Professionalism and Communication in the P&O Workshop
A prosthetics and orthotics workshop is a demanding professional environment. At any given time, the team may be managing custom appliances, insoles, therapeutic shoes, urgent postoperative cases, repairs and clinical adjustments. Every item represents a patient waiting for improved comfort, protection, mobility or independence.
Deadlines are important, but the way team members communicate while managing those deadlines is equally important. Shouting, demanding language, sarcasm and disrespect do not make work move faster. Instead, they increase stress, weaken teamwork and create an environment in which people may struggle to perform at their best.
Urgency may change the priority of the work, but it should never remove respect from the communication.
Behaviour Is Part of Professional Practice
Professionalism is not limited to clinical knowledge or technical skill. It also includes how we speak, listen, request assistance, respond to mistakes and manage pressure. A technically skilled employee may still negatively affect the workplace if communication regularly involves:
- Shouting or speaking aggressively.
- Giving orders in a disrespectful or humiliating manner.
- Making sarcastic comments about speed, skill or workload.
- Publicly blaming or embarrassing colleagues.
- Demanding immediate work without explaining the clinical urgency.
- Interrupting others and refusing to listen.
- Treating every personal request as the workshop’s highest priority.
- Ignoring the work and limitations already being managed by the team.
When this behaviour becomes frequent—or comes from several people—the workshop can become emotionally exhausting. Team members may begin each day expecting confrontation rather than cooperation.
The Hidden Effect of Disrespect
Words and tone can affect a person long after the conversation ends. Someone who has been shouted at, mocked or spoken to disrespectfully may continue thinking about the interaction while trying to complete delicate technical work.
This can contribute to mental stress, reduced concentration, resentment, lower confidence and burnout. It may also make employees afraid to ask essential questions, report an error or raise a patient-safety concern. In this way, workplace behaviour can affect not only staff wellbeing but also communication quality and clinical outcomes.
Orthotic and prosthetic fabrication requires concentration. Alignment, measurements, trimlines, pressure relief, material thickness and finishing details all demand careful attention. A tense environment makes this work more difficult.
A Request Can Be Urgent Without Being Aggressive
There is a major difference between communicating urgency and transferring stress to another person.
“Why is this still not finished? You people always delay everything.”
Professional:“This patient has an urgent appointment tomorrow. Could you please update me on the current status and let me know whether anything is needed to complete the appliance safely?”
Both statements ask about the same appliance, but they create completely different responses. The first produces blame and defensiveness. The second encourages communication, responsibility and problem-solving.
A respectful urgent request should identify the appliance, explain the clinical reason, give the genuine required time, clarify what remains incomplete and ask whether information or support is needed.
Sarcasm Is Not Constructive Feedback
Sarcastic comments are sometimes presented as humour, but repeated sarcasm can be deeply disrespectful—particularly when it targets someone’s speed, technical ability, education, workload or professional role.
Statements such as “Maybe this will be ready next year” or “Do you even know what you are doing?” do not identify the technical problem or help correct it. They embarrass the person while leaving the actual clinical issue unresolved.
“The medial trimline is producing pressure during fitting. Let us review the model correction and determine the safest modification.”
This keeps attention on the appliance and the solution rather than attacking the individual.
Respect Should Not Depend on Position
Clinicians, prosthetists and orthotists, technicians, assistants, administrators, drivers, logistics staff and support workers all contribute to patient care. A senior position carries responsibility, but it does not provide permission to shout at, humiliate or disrespect another employee. Senior team members should model calm communication because their behaviour influences the culture of the workplace.
Respectful communication does not mean avoiding accountability. Delays, repeated errors and performance concerns still require discussion—but those discussions should be private, factual, specific and constructive.
Managing Multiple Ongoing Cases
Conflict often develops when different clinicians or branches consider their own cases the highest priority. The worklab may simultaneously be handling AFOs, KAFOs, prosthetic work, orthopedic insoles, therapeutic shoes, postoperative appliances, adjustments, breakages and delivery preparation.
A transparent priority system reduces personal pressure on workshop staff. Cases should be prioritized according to clinical urgency, patient safety, appointment or discharge date, fabrication requirements and available resources—not according to who speaks the loudest.
Communication Between Clinic and Worklab
The clinic and worklab should operate as one professional team. Good communication includes a complete prescription, accurate measurements or scans, required materials and components, pressure-sensitive areas, a realistic date and clear fitting feedback.
When information is incomplete, worklab staff should be able to ask questions without fear of an aggressive response. Similarly, the workshop should communicate delays and technical concerns early rather than waiting until the delivery date.
How Team Members Should Communicate
- Speak in a calm and respectful tone, regardless of position.
- Ask professionally rather than demand unnecessarily.
- Explain genuine clinical urgency and required timing.
- Listen before responding and allow colleagues to explain.
- Avoid shouting, sarcasm, threats and personal remarks.
- Discuss mistakes privately and focus on correction.
- Recognize workload, staffing and material limitations.
- Offer practical assistance where roles and competence permit.
- Focus on the problem rather than attacking the person.
- Thank colleagues and acknowledge their contribution.
“You never complete anything on time.”
Say:“This case has passed the expected completion date. Let us identify the cause and agree on a realistic plan.”
Instead of:“Do this now. My patient is waiting.”
Say:“My patient is currently waiting. Can we review the existing priorities and determine whether this adjustment can be completed safely today?”
When Disrespect Becomes Normalized
One of the most difficult situations is when shouting, sarcasm and demanding behaviour become accepted as normal. People may stop reporting it because “everyone does it” or because they fear being labelled sensitive or uncooperative.
Repeated disrespect should not be treated as an unavoidable part of a busy clinical environment. Work pressure may explain frustration, but it does not justify humiliating another person. A healthy organization needs safe and appropriate ways to raise concerns, clarify expectations and address repeated behaviour consistently.
Leadership Sets the Standard
Team leaders and managers should establish clear communication expectations, intervene when shouting or humiliation occurs, maintain a fair case-prioritization process and address concerns privately. Aggressive behaviour should not be rewarded with automatic priority, because doing so teaches the team that disrespect is an effective way to obtain results.
Leadership must protect both performance and professional dignity. Calm, fair intervention helps staff concentrate, communicate openly and deliver safer patient care.
My Professional Reflection
Working in a busy prosthetics and orthotics environment has taught me that technical pressure is not the only challenge. The way people communicate can make a difficult day manageable—or make an ordinary day unnecessarily stressful.
Shouting does not demonstrate urgency. Sarcasm does not demonstrate intelligence. Disrespect does not demonstrate authority.
True professionalism becomes visible when the workload is heavy, an appliance is delayed, a mistake occurs or support is required from another team member. Every appliance represents a patient, but every appliance is also produced by people. If we want safe, accurate and timely care, we must protect the concentration, dignity and wellbeing of the professionals responsible for delivering it.
Conclusion
Respectful communication is not an optional workplace courtesy. It is part of quality management, employee wellbeing and patient safety. A professional workshop should be a place where urgency is communicated clearly, problems are discussed honestly, mistakes are corrected constructively and every team member is treated with dignity.
This blog presents general professional reflections and does not identify any individual, patient, workplace or organization.