*This post is adapted from an article I wrote for our pediatric ICU’s quarterly newsletter.

Being a healthcare worker involves increasingly more than caring for the physical patients and their parents. It also involves giving attention to the system as a ‘patient’ of sorts, with its own temperament, ailings and needs.

What’s curious is that we don’t just operate underneath a system; we ourselves also comprise the system. It’s both/and. We’ve all groaned in frustration at the ways the imperfect, external system can impede our ability to provide the quality of care we desire for our real patients. You know what I’m talking about: nationwide IV fluid or medication shortages, equipment that unexpectedly malfunctions at the worst times, and short staffing, just to name a few.

There are plenty of systemic issues outside of our control. But because we ourselves are also living, breathing pieces of the system, we can think about how we can proactively contribute to the health of the system as much as possible.

1. Build the strengths

In our particular PICU, we’ve prided ourselves for decades on having a strong, collaborative culture.

In light of this, we must continue to be intentional about speaking respectfully, humbly and with civility. This is cliche, but it honestly forever remains easier said than done. We have to intentionally watch our moods and words with each other. We can all think of times when we’ve found our requests for help met with terse, snappy responses which forced us to seek out help elsewhere and left us feeling crummy while trying to continue on with patient care. Incivility can be a major – and unnecessary – impediment to the human system of healthcare. In contrast, mutual respect and generosity of spirit can give fuel and momentum on some of the hardest days.

2. Actively improve personal limitations

a. Grow strong, helpful communication skills. Are there ways I can be more clear, efficient, or therapeutic? Or am I confusing, chaotic, or stressful to the people around me?

b. Know what you don’t know, and be proactive about learning those things so that you can be more independent and eventually also teach/help others.

c. Invite regular feedback from people who will speak honestly (and hopefully kindly) to you.

3. Don’t just do workarounds, feel frustrated, and leave core problems unchanged. Or worse, don’t be the martyr over and over and burn yourself out, if it’s unnecessary. Bring the problems to leadership, and/or propose any viable suggestions you may have. Good change might be slow, but it might also happen surprisingly faster than we expect. I guarantee, however, that if we rely solely on workarounds or martyrdom, it won’t happen at all.

These are incredibly hard times to work in healthcare. But I remain stubbornly hopeful that we can continue to nurture a safe and healthier environments in our respective work spaces, not just for our patients’ sake but for our own as well.