Sunday Musings - October 3, 2021
What is my role?
Most of us have many hats, labels or roles. We may divide our roles into professional/work roles and private or personal roles. Our roles may include that of son, uncle, parent, sibling, doctor, nurse, truck driver farmer, student, store clerk, neighbor, and community member. Many of us live in a culture where we lead very busy lives. If the person filing the role of store clerk is chatting with a customer who is apparently a friend/neighbor while we are waiting in line we may get very frustrated because we want the clerk to remain in their work role so that the line moves quickly. If we go to the doctor and are made to wait well past our scheduled time we may get upset because the doctor is treating current patient as he or she would a family member.
In the United States and some other countries Heath care professionals are bound by ethical codes of the licensing boards of the state(s) in which they are licensed. Increasingly these ethical codes have been expanded to both limit the relationship of the patient/client and the clinician and to protect the rights and privacy of patient/client. An additional and important goal is to ensure that the clinician remains as objective as possible and does not violate the vulnerability of the ill patient/client.
Sadly, increasingly the goal is of these ethical codes, in actuality, is to ensure that the clinician protects himself or herself from potential lawsuits. This is a very defensive position. The danger is that the patient/clients perceive the provider of services as only their label and they provider of the services perceives the patient/client as only their label. When clinicians are dealing with labels and roles expectations can become unrealistic and the need to treat each other as sacred brothers and sisters - as humans with whom one identifies - is forgotten. A relationship of trust and caring very likely will not be established. This impedes healing and, paradoxically, is more likely result in lawsuits. When the patient/client perceives a clinician as someone who honestly cares and who deserves to be treated with love and respect he and she is less likely to mistrust and to initiate a lawsuit even if a serious error has occurred.
In the worst-case scenarios, the clinician’s main goal becomes to see as many people as possible in the shortest time possible to maximize profit and the patient/client is just waiting for a clinician to make a mistake so they can maximize their potential for a successful lawsuit. Lawyers are often trained to successfully defend either person(s) but may have little concern for the humans involved.
Clinicians and patient/clients are more than labels. They are neighbors, parents, sons, daughters, and friends. When we become labels or treat others as labels we become vulnerable to mistreating each other.
Clearly, the original intent of ethical rules was to remind clinicians that it is easy for us humans to fall into the trap of ignoring the better angels of ourselves. This is true in all areas of our community life. If I go into a store with the goal of getting a gallon of mild see the clerk as another self-check-out device I am more likely to treat that person as a receptacle for any frustrations or other negative emotions I have brought with me. If they clerk perceives they person purchasing that gallon of milk he or she is more likely to mistreat them, Given the six degrees of separation those negative feelings may, prior to the days end may spread to thousands of individuals.
In the health care field, we may focus on illness and not preventing illness. Often when I was billing insurance companies for services I provided as a licensed counselor I was refused payment because I was seeing a client who wanted to review what it took for them to stay healthy. The insurance company wanted clients/patients to wait until they were sick enough to qualify for a billable diagnosis/code. I have often told individuals I would not fudge or lie about a diagnosis to get the insurance to pay. I would ask the client to private pay even if the amount they could pay was a minimal amount.
My goal is to not worry about a potential lawsuit but to trust that 99% of individuals will treat me with the same respect I treat them. I am allowed to make mistakes although I try really hard to not do so. I am committed to consulting with or referring to a colleague when I am not sure of a diagnosis. I do not need to be the answer person.
My experience with my own practice as a clinician and in my role, at times, as ethics chairperson, mutual respect results in mutual respect. Mutual respect implies that one is always more than roles or labels.
My goal as a clinician who is also a neighbor is to do my best to practice humility, to listen – really listen – to the concerns of the person who is hiring ne, to trust my gut, talk with a trusted colleague when a relationship does not feel healthy and to practice the same holistic health care regimen I recommend to others. The ethics of my behavior can be maintained by following these simple “rules”. I do not need a book of rules which is likely to lead to treating myself and clients as an AI - an object. The golden rule goes a long way in reminding us how treat each other.
