This is a letter written by the lovely Kristy, a Medical Secretary at Yeovil Hospital, who recently attended a RightTrack training programme, Developing Patient Relationships.
It doesn’t need much of an introduction, however, I’d like to mention that it is because of Kirsty that we have decided to launch our Star of the Month initiative to provide a regular platform upon which delegates can publicly shine.
I hope that it inspires you to embrace every development opportunity that comes your way. Lap it up and make yourself great.
Dear Righttrack
I am a medical secretary at Yeovil Hospital. My job is a very hectic, busy and demanding. Stressful is actually an understatement! However I have always tried to remain positive and calm, as with most things in life, this is not always the case and things can very quickly get on top of you.
I also have a rare condition known as Addison’s disease. This is a lack of cortisol (natural steroid produced within the body), without it, you cannot live. The impact of this is that my body does not naturally react well to stress and emotional periods, it can make me became very ill and potentially kill me in extreme cases. This means that my management of stress is extremely important for my well-being.
When I was told we had to take part in the RightTrack Developing Positive Relationship training, if I am completely honest…. I was dreading it! I thought what a waste of a day! I am already very positive and what could this possible teach me? I was very skeptical.
Boy was I wrong! This was a wonderful and interesting training programme to be a part of. I not only learnt a lot about myself but a lot about others and how we all interact depending on one another’s behaviour. I learnt how my own behaviour can have a profound effect on another person, right down to whether I answer the phone in a friendly voice or the door with a smile. I especially enjoyed the empathy video. This made me look and think about people in a very different way on a daily basis.
I have been incorporating your program into many aspects of my life and work. It really is surprising how often those skills I learnt have come into play, from answering the telephone to dealing with difficult patients. I have learnt to be far more empathic than I am sympathetic now. This was where I was going wrong in many ways. I found people would feed off this as you described, whereas empathising doesn’t drain me of my own energy.
If I was offered this training again, I would jump at the chance! I would gladly give up a day at work or home to learn the kind of important life skills I learnt on this day.
I have learnt to look at things from a person’s point of view before they have even told me there problem, trying to read people but their reactions and their facial expressions. This has been most helpful with my own children. I realised I was spending so much time worrying about how busy I was and how tired I was and not realising that when they want to tell me about their day, this was them trying to be closer to me and share this with me, rather than them trying to annoy and bother me while I am making tea.
So I have learnt to listen a lot more than I did. This has proved my most valued gift, as my children are so much calmer, less frustrated and much happier in such a short time, simply by me taking more time to listen to them. I stop and put down whatever I have in my hands and give them my full attention and it is amazing the difference this has made!
Carol Barnes, our trainer, is a very special woman, with a great gift in reading people. She has an amazing presence; her aura oozes positivity and care. She can bring a smile to anyone’s face and there was something very safe about being in her presence as though she could tell exactly how I was feeling and why I reacted the way I did.
She instantly makes you very at ease and relaxed and this in turn enables you to unlock your honest feelings and realise how this affects us. I would love to be more like Carol!
I have already recommended this RightTrack training programme to all my colleagues as it has benefitted my overall outlook on life and I think anyone can benefit from looking in from the outside; it’s the only way to truly see a situation from all angles. It has enabled me to react to other people behaviour in the `right’ way!
If I was offered this training again, I would jump at the chance! I would gladly give up a day at work or home to learn the kind of important life skills I learnt on this day. You cannot learn these skills without being shown and taught them. You have to see to learn, you have to listen to learn and you have to understand to learn.
This program gives you everything you need and more to help you be a more positive, empathic, caring person and I will incorporate these skills into my day probably for the rest of my life!
Thank you RightTrack for giving me this opportunity and having such a positive effect on me!
Keep up the good work because it really can make this amount of difference to one person’s life!
Kind Regards
Kirsty Whitehand
Medical Secretary
Urology & General Surgical Unit
Yeovil District HospitalIntroduction By Claudia Cooney | Righttrack’s Marketing and Brand Manager
Learning and Development is more than just improving your performance at work!
We’d really like to hear your story, or read your letter – tell us all about a training programme, conference, or other event that has impacted upon your life and made a positive difference to you.