Greetings everyone and I’m Scott Savoy at the Sterling Creations desk.
Today, our president Donna J. Jodhan needs your help as in her editorial she wonders if this matter is either a faux pas or a failure.
Please let her know your thoughts.
Write to her at donnajodhan@sterlingcreations.ca.
Enjoy your weekend.
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Failure Or Faux Pas?
By Donna J. Jodhan
In the rhythm of everyday life, we are constantly making quiet judgments—about behavior, intent, and responsibility. Was it a mistake? A misunderstanding? Or something
more troubling? The distinction between failure and a faux pas may seem subtle, but in certain professions, it carries real weight. Nowhere is this more evident than in healthcare, where trust, precision, and accountability are not optional—they are essential.
Consider a recent situation involving a visiting nurse and a patient awaiting a scheduled injection. The nurse had clearly stated she would arrive at 8:30 a.m. Yet, that time came and went without explanation. The patient, concerned and waiting, left three messages before the nurse eventually arrived close to 9:30.
Already, this raises questions. Tardiness happens—traffic, emergencies, and scheduling conflicts are part of real life. But what followed shifts the situation from inconvenience to something more unsettling.
Upon arrival, the nurse asked for the patient’s address—information she should have had readily available. When this was pointed out, she explained that she had been confused by the layout of three buildings in the condo complex. That might have been understandable, had it been paired with preparation or communication. Instead, it was followed by denial: she claimed she had never committed to the 8:30 time.
Further, she stated she had sent two text messages—messages the patient never received. More troubling still, she did not even possess the patient’s cell number, making such communication impossible.
At this point, we must ask: is this a simple faux pas—a social misstep, a lapse in communication, an awkward moment? Or does it cross into failure—a breakdown of professional responsibility?
A faux pas suggests clumsiness without malice: a missed cue, a misunderstood expectation, perhaps even a moment of embarrassment. It is human, forgivable, and often correctable with honesty.
Failure, on the other hand, implies something deeper. It suggests a lack of preparation, a disregard for accountability, or an unwillingness to acknowledge mistakes. In healthcare, failure is not merely inconvenient—it erodes trust.
This situation leans heavily toward failure, not because the nurse was late, but because of what followed. The shifting explanations, the denial of prior commitment, and the claim of communication that could not have occurred—all of these point to a troubling absence of responsibility.
Patients place immense trust in medical professionals. They rely not only on clinical skill, but on reliability, honesty, and clear communication. When those elements falter, the relationship itself is compromised.
In the end, the question is not just whether this was a failure or a faux pas. It is a reminder that in professions built on trust, even small moments matter. A delayed arrival can be forgiven. A lack of accountability is far harder to overlook.
Because in healthcare, showing up is only part of the job. Owning your actions is the rest.
I’d like to leave you with this for your consideration.
They sat close, angled toward each other as if the world had quietly stepped back to give them space. One friend spoke in a low, careful voice, replaying the incident piece by piece—the nurse’s tone, the timing, the way it all felt slightly off. There was no anger, just a lingering unease, like something important had slipped out of alignment. The other listened intently, brow furrowed, occasionally nodding, weighing each detail as if it might tip the balance.
Between them hung the question neither could quite settle: was it a genuine lapse in judgment, something that crossed a professional line—or just an awkward misstep, a moment of poor wording or bad timing? They turned it over together, examining it from every angle, not searching for blame so much as clarity. In their shared silence, it was clear—they weren’t just analyzing the situation, they were trying to protect a sense of trust that suddenly felt a little less certain.
Image = Doctor in a white coat with a stethoscope shakes hands with a patient across a bright clinic desk, suggesting a professional agreement or consultation, with a tablet, clipboard holding documents, pen, and eyeglasses in the foreground and a laptop to the side, while soft daylight filters through window blinds in the background.
To learn more about me as an award winning sight loss coach and advocate visit www.donnajodhan.com