DEVON: Hey, Rashad! It’s been a while. How’re you doing?
RASHAD: Not great, honestly. Pretty stressed.
DEVON: Yeah, I was going to say, you look a little upset. What’s up?
RASHAD: Just one of those, I don’t know, one of those days where absolutely nothing goes right.
DEVON: What’s bothering you?
RASHAD: I kind of got into a, “debate” with my last patient. I asked about her vaccination history, I wanted to, you know, take the time to talk it through, but I was already behind, and I was thinking about my other patients waiting, and she was getting defensive. I definitely wasn’t able to explain it the way, the way I wanted to. Or, the way I know I can and should. I just feel spread too thin.
COACH: “What’s bothering you?” was an open-ended question. It invited Rashad to share his experience, and as a result you learned more about what’s upsetting him.
DEVON: What about this is making you feel upset?
RASHAD: I just feel like I let this patient down, and I wasn’t able to really do my job. And I take a lot of pride in being good at my job. Then having to turn around and get right to the next patient with no time to reset, I just. This increased case load is just so stressful.
DEVON: Mm-hmm, I definitely get where you’re coming from.
DEVON: It’s not just that patients disagree with you, it’s that you aren’t allowed time to really engage with them the way you want to.
RASHAD: Yeah, that’s it. Of course, normally, I’d want to take the time to explain the science and the benefits, clear up some misinformation, all that. Obviously I don’t want patients to have to deal with the risks of being unvaccinated. But if I try to spend that time with one patient, I won’t have any with the next. I’m just so focused on the clock now, I feel like it’s more about being on time than caring for people. Like, if I’d had time to fully explain it, and she still disagreed, I could move on. It’s the fact that I couldn’t take the time I needed.
DEVON: It doesn’t feel right that you can’t take time to help patients understand. That makes sense.
RASHAD: Yeah, exactly. Helping patients make educated decisions about what’s best for them. That’s really important to me. Not being able to do that feels bad.
RASHAD: Well, anyway, thanks for listening. I feel a little better, now that’s off my chest. I gotta get back to work. See you around.
COACH: A few days later, the next time Devon catches up with Rashad.
DEVON: Hey, Rashad! How’ve you been feeling?
RASHAD: Well, Marsha called me in this morning and got on my case ’cause apparently the patient I told you about complained about me. So, you know, not feeling awesome.
DEVON: Aw man, I’m sorry to hear that.
RASHAD: And now, the other few times I’ve asked about vaccination history, my palms get all sweaty, and I can’t stop thinking about the last time. I’ll have to rush the conversation, they’ll get upset, and there won’t be time for an informed discussion. Like is this just what our job is now? Rushing through cases?
DEVON: It sounds like this is really impacting you. I think you might be experiencing moral distress. Do you know what that is?
RASHAD: Kind of?
DEVON: Well, it’s like, when you’re upset because you know the right thing to do, but you’re unable to do it because of outside circumstances.