In 2010 sweeping changes were launched that are pushing cancer registrars to their limits and beyond. Undeniably it is the pace in which science and clinical medicine is changing that drives how cancer registrars need to work to keep pace and deliver the data and value to their healthcare teams. In a recent Journal of AHIMA article, Laura Vondenhueval, RHIT, CTR, said it best, “This is a massive change. It is a new way to look at how we are gathering our data.”
It is obvious that cancer registrars need to learn how to work in an environment where change is no longer the exception, but the norm. In the past we used to have long periods of stability with intermittent periods of change. Today, we need to shift our mindset and accept that we will now have almost constant change with intermittent periods of stability. Here are some common challenges cancer registrars face with constant change.
Challenge #1
Before the 2010 changes were introduced we thought that this was just a phase that healthcare was going through, and after a very brief period of adaptation, everything would revert to normal and we could go back to enjoying a long period of stability. Here’s a reality check, it’s not going to be that way any more because it’s not just a phase. Healthcare providers and standard-setters are expecting more from cancer registrars and are telling us that they are willing to make adjustments in their workforce if cancer registrars cannot change their thought processes or do their work differently. It’s not about workforce reductions, it is all about changing how we think about and do our work day to day.
Challenge #2
Today, when we do hit those infrequent moments of stability, we think that we have time to relax and enjoy the moment. In the past we focused on simply enduring the turbulence so that we could return to the comfort of stability. In order to succeed with today’s changes we must take advantage of the quiet, stable moments and use them as a “launching pad” to prepare for managing the next wave of change. During these moments of stability we should be thinking about what our healthcare teams and standard-setters will need from us in the short- and long-term future as well as what the new requirements might be. Look at the industry and investigate how to position yourself more competitively so you are prepared when the changes inevitably come.
Challenge #3
Some cancer registrars may have developed an attachment to stability and focused their energy on creating and sustaining it in the workplace. The hardest challenge of all will be to lose our attachments to stability. The cancer registrar needs to embrace change and harness its power and seek out new opportunities that change brings to us. Before 2010 we worked hard to get over change so we could relax; now we need to work hard at change so we can work hard at more change. Registrars who choose to play the role of the victim can ignore change and how to deal with it, but by the time they are in a position to do something about it they will have lost the opportunity to prepare for it, and likely their “edge” and career success as well.
So, what’s the solution?
First, make it OK to deal with change. Accept where we are and what we as cancer registrars need to deal with. Stop making judgments about change being necessary or unnecessary, good or bad, justified or not justified. Change does not have to control the reality of our situation or our ability to manage it or serve our teams.
Second, create a “safe” environment for yourself and other cancer registrars to deal with the change. Break the changes down into manageable chunks and begin to take action on small pieces of it. Start small and build from each successful step. Encourage and allow your staff and peers to take risks by coming up with new ideas and solutions to changing how we do our work. Provide a lot of encouragement and support to one another by building a solid support network and then by using it by tapping into its resources.
Third, if you, or some of your peers or co-workers tend to identify with the victim, set up some accountability and support for each other. Discuss the expectations and if necessary create workplace agreements and identify ways to interact and help one another so that each cancer registrar, whether they are local, regional, statewide or even nationally, can encourage you and other members of your network.
Fourth, begin a process of constant acknowledgement, support and challenge for cancer registrars. Be careful to not perpetuate the old paradigm of sitting back on your laurels during a stable period. Acknowledge people for managing the current change and encourage all to begin talking about and planning for new, incoming changes. When people get discouraged, provide support, acknowledge their success, and then present them with new challenges for growth.
Change is not new to cancer registrars, nor will it ever cease. Continual learning and enhancing the data that we collect to keep pace with medicine and science is driving the need for cancer registrars to develop new ways of thinking and doing their work. Periods of stability with intermittent change are now the old paradigm. Today, we must work hard to manage change in order to look ahead and be prepared for more change. Cancer Registrars cannot do this alone, they must develop a strong network of their peers for support, accountability and positive acknowledgement of their role in the fight against cancer.
IF YOU HAVE FOUND WAYS TO MANAGE THE 2010 CHANGES AND KEEP YOUR SANITY….POST A COMMENT BELOW. QUESTION: HOW CAN REGISTRARS HELP ONE ANOTHER THINK & DO DIFFERENTLY?
http://www.CancerRegistrar.com. Michele Webb is a nationally recognized, certified cancer registrar (CTR) committed to Cancer Registry leadership and professional development. She helps cancer registrars worldwide as a coach, mentor, educator, motivational speaker, and author. You have permission to repost this article as long as you do not alter it in any way, give credit to the author and link back to her website.
