Art of Caring

Watermelon

Elizabeth Persad, MBBS FAAP

I was the clinical lead for a small pediatric intensive care unit. One of my administrative responsibilities was attendance at a monthly meeting with various heads of departments of all clinical services where management issues were discussed. I hate meetings! I was absolutely dreading this one because it usually lasted about 3 hours. I usually felt conflicted about attending these meetings. I wanted to be present to advocate for allocation of resources to my department and to learn of any updates that might affect my patients. However, the time spent in these meetings was time I would have preferred to spend at the bedside, caring for patients and counselling families. I was worried that this meeting would be a colossal waste of my time. Lots of pointless chatter with nothing resolved by the end. Before the meeting, I hurried into the unit and quickly assessed the patients; dealt with any acute issues or concerns; and left, promising to return as soon as I could.