Five tips to better cope with your mistakes

Let’s break this taboo. All caregivers make mistakes. Serious’ ones and less serious. How do you learn to live with them and prevent them from haunting you? Profession Santé discussed it with the president of the Order of Psychologists Christine Grou, and with her colleague Danièle Lapointe, who supports general practitioners and specialists within the framework of the Quebec Physician Assistance Program. Read: A national license In Canada: Two medical professionals tell us why it matters 1. Be aware of the psychological consequence on you The possible psychological consequences of a mistake or an error should not be taken lightly, the intensity of which varies according to the seriousness of the situation and according to characters and temperaments. Feelings of guilt, shame, remorse, anxiety, sleep disturbances, difficulty concentrating, fear of the gaze of others, “the symptoms are similar to post-traumatic stress,” said Grou. Often, self-confidence takes a hit as well. “When we make a mistake, we discover that we don’t know everything, that we are fallible, and that goes against our mission which is to save people,” said Lapointe, who notes that “the syndrome of the impostor is very present, especially in the event of an ethical pursuit.” 2. Be kind to yourself Caregivers, and family physicians in particular, are “extremely successful people. Society has high expectations of them and they also have high expectations of themselves. So they don’t easily forgive each other for their mistakes, ” said Grou. This pressure they put on themselves maintains their skill level, but they are not super men or super women for all that. “There is no such thing as a career without errors”, she said. “Instead of focusing on your mistake”, said Lapointe, “you have to put things into perspective and take a step back: what did I do and under what circumstances to prevent this from happening again.” 3. Talk about it Silence does more harm than good. “Living with a secret is heavy, and we risk sinking into shame and guilt,” said Grou. To bounce back, you have to free your voice by finding someone to confide in, someone you trust to be comfortable with giving yourself up. “A peer is ideal,” said Lapointe. They know what you are talking about and they are often able to receive your emotions, because they know the consequences of an error. 4. Learn from mistakes Once the error is accepted, the watchword is to transform the negative into positive. “The right posture is to ask yourself what to do with it in order not to reproduce it,” said Lapointe. The error must thus become “a source of learning and prevention,” said Grou, who specifies that the analysis must be done cold, without emotion. 5. Listen to your well-being It’s easier said than done, said Lapointe, “but you have to try to be well in your head and in your body, and therefore be concerned about your physical and mental health.” Playing sports, getting proper rest—these are bulwarks against medical errors. A recommendation that is not easy to reconcile with the workload of most doctors. Originally ran on our sister brand in Quebec, Profession Santé. Translated from French.

Five tips to better cope with your mistakes

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