Automatic negative thoughts, or ANTs, are thoughts that come into our mind automatically and ruin our day or send us into a negative tailspin. Dr. Daniel Aman, who developed the concept, talks of the destructive power of negative thoughts and how they alter the physical and chemical composition of our brains and literally destroy our mental and physical health.
We should not believe every negative thought we have because our thoughts lie to us all the time! It is our uninvestigated thoughts that turn us into mental midgets, make us sad or anxious, and erode our abilities as a Cancer Registrar.
Our success as a Cancer Registrar depends on how we manage our thoughts and mindset. ANTs may attempt to invade our mind, but through proper care and maintenance of our physical and mental health we can avoid disaster by managing the thought appropriately and “killing” the ANTs.
Whenever you feel a negative or out-of-control thought, or have thoughts that are bothering you or making it hard to focus, Dr. Aman gives four questions to ask yourself:
Is the thought true? Is the thought that is upsetting me really true?
Can I know absolutely for sure that the thought is true?
When I believe in the negative thought, how does it make me feel? (physically, emotionally and spiritually)
Who would I be, or how would I feel, without the thought?
Work through the four questions then turn the original thought around to its opposite and ask yourself the same four questions. Is the opposite thought upsetting to you or true? You may be surprised at what you learn through this simple exercise.
Here’s an example of an upsetting thought: “My hospital does not care about my work as a Cancer Registrar.”
Is it true? Of course not, you do have some control.
Can I absolutely know that this thought is true? No.
How do I feel when I believe the negative thought? Weak, inferior, sad, anxious, out of control, or worn out.
Who would I be, or how would I feel, without the thought? Free to be in control and to be the best Cancer Registrar I can be.
Now, take that negative thought and turn it around to its opposite and ask yourself if the opposite of the upsetting thought is true? I have complete control over my skills and quite a bit of control in how others perceive my value and contribution as a Cancer Registrar.
How will you use this technique to “kill ANTs?” What ANTs have invaded your mind today and how did you handle them? Post your response as a COMMENT below.
http://www.RegistryMindset.com. Michele Webb is a nationally recognized, certified cancer registrar (CTR) committed to Cancer Registry leadership and professional development worldwide as a coach, mentor, educator, motivational speaker, and author. You have permission to repost this article as long as you do not alter it in any way, give credit to the author and link back to this website.
(Part Five of our series titled “Agility Training for Cancer Registrars”)
Every business today is about relationships, including cancer registry. The quality and impact of your work, and the success of your cancer registry, depends on your relationships. As a Cancer Registrar you are facing new challenges in terms of reporting standards and data quality. As professionals it is important that you shake things up to stay fresh and viable in the business by reinventing yourself and your relationships. Cancer Registrars must figure out the next chapter in their lives, despite ever-changing requirements, economic struggles or organizational cutbacks. Standing still is not an option because if you are not growing, you are becoming stagnant or even dying professionally.
So, you’re probably asking yourself why you need to reinvent your relationships. As healthcare business changes, as the cancer registry operations change, so should you as a professional and now is the perfect time to get started. It’s time to re-evaluate your life and work and to objectively assess where you are now and where you are headed. And, since you’re starting over, dream big and bold!
Use these eight questions to evaluate where your situation and to take action to ensure that your career and professional success keep pace with cancer healthcare. In fact, use these questions with your staff or co-workers to align yourselves for even greater success.
What fundamental activities or aspects about your work is important to you? Why?
What is your mission in life and as a cancer registrar?
What is your philosophy in life and as a cancer registrar?
To find your passion, think back to a time when you were operating “in the zone.” What were you doing to get to that place in your life?
Look at the people in your circle of influence, are they helping or hindering you? What, or whom, do you need to add to your circle of influence?
Look ahead three years, where would you like to be in your professional life? What would your ideal cancer registry career look like? Then, frame your responses in the form of professional goals.
Ask yourself, if you are sitting here in this same spot three years from now, what would have to happen for you to feel fulfilled and content with your work?
Look at the cancer registry masters who have accomplished what you are trying to achieve, what strategies did they use? How can those strategies work for you?
If you honestly answer these questions you will have a good framework and idea of what your professional life should look like. Take each response and form it into a step, activity or goal that you need to accomplish. Always keep the end goal or picture in your mind and then work backwards to create an action list to get to your goal.
Reinventing yourself is hard work and reinventing relationships will require patience, thought and planning. However, if you choose not to do this you will likely be left behind or miss out on the success and professional recognition you deserve. Always keep your eye on the end goal and “prize.” Take responsibility for how your interactions at work impact others and the healthcare business. Make a commitment to take your work to a higher level and one that is dedicated to serving the needs of your organization, your professional community, and the customers they serve. Capitalize on the value that cancer registrars and the healthcare team brings to their work and find new or different ways to collaborate and serve the needs of others. This kind of focus will ensure that your business relationships remain fresh and productive and that you, as a cancer registrar, achieve success.
