“Things were bad before the pandemic. I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue in medicine. Now, everyone is stressed and I just don’t have any patience anymore. The nurses on the floor didn’t get to a critical order for a patient of mine, and when I found out I lost it. It is not uncommon for them to refuse to take verbal orders, call me by my first name instead of Dr., like they call the men. That is annoying, but not taking care of patients is not tolerable. I feel marginalized as a woman, because of my direct communication style and maybe because I didn’t grow up in this culture. It’s been strongly suggested that I get coaching. I want to learn from this, even though I may leave this place. I recognize that I need to build better working relationships so my patients get cared for properly. I don’t know where to start.”

“I am painfully familiar with the stresses of doing our work. I want to make a difference to lighten our load, and every suggestion I make, either is turned down by administration or disregarded by my team. I want them to be behind my ideas so that we can show a united front with administration, but I can’t get them to come to meetings. I like the idea of leading with connection. I think if I can make meetings worthwhile for them to attend, we could come up with ideas that would work for the team and administration. I want to lead in a way that gives them voice in their practice and the life that they deserve.”

“Decisions need to be made that affect the healthcare team and yet, now more than ever the attendance at meetings is poor. It’s hard to get buy-in when they don’t show. I feel that because of my inexperience clinically , they don’t respect me. I haven’t walked in their shoes. The leadership skills I do have, don’t seem to be enough. I know the entire healthcare team is burned out and I can’t seem to get them to open up to even know how to start to help. I need guidance and support.”