Wellbeing scenarios Tom

23, Band 5 Nurse

What happened?

Tom was caring for a patient and prepping him for surgery. The patient’s father was at the bedside.

Grace, the band 7, in front of everyone said, “why is this patient not ready for surgery yet?”
Tom did not know how to respond to Grace whilst appearing professional in front of the patient’s father.
Grace shouted, “this should have been done hours ago!” and tutted at Tom. Tom was shaken. He was shocked and knew this was out of character for Grace.
The father was agitated too and asked if his son’s surgery was going to be delayed.

An ANP, Sally, overheard this and asked Tom if he’d like to take a break while she prepped the patient for surgery.
Tom was grateful for the break as his hands were shaking. Tom stepped away for 5 minutes before he returned to help Sally prep his patient for surgery.
Sally spoke with Tom afterwards and explained that Grace was going through a difficult time and not to take it personally. Sally explained clearly to Tom that Grace’s behaviour was inappropriate.

Provide staff with key phrases to use in an uncivil situation like this one.
Provide structured conversations with staff following up instances of uncivility to help them to avoid such behaviour in the future.
Encourage staff to have a supported “cup of civility conversation” with colleagues in instances of uncivility.
Point staff toward Civility saves lives: civilitysaveslives.com