What are you doing to reinvent your business relationships? Post a comment below to tell us what ONE thing you have done that has made a positive difference in your work and life.
http://www.RegistryMindset.com. Michele Webb is a nationally recognized, certified cancer registrar (CTR) who is committed to Cancer Registry leadership and professional growth. She helps cancer registrars around the world as a motivational speaker, author, and educator. You have permission to repost this article as long as you do not alter it in any way, give credit to the author and link back to her website.
Recorded September 9, 2010 with Shawn Achor, author The Happiness Advantage
Interviewed by Max Miller
“Question: What is the biggest misconception about happiness?
Shawn Achor: I think we think that happiness is something that you find or if you reach some level in a company or a school, then you’re happier. And what we’re finding is that happiness is not something that happens to you; happiness is a work ethic. It’s something that requires our brains to train just like an athlete has to train. In order to become happier, we actually have to focus our brains down on things that actually move us forward instead of getting stagnating in the things that… for example, stressing about things that are outside of our control doesn’t move us forward at all.
So what I think that what we need to be able to do is to not only change the formula for success, to help us to be able to focus upon this idea that if we prioritize happiness, it will then raise our success rates, but also a recognition that is something that we actually have to be conscious about on a daily basis because it’s something that actually requires effort, it requires training and requires us to be able to focus our attention on this. And if we do so, I think the thing that we oftentimes think is that if people get happy, they’ll stop working hard or that happy people are unintelligent. And what we’re finding is just the opposite. I think it is the most counter-intuitive thing we’ve found, which is happiness actually raises an individual’s intelligence and their success rates.
We find that the happy people aren’t always the smartest people, we know that there are… I’ve met tons of people that are very successful and not happy, and people that are extremely intelligent and not happy. So we might assume that those two things are divorced, but now what we really realize in the science is that both of those individuals are actually underperforming what their brain is actually capable of. And if we have more role models in our companies and schools of individuals that are positive and infect other people with that positivity rippling out through those mirror neuron networks, not only can we raise the levels of happiness and engagement in our schools and companies again, but we’ll actually raise their levels of successes as well.”
Every year millions of us celebrate a new beginning with family, friends and our favorite party favors. The traditions continue forward as we make resolutions for our lives in the coming year. The “usual” list of resolutions are no surprise, spending time with family and friends, getting fit, losing weight, stop smoking, stop drinking, enjoy life more, and get out of debt. Now, you may (or may not) be surprised to learn that over 88% of us never live out those resolutions.
I have an idea for cancer registrars! Let’s just toss out all the resolutions. Let’s stop making promises that you know you cannot keep or making excuses on why you didn’t get to your goal. Instead, let’s look at a positive alternative to New Year’s Resolutions. Are you ready?
Let’s pledge to each other to make a positive difference in each other’s lives in 2011. No boundaries, no rules, no prerequisites or cash required. When it is all said and done it is how we impact each other’s lives and how we make a difference in this world that matters anyway. So, quit wasting your time with resolutions and instead, choose to focus your time and energy in something much more meaningful.
Making a difference is really not that difficult. Here’s a simple 3-step program: 1) listen to your inner voice and be true to yourself. Some call it being “authentic.” Listen to your spiritual self and know what makes you truly happy to set the foundation for making a difference. Then, 2) be generous and kind with your words. Develop an awareness of others around you and find something positive to say to people each day. Be there to encourage, support and listen. Your words and time spent with others matter more than you know. Finally, 3) take action. Don’t be afraid to take action on your thoughts or to respond quickly to a situation. Never underestimate the impact your support and encouragement will have on others.
As cancer registrars we are linked together around the globe by a common passion for our work and common need to be supported and inspired by one another. All of us have equal responsibility, as a allied health professionals, to make a difference in someone’s life. Here are some suggestions:
Leave a voice message with a cancer registry “buddy” who lives across the country saying you were thinking of them and just wanted to say “hi.”
Write a short, handwritten, thank you note to a fellow cancer registrar, employee, manager, administrator or physician. Just send a simple “shout out.”
Throughout your day take a few minutes of your time to speak directly to somone else. Reach out to them with your voice, a smile, compliment for a job well done, or to inquire about their health or family. Take just a few minutes to engage in a personal conversation.
When you’re standing in the long line at your local coffee shop, turn around and smile and say “hello” to the person behind you. Put the iPod or Blackberry away and engage in greeting someone with a smile and warm “hello.”
