I read with interest Dr Richardson’s article about attitude [BCMJ 2009;51:380]. [9] By a coincidence I experienced both, the attitude he describes, and the attitude he wishes would prevail.
A few years ago I had surgery at Langley Memorial Hospital; it happened to be Christmastime. My experience was bad right from the start. As Dr Richardson describes: staff were hurried, uninterested, curt, sometimes rude, and lacking in sympathy.
The only exception was my surgeon and an internist who saw me later for a complication. What a difference at VGH (and the Cancer Centre) where I had surgery a few years earlier. During the admission and my whole stay, I never encountered an unfriendly person. The admission was remarkably well organized and quick, the post-op and ward staff were always helpful, friendly and caring.
Dr Richardson asks why poor attitude is present. The answer is simple: there is lack of leadership by the medical staff and administration.
—E. Pankratz, MD
Abbotsford
Links
[1] https://bcmj.org/cover/januaryfebruary-2010
[2] https://bcmj.org/author/e-pankratz-md
[3] https://bcmj.org/node/3708
[4] https://bcmj.org/print/letters/re-attitude
[5] https://bcmj.org/printmail/letters/re-attitude
[6] http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://bcmj.org/print/letters/re-attitude
[7] https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Re: Attitude&url=https://bcmj.org/print/letters/re-attitude&via=BCMedicalJrnl&tw_p=tweetbutton
[8] https://bcmj.org/javascript%3A%3B
[9] https://bcmj.org/issues/attitude
[10] https://bcmj.org/modal_forms/nojs/webform/176
[11] https://bcmj.org/%3Finline%3Dtrue%23citationpop