What's in a name? Trauma Reception

Jonathan and Emma discuss trauma team formation. Thanking team members for coming, learning their names and ascertaining their roles enables people to perform at their best and feel comfortable in their role.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Because I'm not really good at remembering names. When we're set up for a trauma, it's like when someone joins a party, you Thank them for coming and you welcome them. You always meet and greet. It's because we know that teams that perform well have role clarity and clear names. And that sets you up for success.

SPEAKER_01 0:16

Hi, it's Jonathan.

SPEAKER_00 0:17

Hi, it's Emma.

SPEAKER_01 0:18

And this is up to the case. So Emma, what's going on?

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Well, Jonathan, I've been thinking a lot about uh names and how much it enhances communication.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

So do you ever meet someone in public that perhaps you know from work or somewhere else? Yeah, tell me about it. And you're spending time thinking about, oh my goodness, what's their name? Does that ever happen?

SPEAKER_02 0:40

I think that's quite frequent for me.

SPEAKER_00 0:41

Yep. Yeah. Well, when it's happening, are you concentrating on what's being said?

SPEAKER_02 0:46

No, because you're desperately trying to uh get the name because you don't want to be embarrassed. That's right. Yeah. You're actually tracking through do I know you're from work? Are you do I know you're from somewhere else? Are you a patient? You know, there's a lot of different things that rack through my mind, and I think what you're about to say is the first few minutes of the conversation you completely miss.

SPEAKER_00 1:08

Yeah, I think the communication is stilted.

SPEAKER_02 1:10

Stilted. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

So taking that into the trauma room, it's really got me uh thinking about how important names are in the trauma room.

SPEAKER_02 1:19

Yep, yep. So we we uh you know when we set up for a trauma, um what how do you do that? How do you get to know people's names? How do you make sure you remember their names? What do you do?

SPEAKER_00 1:30

Yeah, so I think when setting up a trauma team, one of the most important things you can do is have labels either on a hat or on your chest, on a sticker, um, with who you are and what what your role is. Because we know that teams that perform well have role clarity and clear names. What do you think?

SPEAKER_02 1:47

What I like to do, I like to actually hi, how are you, what's your name? And I I like to write the name on the sticker because for me, if I write the name on that sticker and give it to them, that's another imprinting of that information in my mind. So I go, Emma, Emma, Emma. Yeah so it's actually like three goes at the same thing because I'm not really good at remembering names.

SPEAKER_00 2:07

Yeah, immediately.

SPEAKER_02 2:08

But that that that's that's a way to do it. So hear the name, that's probably important. Register the name, write it down, stick it on so if you forget. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:18

And then one of the things is when you're really busy and cognitively overloaded, you've got a visual cue as to what the name of the person is.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

And you remind yourself the whole way through it.

SPEAKER_00 2:26

Now there are two main things that I think this helps with. The first thing is it really establishes mutual respect. It allows you to know the person's name, know their role, and that sets you up for success in terms of performance.

SPEAKER_02 2:39

It's between the two of you. Number one, mutual respect. What's the second thing it does?

SPEAKER_00 2:43

Well, the second thing is it really stops the team leader from a broadcast, i.e., can someone please get the TXA? To a dialogue. Hey, Samantha, are you able to get me the TXA? Because I'm worried this patient is critically shocked.

SPEAKER_02 2:59

Because you know, when you say that to Samantha, what does she do? When you say Samantha?

SPEAKER_00 3:04

She uh usually closes the loop and says, I'm off to get the TXA. Yeah. And then often she'll let me know that she's given it and she'll use my name. She'll say, Emma, I've just given the the the TXA.

SPEAKER_02 3:14

She'll also hear you as well. Yeah. Because she'll always hear your name. So if you hear Emma, you know, your your your ears will prick up. So in the busy trauma room, um, because you could say something like, hey, uh airway nurse or or doctor, could you do that thing? But if you use the name, they'll automatically, it's like a brainstem response, they'll prick up and they'll hear it, and then all those other things will flow as well. So it's a really powerful thing.

SPEAKER_00 3:37

Do you know where else it works?

SPEAKER_02 3:38

No.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

For me, it works at home. I've got four kids, a busy household. When I want the dishwasher unpacked, if I say to a room of kids, can someone unpack the dishwasher, how many times do you think it'll never it'll never happen? If I say Finn, can you unpack the dishwasher? Finn knows it's his job.

SPEAKER_02 3:56

Finn knows it's his job. Yeah. He knows he'll probably say, Yes, Mom, I've done it, or yes, Emma, I've done it. He probably won't say that. Um but uh no, there's another thing um I was thinking with names and at the very start of a trauma, it's a bit like a a party as well. It's a bit like a and I was thinking what sort of party? It's like a housewarming party. Because they come into your house. So you you know when you you you're moving to a new place, right? There are people you don't know in your street, and you want to get to know them, and you also get want to get to know what they're like and what number they're from and things like that, and that's kind of like who's joining the trauma team. So oh, you're this person, you're Samantha, and you're the anesthetic registrar. Yeah. So so you know name and roll. Yeah, you're name and roll. So you're Samantha, you're from number five, and you you've got the sugar. Right? So so things like that are really important. So it's like when someone joins a party, you you always meet and greet, and you make them feel comfortable, and then you're on the level.

SPEAKER_00 4:53

Yeah, uh you've hit on my other passion topic, which is to welcome people to the trauma room. And the reason that you do that is you thank them for coming and you welcome them. Um it's really because it allows them to perform at their best and allows them to feel comfortable in their role. I think in an emergency department, there's people that ordinarily work in that space, so ED, nurses and doctors. But for others, for example, at the anaesthetic team, uh the trauma team, they don't work all day, every day in that environment. And so we need to be welcoming. So hello, thanks for coming. Um, my name is Emma. Can I learn your name and which role you're gonna have today? I'll write it on the sticker. That'll set your team up for it.

SPEAKER_02 5:32

Stick it on. They might think it's a bit silly. Stick it on because I might forget and it's gonna be useful for the whole rest of the team. Um, so great tips. So there you go, Jonathan.

SPEAKER_00 5:41

Name, role, mutual respect, and a big welcome. It might be a great thing. Okay, great. Thanks, Jonathan.