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Lisa Newburger, a master's level social worker supervisor, helps audiences find humor in talking about tough topics. Her "in-your-face" style of presentations and writing will make you smile or just shock you into taking some action. Either way, she is very effective at empowering others to reach their goals and feel better about themselves. Her entertaining workshops are available for national and international audiences. Writing for the dental industry since 2010, she uses an alterego (Diana Directive) to illustrate her points in a sarcastic but effective way. Presentations can be scheduled by contacting Lisa at www.discussdirectives.com/dental.html.
In a time where everything can feel out of our control, it’s often helpful to focus on what is in our control.
Given current events, there has been a lot of talk about the “new normal,” but it’s hard to say what that means. Is this how we are going to be living our lives in the next couple of months? My short answer is, no. In order for this to be considered “normal,” we have to have some routine or some idea of the future. But we have no idea what is coming next.
Patients are unsure if they should keep their appointments or reschedule. Plus, with social distancing requirements, practices will likely be seeing fewer patients than before. Fewer patients could mean that some practices only return a portion of their staff, at least temporarily. Dentists across the country are wondering how they’ll keep their practices afloat.
It’s obviously difficult to manage a practice without having an idea of when patients will schedule appointments or if staff will come back to work. It creates a lot of undue stress added on top of the fear that already exists in returning to the practice. We hope that the worst has past us, but there’s no way of knowing for sure.
As our economy is reopening, the fact that the coronavirus is still out in full force can be overlooked. As far as we know, there’s been very little change in the status of the pandemic-no vaccine, very little testing-the threat still looms. But, in a time where everything can feel out of our control, it’s often helpful to focus on what is in our control. Here are six small things we should keep doing outside of the practice.
In Ohio, our numbers are lower than other states due to an aggressive action on the part of Gov. Mike DeWine and the Ohio Department of Health. Whichever state you live in, be cautious of large gatherings and protect yourself and your family. In turn, you will protect so many more. Follow the science and stay safe.