It’s not always easy to remember the names of the new people you meet. But imagine if the people you meet are surgeons with masks that cover half their faces.
This gave Dr. Rob Hackett an idea – but his colleagues laughed at him at first.
However after he tried it, Dr. Rob’s coworkers suddenly realized the power of his idea — and they immediately took action themselves.
Dr. Rob Hackett works in several hospitals in Sydney, Australia.
Because he doesn’t have one workplace, Dr. Rob has trouble remembering everyone’s names — and since his co-workers usually wear surgical masks, it makes it even much more difficult.
This is what gave Dr. Rob the genius idea. He wrote his name on his forehead so that everyone would easily know who he was.
At first, no one followed him. Instead, they laughed at him and said he had trouble remembering his own name. Dr. Rob didn’t give up. Because he knew his simple idea had the power to save lives.
After all, doctors work under pressure where even seconds can mean the difference between life and death.
“Last Friday during an operation there were about 20 people in the room. I had trouble asking for gloves because the man I was pointing at thought I was pointing at the person behind him”, Rob said.
The power to save lives
Writing names on the forehead in the operating room is simply a way to save precious seconds. Instead of pointing at someone and asking for this or that tool, it is much easier to contact the person by their first name.
Although his co-workers must have enjoyed teasing him, Rob got to see a few doctors try it. And it saved time when doctors were trying to save lives.
Rob started a campaign on Twitter to encourage more hospital workers to adopt his initiative. And he mentioned two important points:
* Do this and you present a simple solution to improve the patient’s treatment and outcome* Do not do this and you demonstrate how the health system, institutions, frameworks and cultures resist change and improvement.
Ever since Dr. Rob started the campaign, nurses and doctors all over the world have started writing their names on their foreheads.
People like Dr. Rob are helping to improve the healthcare system – and specifically, they have improved the chance of saving a life.