Exploring the Personal Side of Followership in Healthcare

Engaged followership in healthcare can be life-saving, which I experienced firsthand when my spouse was in a severe car accident. In the intensive care unit (ICU), doctors often deferred to nurses' expertise in conveying patient needs, despite the nurses lacking prescription authority. When my spouse was transferred to a new facility, I trusted the new medical team over my in-laws' concerns, which was a challenging decision regarding who to follow. In the decades since, I have noticed many followership moments, including the regularity of therapists proposing treatments to doctors, blurring leading and following. The personal accounts help make followership practical.