Everybody’s Doing It

July 14, 2010 — I was awaiting minor surgery when I noticed the sign on the wall of the operating room: “Time-Out Protocol.” It was a checklist of what nurses, doctors and technicians are supposed to do before starting the operation. My favorite item was PAUSE, written in capital letters, just like that.

The nurse told me the checklist is to make sure everyone—including the patient—is in the right place for the right reason and has what they need to proceed. "Sometimes," she explained, "there are an awful lot of people in this room, and things can get pretty crazy."

Later, I looked it up online. It turns out, the Joint Commission (on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations) has a Universal Protocol that includes a time out. I also found references in other places to “the surgical pause.” The idea is to take a moment before “things get crazy,” readying oneself, checking in with people around the room, centering on the purpose or the task at hand.

The simple pause is not uncommon: the team prayer before the big game, the moment of silence before a meal. In a medical setting, the pause—as prevention, as preparation—can save lives. In the Public Conversations Project’s work, the pause can save a conversation, even a relationship. A moment between speakers is a time to receive what’s been expressed, before rushing into the next response. When a conversation or situation might otherwise get “crazy,” the pause invites greater care. In classrooms, in living rooms, and in operating rooms!

Where can you imagine a pause, in your work, in your life, in your day, in your practice? What might the effects be? Try it, and let us know how it goes.

Alison Streit Baron
Program Manager, Public Conversations Project