I know you’re already excited about getting started! Don’t underestimate the power of one cancer registrar helping another, even with the simplest and most basic courtesy or kind word. Would you like to get some extra “mojo” from making a difference? Come back to this blog post every couple of days and let us know what you did for someone and how it made you feel? You can make a difference in someone else’s life just by sharing what worked well for you. I can guarantee that once you begin practicing making a difference that you will want, maybe even crave, helping someone else. Before you know it, it will be a way of life and an important and positive part of your day.
I look forward to helping you make a difference in 2011. Happy New Year!
http://www.RegistryMindset.com. Michele Webb is committed to cancer registry leadership and to making a difference in the lives of cancer registrars worldwide. She is a nationally recognized, certified cancer registrar (CTR) who cares passionately about her work and serving her community. She is a motivational speaker, author and educator. You have permission to repost this article as long as you do not alter it in any way, give credit tot he author and link back to this article on this website.
Seasons Greetings everyone! As the year comes to a close we wanted to share with you how grateful we are for your time and attention and offer you a free gift. Look below at a short video and link to download your free gift!
(Part Four of our series titled “Agility Training for Cancer Registrars”)
Changing out mindset or how we automatically respond to our work or life can make us uncomfortable. However, this is necessary if we are to be responsible and achieve success and happiness.
In his book, Excuses Begone, Dr Wayne Dyer gives a description of individual accountability and a process for stepping out of “autopilot” and into conscious thinking. In my own experience, I know that by examining my past experiences, beliefs and value I hold I can challenge their validity and create a new mindset that is focused on positive outcomes, meaningful relationships and being the a good person and cancer registrar.
Albert Einstein said, “The world we have created is a product of our way of thinking.” So, the degree to which we practice mindfulness, or how we allow ourselves to become uncomfortable and the resulting change in our way of thinking, is what determines our success in life.
It is not enough to briefly question a thought and simply dismiss it with a statement of, “that’s the way I was taught,” or “that’s just who I am.” Accountability for our thoughts requires continual examination of past experiences, beliefs and values. As cancer registrars, our mindset is constantly challenged. Our personal value systems are often in competition with others and need to be put into perspective with the clinical and scientific facts as well as the patient and emotional components of cancer care. Often this seems like a “stacked deck” against us. But, by practicing conscious thinking, evaluating the facts and not emotions, and by making a mindful choice in how we will respond to the situation, we will earn our place as valuable members on the healthcare team.
If you find that your first thought about a situation or proposed change is negative, then you can be encouraged by the knowledge that by simply thinking another thought, you can change your mindset and the outcome of a situation. The first step to take is to replace the negative thought with a positive one. Remember, your thoughts and behaviors are under your control. Pessimistic and negative thinking are simply habits that can be changed.
Here are three action steps to take in practicing mindfulness and accommodating change with positive results:
Evaluate the evidence. When you have that negative or pessimistic thought, stop and evaluate the evidence. What are the facts, not the fears?
Think about positive alternatives and outcomes. For example, as you are doing your work on “autopilot” and encounter a new reporting rule, instead of complaining about it, stop and evaluate the facts, acknowledge the changes in medicine and patient care, and visualize how the change will improve the cancer patient’s care and quality of life.
Practice daily affirmations. Each day practice saying to yourself, “when I have a negative thought I will immediately evaluate the facts and think of positive alternatives.” This will be a little awkward at first, but after practice it will become easier and automatic. Each time you use this affirmation you will rewrite the negative thoughts in your mind and create new and positive solutions founded on fact and not emotion.
Practice these three steps until it comes naturally and automatically. You will be amazed at how easy it is to develop positive mindset to whatever happens in your day. Use positive affirmations to reinforce your attitude and to build up core strengths and talents. Cancer registrars who focus on their accountability and development of a positive mindset will be uniquely positioned to serve as leaders in their community and profession.
Tell us, what are you doing to change your thoughts and reactions to your work and life? Do you use positive affirmations? If so, what have you found to have the most profound, positive impact on your life?
http://www.RegistryMindset.com. Michele Webb, America’s Cancer Registry Coach, is a nationally recognized, certified cancer registrar (CTR). She cares passionately about helping cancer registrars around the world to grow personally and professionally and serves her community as a motivational speaker, author, and educator. You have permission to repost this article as long as you do not alter it in any way, give credit to the author and link back to her website.
One thing we know for sure today is that change and uncertainty happens daily. How we choose to react to uncertainty can either paralyze us with fear or thrust us into a world of new possibilities. In this article cancer registrars are given four ways to explore uncertainty in their life that will help them accept and accommodate change in order to bring about higher levels of growth and success and to develop agility and flexibility in the cancer registry.
We’ve created a video blog that compliments the complete article on this website. You can watch it here!
