"These women are going home with babies, what more do they want?"

I do NOT believe that sentiment is shared by most of that OB nurse's colleagues, and in fact, I don't believe she typically felt that way either. I believe I caught her on a bad day. I know, how terribly optimistic of me?!?! I believe the nurse that said that to me, who I'll call "Nurse Hammer," has given EXCELLENT care to hundreds, probably thousands of patients.

Nurse Hammer works on a specific unit with specific people and while she's delivered great care before, this was undoubtedly not the first time she'd rolled her eyes or sighed in disgust. Perhaps she argued with her spouse or child that morning, perhaps she had taken care of an unruly patient the day before, or maybe she was concerned about possible layoffs. All of these and many more are real possibilities and have real consequences on a person's mood and demeanor. The problem is when colleagues let them affect patient care. Notice I said "colleagues."

I trace what this nurse said to me back to a lack of teamwork. When Nurse Hammer said this to me, her colleage that worked on the same unit simply looked at me and shrugged her shoulders. One of Patrick Lencioni's "Five Dysfunctions of a Team" is the avoidance of accountability. To him, accountability "refers specifically to the willingness of team members to call their peers on performance or behaviors that might hurt the team" (pg 212). Nurse Hammer's colleague should have called her on her dismotivating bahavior. Of course, that's not an easy thing to do, but have you ever heard of a happy couple that never had a fight? Conflict is a product of - and vital to - caring.

If you're a nurse, there's probably a reason and "making millions" probably isn't it. Rather, it's rewarding to care for people when they're sick, bring new life into the world, hold people's hands when they're leaving it. Yet, caring for your colleagues is also important if you want to deliver exceptional care to your patients ALL the time and sometimes, that means confrontation.

So, in answer to Nurse Hammer's question "...what more do they want?" Your patients want teamwork.