I was passing in front of the operation theater, when a Resident Doctor in a scrub suit, cap and mask came out of the theater and called out aloud a patient's name. There was no response. She called again loudly, when a couple of relatives of presumably the same patient suddenly realized that she was calling out their relative's name. They were sitting at some distance from the door of the operation theater. They jumped to their feet and rushed forward.
"You should be sitting right near the door of the operation theater when your relative is being operated upon" she scolded them. "It's common sense!"
They did not seem to be upset by her scolding and criticism, probably because they were worried about their relative undergoing some operation. I went my way to my work. In the afternoon I called the ward to find out who the resident doctor was who had been speaking to those people. After a few inquiries, they managed to locate her, and a little while later she arrived in my office with her Registrar.
After they were seated comfortably, I asked her if she remembered what she had said to those people. After coaxing her a few times, she said "I told them that they should be sitting near the door when their relative was undergoing an operation in there."
"Was that all? Was there nothing else that you said?' I asked. She maintained there was nothing else. Then I repeated what she had said verbatim, and I managed the same tone as hers when I said 'It's common sense!'. She kept quiet.
"You had put another patient and her relatives on the seats near the door" I said. "How would these people sit on those seats?" There was no answer. "There should have been a notice behind those seats stating that those were reserved for relatives of patients getting operated on. That is common sense! And it would be my job to have the notice put there. So I did not have the sense to do that, what?"
There was no answer. Actually we have installed a public address system in the operation theater, so that Resident Doctors do not have to go out and shout the names of people to call them. I am yet to see anyone use it in the last 2 years after it has been installed. They prefer shouting names of people and getting irritated when there is no immediate response.
"Why do you insult people like that?" I asked. "They come to us because they are poor. But they have their own dignity. They are important in their own world, doing things they do every day. That they need us does not give us the right to say rude things to them."
"I am sorry" she said.
'Saying that to me has little meaning, when you have insulted other people" I said. "Suppose your folks come to see you and are scolded at the gate by the security guard - 'Don't you know you have to come in visiting hours? It's common sense!', how would they feel and how would you feel? Remember that the people you were rude to were elders for some people just like you have your own elders."
She kept quiet.
"Suppose you apply for Visa to some country, they call you for an interview, and say 'don't you know better than to fill this form like this? It's common sense!', how would you feel?"
She kept quiet.
"Please remember you are able to learn here because these patients come here for treatment. I have a job here because there are patients desiring treatment. Let us not be rude to them and their relatives. I would like you to read Stephen Covey's book 'Seven Habits of Highly Effective People'. It might change your life for better."
"Sorry Sir" she said "I won't do it again." They left sedately. I wonder if she took my advice for what it meant, or as a scolding from the boss, to be suffered as long as one was working in the institute. I hope it was the former.
"You should be sitting right near the door of the operation theater when your relative is being operated upon" she scolded them. "It's common sense!"
They did not seem to be upset by her scolding and criticism, probably because they were worried about their relative undergoing some operation. I went my way to my work. In the afternoon I called the ward to find out who the resident doctor was who had been speaking to those people. After a few inquiries, they managed to locate her, and a little while later she arrived in my office with her Registrar.
After they were seated comfortably, I asked her if she remembered what she had said to those people. After coaxing her a few times, she said "I told them that they should be sitting near the door when their relative was undergoing an operation in there."
"Was that all? Was there nothing else that you said?' I asked. She maintained there was nothing else. Then I repeated what she had said verbatim, and I managed the same tone as hers when I said 'It's common sense!'. She kept quiet.
"You had put another patient and her relatives on the seats near the door" I said. "How would these people sit on those seats?" There was no answer. "There should have been a notice behind those seats stating that those were reserved for relatives of patients getting operated on. That is common sense! And it would be my job to have the notice put there. So I did not have the sense to do that, what?"
There was no answer. Actually we have installed a public address system in the operation theater, so that Resident Doctors do not have to go out and shout the names of people to call them. I am yet to see anyone use it in the last 2 years after it has been installed. They prefer shouting names of people and getting irritated when there is no immediate response.
"Why do you insult people like that?" I asked. "They come to us because they are poor. But they have their own dignity. They are important in their own world, doing things they do every day. That they need us does not give us the right to say rude things to them."
"I am sorry" she said.
'Saying that to me has little meaning, when you have insulted other people" I said. "Suppose your folks come to see you and are scolded at the gate by the security guard - 'Don't you know you have to come in visiting hours? It's common sense!', how would they feel and how would you feel? Remember that the people you were rude to were elders for some people just like you have your own elders."
She kept quiet.
"Suppose you apply for Visa to some country, they call you for an interview, and say 'don't you know better than to fill this form like this? It's common sense!', how would you feel?"
She kept quiet.
"Please remember you are able to learn here because these patients come here for treatment. I have a job here because there are patients desiring treatment. Let us not be rude to them and their relatives. I would like you to read Stephen Covey's book 'Seven Habits of Highly Effective People'. It might change your life for better."
"Sorry Sir" she said "I won't do it again." They left sedately. I wonder if she took my advice for what it meant, or as a scolding from the boss, to be suffered as long as one was working in the institute. I hope it was the former.
