Optimistic attitude -

We should always try to keep a positive and optimistic attitude. Try to eliminate the negativism, because that's detrimental to the whole group. Personally I'm happy to work long hours when I'm around happy and cheerful people. But when I'm around somebody who's complaining or whining often, then that depresses me. We're all here to work, and we should appreciate all the business that we can get.

From time to time I hear about a patient being dumped upon us by somebody. I personally never consider a patient as a dump. A dump is what's dumped into a dumpster, and that's trash. I even consider it disrespectful to call patients as hits. Our main concern should be to provide the best possible care for the patient. In most cases, if another physician is unavailable or unwilling to take care of a patient, we can provide that care without any compromise, if needed we can ask for consultants to help us. Sometimes the ER doctors need our help in determining if the patient needs to be admitted or not, and there's nothing wrong with such consults.

I think that our lives can be happier, and our relationships with others can be so much better, if we would try to see other people's perspectives. Most of us think that we can see that perspective, but we don't. Do we try to put ourselves in the shoes of the ER Doc who is having all beds full, all stretchers in the hallway full and 20 patients are waiting. Of course he would try to call us as early as possible to try to move the patients, sometimes we can make their jobs easier for them, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Imagine putting yourself in the shoes of a hospital administrator, who finds out that a psych. patient has been yelling and screaming the whole night long because psych beds are unavailable. That creates a bad impression for the hospital. The hospital is subsidizing and providing for our hospitalist program, and they expect us to come to their help when they need us.

I think, and I don't expect others to agree with me, but I think that an employer is in certain ways like a parent. Just like our parents nurture us, and provide for us, the employer does some of that too. I would certainly have a sense of gratitude and goodwill towards my employer.

Our profession is such, that if we love our work, it would become easy upon us, otherwise we'll be overwhelmed by stresses. I have found one thing that helps me to enjoy my work, and that's by making an attempt to be a good listener. Listening is not just the act of staying quiet until you get an opportunity to interrupt the speaker. A good listener will take genuine interest in hearing about events and people outside the self. And a truly good listener will have the ability to turn what he's hearing into his own vicarious experience, so that he melts into it and becomes a part of it. This brings about an empathy towards the speaker, and a sense of joy in helping that person although he may be putting excessive demands upon us.