Hats Off (and On) to Chiropractic!

One aspect of practice that can create tremendous stress is the need to "wear different hats" and to change those hats frequently. On any given day, we might need to be caregiver, friend, employer, health care lecturer, teacher, business person, financial planner, counselor, manager, bookkeeper, facility overseer, and maintenance person. Each of these roles could easily be a full-time job, and this list is by no means complete. Switching from one to another makes for even more difficulty. Few people outside a professional capacity can see all this happening beneath the surface. Most people (ideally) will see a smoothly running office and not the hard work, commitment and responsibility that goes into running a practice.

My personal experience, and that of other chiropractors with whom I consult, is that in order to be successful in practice, it is essential that we know how to function in all of our roles, accept the responsibility of all of these "hats," and consciously shift from one role to another with a minimum of stress on us and on our patients and staff. When we are new practitioners, we are often unprepared for the volume of hats we need to wear as chiropractors. One way to make it easier is to visualize taking one hat off and replacing it with another as we switch roles. If we enjoy being outrageous, we can actually have hats with different labels on them to help us in the transition, just as actors often have props to help them shift into their roles!

Let's look at an everyday example. You have just come out of an adjustment room with a patient. One of your employees asks you a question about collections. You have on the hat of caregiver. You are functioning (you hope) with the best of your nurturing, listening and other related skills. The question requires shifting to business person. This particular patient your employee is trying to collect from has been trying to avoid paying you -- to your dismay. Such a shift can easily pull you out of the mode you're in and disrupt your effectiveness as caregiver for the rest of the day -- unless you already have a plan of action for dealing with such an event.

Some chiropractors may decide that they practice most effectively when they and not events determine when they are going to switch hats: their employees know when not to interrupt them. Others may find that they and their practice thrive as long as they are conscious of hat switching. And many of us fall somewhere in between. Consciousness is the crucial factor in hat switching. With awareness of how switching roles affects us, we can develop a style that can minimize stress and maximize enjoyment. New practitioners, who are under the most stress, would be wise to discover their personal style as early on in practice as possible.

So far, the focus has been on us -- the chiropractors. But we all know that a smoothly running practice also depends on its staff. Let them in on it too! It will be a big help when employees need to switch from friendly receptionist one moment to bill collector the next. Not only that, they will more easily see what your challenges are.

Finally, we can't forget another very important transition -- the end of our workday. All too often we forget to make that shift. It is so very easy to bring our work into our nonwork time, and vice versa. I remember thinking once, at the end of a long day in practice, that what I really needed was an especially outrageous hat to keep in my car that I could put on to declare the change. Try it. It will probably put a smile on your face!

Angelica Redleaf, D.C.
Warwick, Rhode Island