Compassionate patient care and personal survival in orthopaedics. A 35-year perspective

Orthopaedic surgeons can enjoy good patient and physician relationships and be happy in the work setting. Here's how. It is important to know oneself. Explore one's spirituality. Maintain humor, humility, and humanity. Make only original mistakes. Attend to one's mental health. Invest time, thought, and energy in interpersonal relationships with patients, colleagues, and loved ones. Apologize when one causes pain to patients or keeps them waiting. Treat them with respect and answer their questions. Educate patients, listen to them, serve them. Provide informed consent, identify congruent outcome goals for patient and surgeon. In surgery, let thought precede action. Plan the surgery, review the anatomy, avoid excessive force, triple-check the anatomy, and control the bleeding. Orchestrate the operating theater to manifest the values of patient care, excellent surgery, team spirit, and mutual respect. Maintain equanimity. Find things to enjoy at work every day, and then enjoy them. These suggestions may be discussed, refined, and learned. They may stimulate the generation of more and better ways than are presented in this article for the orthopaedist to help patients and be fulfilled in his or her work.