Stand Up for What You Believe In

From the 5/28/2021 - Memorial Day - newsletter

Perspective/Opinion

Stand Up for What You Believe In

Chad Kessler, MD

Dr. Kessler is the National Program Director, Emergency Medicine, Department of Veterans Affairs.  He is also a professor at Duke University and a staff physician at the Durham VAMC. He is the epitome of charismatic and inspiring VA leadership.  Here is an essay that he generously let us share from one of his twice weekly newsletters ...

So, I was sweating through my Thomas Pink button down shirt this late Friday afternoon and eon or two ago.  I was still in the hospital at 6:00 that day, stewing in this tiny, windowless room…not only because of the jungle like temperature, but the unfamiliar and frankly unnerving environment. As a young chief, this was all very new to me, and having to sit with these top leaders was terrifying, and only intensified by the news I had to share. We were short on coverage, I felt that we were teetering on unsafe care in our Emergency Department, and I needed to advocate for staff in a miserable budget year.  That word…I didn’t realize how much power was in that single word.  I literally remember the second when the Boss stopped the meeting in mid-sentence, and said, “Kessler, did you say we have an ‘unsafe’ environment?” Like I had uttered a profanity in Temple or put ketchup on a hot dog.  I looked around, realized everyone was staring at me, and said prophetically, in my best Homer Simpson voice, “uh…yes.”  I’ll be honest, I don’t remember much after that, except feeling like I said or did something wrong (even though I knew I wasn’t wrong), that people were mad at me, and that I truly may get fired…but I got home, gave my wife a hug, the kiddos jumped into my arms, grabbed myself a two liter chai and thought in my head, I did the right thing, right?     

 

Here’s the moral of my tale…Stand up for what you believe in, even if you’re standing alone! It may be pressure from your boss to not open your mouth, it may be your team telling you everything is fine or it may be that little voice (you know, the easier wrong voice) whispering to you how much you really like your job...and don’t really feel like updating your CV.  But whatever it is, make sure you’re doing what is right in your mind.  It’s your name on that memo, on that patient chart, it’s your voice they will hear, and it’s your conscious you will live with for years to come.  So, make sure you do the right thing, take the harder right, and stand up for what you believe in…even if you’re standing alone.

 

Just for closure sake, we did end up getting that additional coverage for the ED, and I did not get fired.  In fact, I specifically remember one of the senior leaders coming up to me later that week, telling me how brave that was…and was indeed the right thing for patient care. If only he was standing with me during that meeting…but nonetheless, alone or together, we need to stand strong for what we believe in.

Dr. Kessler curates an amazing series called “C20” or Covid in 20, which currently has over 100 informative episodes on a variety of topics from “COVID and the law (Episode 63) to COVID and delirium (Episode 28).  Some are VA specific, but many are not.  Click here to check them out.