Written October 3, 2021
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
What is my role?
Most of us have many hats, labels or roles. We may divide our roles into professional/work roles and private or personal roles. Our roles may include that of son, uncle, parent, sibling, doctor, nurse, truck driver farmer, student, store clerk, neighbor, and community member. Many of us live in a culture where we lead very busy lives. If the person filing the role of store clerk is chatting with a customer who is apparently a friend/neighbor while we are waiting in line we may get very frustrated because we want the clerk to remain in their work role so that the line moves quickly. If we go to the doctor and are made to wait well past our scheduled time we may get upset because the doctor is treating current patient as he or she would a family member.
In the United States and some other countries Heath care professionals are bound by ethical codes of the licensing boards of the state(s) in which they are licensed. Increasingly these ethical codes have been expanded to both limit the relationship of the patient/client and the clinician and to protect the rights and privacy of patient/client. An additional and important goal is to ensure that the clinician remains as objective as possible and does not violate the vulnerability of the ill patient/client.
Sadly, increasingly the goal is of these ethical codes, in actuality, is to ensure that the clinician protects himself or herself from potential lawsuits. This is a very defensive position. The danger is that the patient/clients perceive the provider of services as only their label and they provider of the services perceives the patient/client as only their label. When clinicians are dealing with labels and roles expectations can become unrealistic and the need to treat each other as sacred brothers and sisters - as humans with whom one identifies - is forgotten. A relationship of trust and caring very likely will not be established. This impedes healing and, paradoxically, is more likely result in lawsuits. When the patient/client perceives a clinician as someone who honestly cares and who deserves to be treated with love and respect he and she is less likely to mistrust and to initiate a lawsuit even if a serious error has occurred.
In the worst-case scenarios, the clinician’s main goal becomes to see as many people as possible in the shortest time possible to maximize profit and the patient/client is just waiting for a clinician to make a mistake so they can maximize their potential for a successful lawsuit. Lawyers are often trained to successfully defend either person(s) but may have little concern for the humans involved.
Clinicians and patient/clients are more than labels. They are neighbors, parents, sons, daughters, and friends. When we become labels or treat others as labels we become vulnerable to mistreating each other.
Clearly, the original intent of ethical rules was to remind clinicians that it is easy for us humans to fall into the trap of ignoring the better angels of ourselves. This is true in all areas of our community life. If I go into a store with the goal of getting a gallon of mild see the clerk as another self-check-out device I am more likely to treat that person as a receptacle for any frustrations or other negative emotions I have brought with me. If they clerk perceives they person purchasing that gallon of milk he or she is more likely to mistreat them, Given the six degrees of separation those negative feelings may, prior to the days end may spread to thousands of individuals.
In the health care field, we may focus on illness and not preventing illness. Often when I was billing insurance companies for services I provided as a licensed counselor I was refused payment because I was seeing a client who wanted to review what it took for them to stay healthy. The insurance company wanted clients/patients to wait until they were sick enough to qualify for a billable diagnosis/code. I have often told individuals I would not fudge or lie about a diagnosis to get the insurance to pay. I would ask the client to private pay even if the amount they could pay was a minimal amount.
My goal is to not worry about a potential lawsuit but to trust that 99% of individuals will treat me with the same respect I treat them. I am allowed to make mistakes although I try really hard to not do so. I am committed to consulting with or referring to a colleague when I am not sure of a diagnosis. I do not need to be the answer person.
My experience with my own practice as a clinician and in my role, at times, as ethics chairperson, mutual respect results in mutual respect. Mutual respect implies that one is always more than roles or labels.
My goal as a clinician who is also a neighbor is to do my best to practice humility, to listen – really listen – to the concerns of the person who is hiring ne, to trust my gut, talk with a trusted colleague when a relationship does not feel healthy and to practice the same holistic health care regimen I recommend to others. The ethics of my behavior can be maintained by following these simple “rules”. I do not need a book of rules which is likely to lead to treating myself and clients as an AI - an object. The golden rule goes a long way in reminding us how treat each other.
Written October 3, 2021
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
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