Safety Moment – Pride for your Patient

I love the expression ‘if you’re a ditch digger, be the best ditch digger you can be”. It sums up that attitude of having pride in your work regardless of what you are doing, and shifts the focus from the work at hand to the bigger picture of self worth and meaning. When thinking about the work I have done in the past and the teams that have been successful for me it has always boiled down to a shared respect for the goal at hand, and a willingness to see the job to the end. Everyone on the team has had responsibility and, in particular, ownership over their parts and ultimately the entirety of the project. With the idea of a safety moment in mind, I think of this expression, because patient safety is only as strong as the weakest link in the chain. Therefore, pride in one’s job regardless of  some perceived ‘status’ is absolutely critical to good patient outcomes. Additionally, this mentality and pride makes the the well being of the patient the responsibility of everyone and reason to hold the people around you to an equally high standard. Pride for the good outcomes of your patient should be shared by all members of the team because it drives the constant improvement mentality, accountability, and unity.