Emergency room nurses are particularly vulnerable to threats of violence, with verbal and physical aggression from patients creating an unsafe work environment. The long-standing mentality of "it's just part of the job" only makes situations more emotionally taxing.
Once, a drunk patient came to the emergency room, slurring his words, and loudly complaining about pain in his chest. He was immediately taken to the clinic for evaluation. Shortly after the EKG technician and nurse went in, the nurse came to me and asked me to come over quickly because he was refusing to receive care.
When I walked into the room, he was trying to get out of bed.
Me: Sir, this is Dr. Luiz. Please lie back on the hospital bed. We need to do an electrocardiogram and arrange for you to install a monitor.
Him: Doctor, I want to leave.
Me: Sir, do you feel any chest pain?
Him: Yes.
Me: Then we can't let you leave just yet. You are drunk and we need to do an EKG and other tests for your chest pain.
While they were talking, the nurse placed a blood pressure cuff on his arm and clipped a pulse oximeter to his finger. The patient waves with her other hand, trying to grab the caregiver and pull her toward him as if to hug her.
He (to the nurse): Honey, what is your name?
Me: Sir, please don't touch her and don't call her honey. Her name is not honey, please call her by the name she requested.
The patient finally cooperated, allowing us to proceed with the evaluation. Outside the clinic, technicians and nurses shared this experience with me. We expressed care to each other, "Are you okay?" "Okay, how about you?" "Yeah, I'm okay too." The team really There is a need to look out for each other.
Reflection for supervisors: If colleagues feel "psychologically safe", productivity and creativity will increase
Psychological safety is key to individual and team success and is defined as "a belief that you will not be punished or shamed for raising ideas, questions, concerns, or making mistakes, and that you feel safe in the team and able to take risks." .
Colleagues who work in a psychologically safe environment are 5 times more productive and innovative. Poor workplace culture predicts employee turnover ten times more accurately than salary. An environment that lacks psychological safety creates tension, colleagues withdraw, communication fails, morale suffers, and work may come to a standstill.
3 key reasons why it's difficult to achieve:
- It's not easy to identify specific changes that will create psychological safety for you and your team
- Do you believe that creating psychological safety is the responsibility of the organization, not you personally?
- You feel threatened and insecure, so you are afraid to make requests that would ensure your psychological safety
Reflect on 3 things and improve the psychological safety of the team, and productivity can be effectively improved.
1. Describe personal perceptions of psychological safety
Think about people or places that make you feel safe and think about what they offer, perhaps where you feel safe to express concerns, ask unfinished ideas, or ask basic questions.
First, think back to a time when you felt truly protected, then compare this environment to a previous or current environment where you felt unsafe, and reflect on the differences.
2. Create a sense of security for yourself and others
While you may not be in charge of your team, you can still foster a sense of security among your colleagues and, in fact, provide the team with the security you crave.
Safety means making people feel comfortable in meetings and able to communicate freely. Safety means supporting team members who feel uncomfortable, ignored, humiliated, or threatened.
Creating a sense of security means directly saying, "I'm worried that we just ignored their suggestions. Can we go back and listen more carefully?" This lets others know that you respect everyone and want a positive work environment.
3. Pay attention to others
Tell others what they do well and give praise often and publicly. This costs nothing except time and helps everyone feel recognized. Be careful not to praise the same person all the time, but encourage more people.
