Physically Distant But Socially Connected
Below is my monthly message for the April 2020 edition of the MHRI newsletter, Focus. You can view Focus online at MedStarResearch.org/FOCUS.
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
I fill my emotional tank by recognizing the dedication, commitment, compassion and caring that is happening every day across MedStar Health by our heroes on the front line. I also beam with pride that, throughout this pandemic, we continue to advance health in ways that will help patients today and tomorrow. Whether it’s the New England Journal article about a COVID-19 patient outcome in our system that was published last week or finding out that we are a top enroller nationally in a novel monoclonal antibody trial for critically ill COVID-19 patients, the MedStar Health team continues to amaze me. Hope. Pride. Grateful. Fortunate. These are the feelings others shared during the MHRI Town Hall and these are the feelings I get from their accomplishments. It may not make the concern and worry go away, but it sure does provide a healthy balance.
Stay safe, and as Mark Smith has taught me: let’s get socially connected while we physically distance ourselves because its together that we will get through this pandemic and be stronger because of it.
With heartfelt gratitude,
Read Focus at MedStarResearch.org/FOCUS.
How are you doing?
Don’t breeze by the question. Take 5 seconds for yourself and check in – How are you doing?
That is how we started our MHRI Virtual Town Hall last week. Using an audience response system that is accessible from any phone regardless of location, we polled the attendees and asked them how they were feeling. The result was a word-cloud in real time, sharing the feelings of all on the call. It was no surprise that ‘anxious’ was the most common response. The next most common responses were ‘concerned’, ‘worried’, ‘fine’, ‘good’ and ‘hopeful’. Among the next group of responses were ‘calm’ and ‘proud’.
Leave it to the scientist to collect data even when trying to understand feelings! However, I did find it insightful – we are all in a different place and ‘how we are doing’ is undoubtedly going to change day to day and probably even hour by hour. This is a time of intense feelings and its going to be a marathon of intensity. We need to pace ourselves emotionally, as well as physically.
Don’t breeze by the question. Take 5 seconds for yourself and check in – How are you doing?
That is how we started our MHRI Virtual Town Hall last week. Using an audience response system that is accessible from any phone regardless of location, we polled the attendees and asked them how they were feeling. The result was a word-cloud in real time, sharing the feelings of all on the call. It was no surprise that ‘anxious’ was the most common response. The next most common responses were ‘concerned’, ‘worried’, ‘fine’, ‘good’ and ‘hopeful’. Among the next group of responses were ‘calm’ and ‘proud’.
Leave it to the scientist to collect data even when trying to understand feelings! However, I did find it insightful – we are all in a different place and ‘how we are doing’ is undoubtedly going to change day to day and probably even hour by hour. This is a time of intense feelings and its going to be a marathon of intensity. We need to pace ourselves emotionally, as well as physically.
I fill my emotional tank by recognizing the dedication, commitment, compassion and caring that is happening every day across MedStar Health by our heroes on the front line. I also beam with pride that, throughout this pandemic, we continue to advance health in ways that will help patients today and tomorrow. Whether it’s the New England Journal article about a COVID-19 patient outcome in our system that was published last week or finding out that we are a top enroller nationally in a novel monoclonal antibody trial for critically ill COVID-19 patients, the MedStar Health team continues to amaze me. Hope. Pride. Grateful. Fortunate. These are the feelings others shared during the MHRI Town Hall and these are the feelings I get from their accomplishments. It may not make the concern and worry go away, but it sure does provide a healthy balance.
Stay safe, and as Mark Smith has taught me: let’s get socially connected while we physically distance ourselves because its together that we will get through this pandemic and be stronger because of it.
With heartfelt gratitude,
Neil
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