write one word to explain why. Orthopaedics.
Yes, the orthopaedic directorate is up to its tricks again, and, if there’s one thing that makes me more angry even than accidentally reading the front page of the Daily Mail, it’s the orthopaedic directorate’s idea of ‘change management’. Whole libraries of books have been written by eminent management gurus on the subject of how to institute change, and thousands of pounds spent sending consultants and managers on courses - yet their approach is to present us with a new theatre template, involving changes to all our scheduled sessions, with 14 days’ notice and no discussion.
The list of problems with it is so long that it’s difficult to know where to start - to mention just one, they have put a list of day-case knee arthroscopies on a Friday evening. Perhaps they’re not aware that a ‘day-case’ needs to be done during the ‘day’ so that they don’t have to stay in hospital over night. If there are two things we can be sure of it’s: A. there won’t be any empty in-patient beds for them to stay in and B. there won’t be anyone from the orthopaedic directorate available at 9pm on a Friday evening to sort out the mess.
I’m sure there are perfectly good reasons for them changing the schedule, even if they don’t want to share them with theatre management, but what really makes me mad is not being listened to. I’m sure there won’t be many consultants out there who can’t relate to that feeling - whether it’s having the gloves changed in theatres without prior consultation, or having your worries about service changes go unheeded - there’s nothing more infuriating and disempowering than experienced, dedicated people having their views ignored.
The problem is that, as the saying goes, there’s nobody so deaf as the person who doesn’t want to hear, and the things we’re saying tend not to be the ‘right’ answers. Anger is a very destructive emotion if allowed to fester, and as the belt-tightening escalates, as it undoubtedly will, this is only going get worse. For our own sakes, the thing we all need to learn is how to manage our anger.
Tags: Orthopaedics
What’s that old joke…
What’s the difference between an orthopod and a rhino? One’s short sighted, thick skinned and horny, and the other lives in Africa.
Surely you’re not surprised at their behaviour (I say this as a fellow anaesthetist).