From our trench

Soledad Delgado
 

Shoulder Arms Charles Chaplin (1918)

From our trench, everything looked different. Time seemed to have stopped and each day was the same as the previous one. Same path, same faces, the same ritual of preparation to fight an enemy advancing in waves. The pandemic filled everything, to such an extent that we stopped seeing that life continued its course and that other diseases continued their course, seemingly unchecked, appearing before us when, sometimes, it was already too late.

The spread of the disease forced us to erect barriers, to put them between us, our families, and our patients. A high but transparent wall that allowed us to see what was on the other side so as not to lose the way to follow. Paradoxically, this wall, rather than separating, made us see how necessary it was to treat our patients humanely, the importance of empathy, listening, and understanding, both with them and with their families.

Walls knocking down other invisible walls, built over the years and that we thought were insurmountable: the separation between the different medical specialties, a pending issue when it came to establishing continuous patient care, was vanishing. Behind the mask, we were all soldiers of the same army, finding the support we needed in what until then had been almost unknown. Humanity… humanity on the same side of the trench.

What will we do when all this happens? That was the question. A question that was answered with a "we will have to be consistent with our work, with our successes and our mistakes, each one of us, each one from the responsibility of it." No one verbalized it, but for many, this phrase reflected a certain sadness and also a feeling of loneliness. Because sometimes we have felt alone... alone. Feeling that the pandemic had managed to shake the foundations of an already weakened health system gave us a feeling of emptiness and uncertainty about the future. The applause and recognition of an entire society were not enough, nor with the look of support and the words of consolation from a comrade: we also needed a word of encouragement from those responsible for directing our struggle, to feel that they were there, with us, acknowledging our work. But sometimes we have felt alone.

And now what do we need? Now that our day-to-day continues, with another intensity, with other challenges, we need to feel comforted with improved human treatment as professionals. We need to feel that humanization is also reaching management. The dictionary defines humanization as the action or effect of humanizing, that is, making someone or something human, familiar, and affable. To humanize is to understand, feel affection and show solidarity with other people. Humanization in care is just that, and it is also applicable to management.

Albert Cortés's book "Humanizar la gestión sanitaria" proposes a change in the humanized management model based on respect for people "management of people for people". Health professionals want to work in institutions that value us and increase our potential. "The leader in health must observe and focus their efforts on the transformation and use of knowledge, skills, and aptitudes to carry out good management by competencies, taking advantage of the best of each professional", says Daniel Goleman in his work "What defines a leader"(1), where he explains that "A person can have a high IQ and impeccable technical training, but be unable to lead a team to success. They can only be effective leaders who have emotional intelligence, that is, the ability to capture the emotions of the group and lead them towards a positive result.

Now, from our trench, we can lift our heads and breathe, look ahead and see the upcoming changes, the new challenges, and some that we are already facing. It is the opportunity to grow and change, to learn from what has been lived. It is the moment of humanization at all levels. The election of leaders with soul and intelligence, capable of encouraging when forces decline and making us all move forward, is a challenge that the system must face, also for its survival. It seems simple, isn't it? Listen, empathy, recognition. Humanity… humanity in health management.

1. Harvard Business Review, ISSN 0717-9952, vol. 82, nº 1, 2004