The Power of Positive Thinking
A little attitude adjustment can turn that frown upside down.
A
few months ago I described how start-
ing every workday with the promise,
"It's going to be a good day at work,"
had improved my life (osmag.net/Yh8gPY). Some may
call it groundless optimism, but I'm convinced
that this little self-declaration can really make
a positive difference. Try it yourself in the
new year and see what it does for you.
One of the benefits this behavior brought me
was not letting life's twists and turns deny me
the good day I'd promised myself. By extension,
it's helped me to solve a bunch of problems that plague every OR.
• Aggravating assignments. You arrive at work to find that you've been
assigned to staff Dr. Pit Viper's add-on. This is an easy choice. You
could get upset and shuffle through the day under a storm cloud of
dread, or you could wait and see, because you promised yourself a
good day. After all, Dr. Pit Viper's cases get cancelled and postponed
all the time, and if this one doesn't, it won't do you any good to get
worked up about it before it even starts.
• The battle of the OR thermostat. They crank it up, we cool it down. They
crank it up, we cool it down. The surgeon, the scrub tech and I are
sweating off the pounds. We have plenty of options for keeping the
patients toasty. The only ones who are freezing are the skinny waif of
a circulator — listen up: Eat something! Get some meat on your bony
caboose! I'm going on break, can I get you a sandwich? — and the
administrator who dropped in for a visit. If she got out of her worn-in
office chair to lend a hand in the OR once in a while, the work would
warm her up for sure.
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Behind Closed Doors
Paula Watkins, RN, CNOR
