Half-empty and half-full communication: The practitioner

The last column explored more optimistic and pessimistic human orientations as these related to quality client communication. This column explores those same orientations as they affect veterinarians and the clients and staff with whom they interact.

When Drs. Chau and Hirschauer formed a partnership, although the two veterinarians were both medically competent, some people said that this could be an “iffy” combination because Dr. Chau’s upbeat view of life was the opposite of the more negatively oriented Dr. Hirschauer.

“Mark my words,” proclaimed a colleague belonging to the latter group, “They’ll be at each other’s throats and driving their staff mad in no time.”

The glass half-full practitioner

Just as some veterinarians and staff prefer the more naturally optimistic clients, some clients and staff prefer more naturally optimistic veterinarians. Dr. Chau is a particular favorite of clients who lack confidence, because his predilection for seeing the best side of everything gives them more confidence in themselves and the behavior of their animals. “I don’t feel foolish telling him I don’t understand what he’s talking about if I don’t” and “No matter how much my animal acts up, I know he’ll say that’s just how some animals are.” “He’s the vet I want there if my animal has some serious problem because I know he’ll give me hope.” are comments that reflect this view.

When asked to choose which one of the two practitioners who had been on-call the previous weekend they would prefer to encounter first thing Monday morning, most of the staff would unhesitatingly choose Dr. Chau.

“Even if he’s really tired and we know some bad things happened, he always talks about something funny or wonderful the animal or client did,” comments the office manager.

“And when you work with him and no matter how bad it gets,” chimes in one of the technicians, “he can always find that silver lining. That means a lot to me now, but it meant even more when I first started working here because I’d just graduated and didn’t have a lot of confidence in myself. When I made a mistake, he’d tell me a lot of people make that same mistake.”

And even though it may come as a surprise to some of their colleagues, Dr. Hirschauer also appreciates his partner’s personality most of the time.

“I know I lack patience with clients and staff who strike me as incompetent, and Jeff Chau is a godsend because he spares me from dealing with them,” readily acknowledges his partner. “And between the two of us, I think we cover the bases more thoroughly when hashing out tough medical cases and business decisions than those who share the same perspective.”

But what about the downside of this predilection? Although glass half-full responses may cheer certain clients under certain circumstances, they can backfire when the client does not share the clinician’s view of the problem. For example, when Ms. Monterio brings her geriatric dog which she knows is critically ill to Dr. Chau, his assurances that “Everything will be fine” do not comfort her. Quite the contrary, they make her question his grasp of (admittedly her) reality. They also might make her question his competence.

And although those with less confidence appreciate Dr. Chau’s ability to comment on whatever bright side there may be to their inadequacies, this loses its charm if he does not give them specific direction regarding how to address these.

“I’m glad he doesn’t seem to mind when my cat goes berserk during clinic visits,” admits his client with the fractious cat. “But I hate it when my cat gets so upset and I wish he’d tell me how to prevent this instead of saying it’s normal behavior.”

This orientation may have a similarly negative effect on some or all staff at certain times. The last thing the kennel crew or technicians want to do when they are up to their elbows in work with just enough time to get it all done is to have to stop and listen respectfully to some cheerful bright-side comment from Dr. Chau.

“Oh God, here comes Dr. Sunshine,” hisses the technician to her co-worker. “Let’s get this dog into surgery for Dr. Hirschauer quick! Maybe he’ll be gone by the time we finish.”

Other times the veterinarian’s comments that soften a very grave prognosis to clients may leave staff in a quandary if those same clients seek further information from them.

“I feel like I’m trapped between a rock and hard place,” the technician confides to the office manager. “I’ve known Ms. Monterio and her animals for years and she’s a very knowledgeable and good client. When she calls, I feel like I should be helping her accept the severity of her pet’s condition and that he may not survive, not parroting Dr. Chau’s optimism. But on the other hand, he is my boss…”

Needless to say, Dr. Hirschauer is not pleased if he must wait for the staff to listen to his partner natter on instead of completing the tasks that will enable him to get on with his own work. And while he truly appreciates his partner’s more optimistic view, there are other instances when it strikes him as flat out denial.

“There are times when situations are critical and hard decisions need to be made,” he explains. “Sitting around claiming it’s going to get better or that some magical solution is sure to appear doesn’t change that and wastes a lot of time.”

The glass half-empty practitioner

Some clients prefer practitioners who always see the downside of issues related to their animals.

“I like Dr. Hirschauer because he always cuts to the chase. It’s a lot of work taking care of this herd and I need to know up-front what the worst could be. I can’t afford surprises,” says one client.

“The fact that I know he’ll notice and mention it if I didn’t medicate my dog the way I was supposed to or if she isn’t well-behaved makes me a lot more conscientious about these things than I would be otherwise,” adds another.

Some staff members also share these views. To them, implicit in Dr. Hirschauer’s comments regarding the downside of any issue is the knowledge that everything else they are doing is either acceptable or too insignificant for him to comment on. Dr. Chau also appreciates that quality in his partner.

“Even though I don’t share Dick Hirschauer’s pessimistic view of reality in general, I do appreciate seeing the flip side of practice-related issues because it helps me expand my own view. And I do think I’m a better practitioner because of this.”

On the downside, glass half-empty practitioners can be sources of dread for unconfident clients and staff, and “mega-irritants” for those with more upbeat orientations.

“I always ask for Dr. Chau because Dr. Hirschauer is so negative and I get so flustered it upsets my dog plus I can’t think straight,” says a client nervously tugging at her sleeve. “All I want is to get out of there as fast as possible.”

If Dr. Chau is Dr. Sunshine to the staff at times, Dr. Hirschauer is Dr. Rain Cloud. As long as the practice is running smoothly, the staff takes this in stride.

“I bet if we told Dr. Hirschauer the sun was going to rise tomorrow, he’d worry about it,” jokes one technician.

“Or if he inherited a gazillion dollars, he’d talk about how much he’ll owe in taxes,” laughs another.

But when staff members are having a difficult time coping with, for example, the emotional fall-out associated with the loss of multiple once healthy animals to a hot virus or contaminated feed, their employer reinforcing this does not help them or the practice. Similarly if he greets every suggestion staff members perceive as a way to improve the practice with a negative “on the other hand,” those people may decide to keep those ideas to themselves rather than deal with that.

Dr. Chau faces the same adverse effects of Dr. Hirschauer’s negativity. The last thing he wants when he is feeling down is someone who makes him feel more depressed. And while he does appreciate the opportunity to expand his views, it irks him when his partner’s negative assessment seems more like a knee-jerk response than the result of thoughtful consideration.

In this discussion, a multi-practitioner example was chosen because the rise of such practices plus emergency clinics and referral services exposes increasing numbers of clients, staff, and clinicians to multiple veterinarians whose orientations may tilt in a glass half-full or half-empty direction. And granted one perceptive but impolitic front office staff charged with making appointments instructed clients to “Name your poison” instead of the veterinarian they wanted to see, there are better ways to address the dilemmas created by differing personalities. Ideally a balanced view is the goal. Barring that, recognizing the existence, validity, and the benefits and costs of each view will enable practitioners to capitalize on those benefits and minimize their costs to the practice.