OR Manager - September 2020 - 14

Leadership
Continued from page 13
agers " hugged them closer " or berated
and humiliated them in public.
Knowing my own personality and the
personalities of OR nurses I worked with
over the years, I firmly believe we are
the mavericks of nursing. We know how
to improvise and adapt in emergency
situations. As our adrenalin surges, we
have what I always called my " automatic
calm. " Everyone works together, barely
speaking, knowing what is expected, and
executes a perfect performance, much
like a symphony performing Mozart's No.
41 or Prince Coqueluche and Sugar Plum
dancing the Grand pas de deux.
Orth-Nebitt: I don't think I can top
the Mozart and Nutcracker analogy.
However, I will say that unique people
can add something new to the environment
that you might not have known you
needed.
We must appreciate each other's
differences-even the " Safe Suzy " who
can slow the most efficient nurse down
by constantly questioning her on her
technique and processes. It is the leader's
job to find and develop the potential
in each person. Safe Suzy might
make a great OR Safety Team delegate,
and the nurse you can't slow down
could champion turnover times.
When staff members have conflicts,
leaders have to encourage them to appreciate
the good that each person
brings.
Stobinski: The description of discipline
as " doing the right thing when no
one is watching " has direct application
to the work of surgery. I found this statement
striking in its parallel to the work
of OR nursing and the concept of sterile
conscience.
Patients are in an extremely vulnerable
state during surgery, and they trust
that the entire surgical team will maintain
aseptic technique guided by the
sterile conscience of every team member.
Sloppiness and breakdowns in discipline
regarding sterile technique can
14
OR Manager | September 2020
lead directly to adverse consequences
such as surgical site infections.
Doing the right thing for our patients
is a necessity even if no one is watching.
During my active duty service in the
Navy Nurse Corps, I learned that, as a
leader, the mark of my career was not
what I accomplished but rather what
was accomplished by those I had mentored
and helped along in their careers.
As a leader, you must give nurses
who are early in their careers enough
latitude to make their own decisions
and to develop as leaders in their own
ways. Emerging leaders will inevitably
make mistakes.
Our work as OR nursing leaders is to
help them learn from those missteps,
encourage them, and ensure they do
not repeat their errors. We provide the
safe space for our successors to learn
and grow.
Seifert: As in the military, discipline
is imperative in the OR. We have the
ability to do harm, which is one of the
ever-present considerations that guides
our practice. Note that " First do no
harm " is part of the Hippocratic Oath of
ethics taken by new physicians.
OR nurses provide an environment in
which surgeons can do their best work.
It is a crucial component of our jobs.
To use a military metaphor, OR leaders
are the Marine Second Lieutenants
who help the infantry to succeed.
As an OR leader, you are behind the
red line with your staff members. You
lead them, you work with them, and you
do everything possible to help them succeed.
New
techniques and technologies
are constantly being introduced. When
I would see an individual who displayed
a positive attitude, was eager to learn a
new technique, and was willing to take
a calculated risk, I was confident that
person would do well.
I have learned that people either
live up to or live down to expectations.
When I have expected people to do well
and provided them with encouragement
and the necessary resources, they have
rarely disappointed me. On the other
hand, if you expect people to fail, they
also will rarely disappoint you.
'You can't drink your own
whiskey'
When I read that one of Mattis' leadership
philosophies was: " You can't drink
your own whiskey, " I asked him what he
meant by that. His answer: " It's just an
odd way of saying don't listen so much
to yourself or to compliments that you
ignore contrary input. "
The ever-humble leader again gives
us a hint of why he has gained the respect
and esteem of his colleagues and
subordinates alike. ✥
-Judith M. Mathias, MA, RN
References
Blaisdell B (ed). The Wit and Wisdom
of Abraham Lincoln: A book of quotations.
Dover Publications: Mineola,
New York. 2005.
Mattis J N. The Atlantic. June 3, 2020.
https://www.theatlantic.com/
politics/archive/2020/06/jamesmattis-denounces-trump-protestsmilitarization/612640/.
Mattis
J, West B. Call Sign Chaos:
Learning to Lead. Penguin Random
House: New York City. 2019.
Mozart W A. Symphony No. 41 in C
major, Jupiter, K 551. 1788.
Phillips D T. Lincoln on Leadership.
Grand Central Publishing: New York
City. 1992.
Sandburg C. Abraham Lincoln: The
Prairie Years and the War Years.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing
Company: New York City. 1982.
Schake K, Mattis J (eds). Warriors &
Citizens: American Views of Our
Military. Hoover Institution Press.
Hoover Institution Press: Stanford,
California. 2016.
Tchaikovsky P I. The Nutcracker.
Adapted from E T A Hoffmann's
The Nutcracker and the Mouse
King. 1892.
www.ormanager.com
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