The Power of Positive Reinforcement
Sometimes, the work of a healthcare professional can feel like a tiring and thankless chore. The unfortunate truth is that many times, the perspective becomes that we “are just doing our jobs”. A perspective that if we ourselves take, makes us feel unmotivated to providing our best possible care, and if the patients/family members take, lead them to feelings of entitlement and us to feeling under appreciated. One way we combat this is by building each other up and providing positive reinforcement.
Many times this positive reinforcement is coming from management/administration. While the intention may be good, sometimes the reception doesn’t match. Especially during this pandemic, the term “healthcare hero” is thrown around all the time. Blasted on billboards, entrances to hospitals and given out in small gifts of appreciation. I don’t disagree that those in the healthcare industry deserve recognition and praise for what they do (as do many different fields and professions!), but I must admit it’s hard to hear at times, and even harder to truly believe. Feeling stressed and overworked is becoming increasingly common in this field, and when people express their concerns (such as inadequate staffing, resources, nurse-patient ratios, etc.) without any perceptible changes occurring, it can feel like a slap to the face. I’m sure this feeling is unfortunately common in many other industries, but for healthcare workers, compassion for others is hallmark to our profession. Said compassion becomes even harder to maintain when we feel used and abused by the industry. Which often leads us to simply performing a job - rather than practicing our profession with care.
What can make it even harder, is feeling undervalued and underappreciated. Myself, I have fallen into the trap of feeling as though I am “just doing my job” at times. It was one of the reasons I knew I had to start traveling - to challenge myself by seeking new opportunities. Even now, there are days I feel motivated to do my best and work hard, and others I try my best but know I fall short and am capable of more. One thing that makes it easier to have more of those good days - receiving praise from coworkers and patients.
Absolutely not the goal of this profession, nor is it necessary or even expected. This past week though, I was motivated by receiving positive comments numerous times from several patients, as well as coworkers. It doesn’t happen that often normally, but that week it certainly helped keep me going and made me feel capable of performing my best. I say this not to be boastful, but to share how powerful these words of encouragement can be. Patients may or may not always recognize our hard work, but when they do it does feel gratifying. Beyond that, recognizing the efforts and strengths of our coworkers can help lift them up and at least make them feel like a part of a team. A team they will want to be a part of and continue building up. So next time you receive help from a coworker, or hear someone’s name come up in conversation whom you value, express your gratitude to them! It may just make their day and help make the stresses of work at least a little more bearable.
