1 4 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J U L Y 2 0 1 9
A
t the end of pre-op clinic appointments, I hand patients a busi-
ness card that includes my personal email address and request
that a family member send me a message about the patient.
What do they like? What makes them tick? What do they want my surgi-
cal team to know about them? I respond to the email, thanking them
for their thoughts, and copy my assistant, who prints out the exchange
and adds it to the perioperative paperwork. A member of the surgical
team reads the message aloud during the pre-op time out. The words
remind us of our calling and help us refocus on what matters most in
that moment: the patients in our care and the loved ones waiting for
them outside the OR.
PERSONAL CONNECTIONS
Email Reminders of Your True Calling
• IMPORTANT MESSAGE Benjamin Schwartz, MD (far left), and the rest of the surgical team listen while OR nurse Amanda
Brussich, RN, reads an email sent by a member of the patient's family.
Northwell
Health