That s much more than a person could hope to get from most other personal or professional encounters in life. Also be very careful not to take the credit for a patient s improvement or the responsibility for their failure. Be accepting and do the best you can, the rest is up to the patient. This should clearly be known to both of you. In pacing yourself for a long rewarding career free of burnout, beware of the tendency of patients, with their negative energy, to drain you of your positive energy.
Nature always seeks to create a balance.
When you are in a room with a difficult patient and you engage that patient, you often leave the room feeling drained. You are the vessel with greater positive energy and they are the vessel with greater negative energy. It is natural for them to take on some of your positive energy and you to take on some of their negative energy. If you start the day with a lot of positive energy it takes longer to feel this effect, but if you start with little positive energy you will begin to feel drained right away. If you start your day with negative energy, you have nothing to give and you may even drain your patients.