A quick note

Hello y'all. I'm about to head off to my third shift in a row, so this will be quick. I was trying to think of a subject for this post and so I started scrolling through my blog. It didn't take very long. In my last post, I talked about walking into patient's rooms and finding one thing after another. A patient covered in poop, a patient covered in blood, and patient's cursing and yelling at me while confused. It wasn't a great night.

Here's the deal. Last night, I walked into three similar situations but with totally different responses. I walked into a patient's room and she had poop everywhere. I cleaned her up, and afterwards she said, "I'm so sorry, you are so patient. I can't imagine doing what you do and so thank you."

A while later, I walked into a patient's room who had scratched a scab and was on a blood thinner so he had blood all over the sheets. Later, he accidentally pulled out his IV.  I cleaned him up and got him situated. Later on, I got him a new IV. In the morning, he had me write down my name so he would remember his good nurses. He told me that I was a sweetie and he would miss me.

Another patient called me in the middle of the night very confused. She was very concerned about going home so she could get to her pediatrician's office and a list of other appointments that didn't make much sense. I explained to her that she was in the hospital and that it was the middle of the night. I assured her that we would take care of everything and she wouldn't miss her appointments. She thanked me for taking care of things and believed me when I said it would be ok.

When I read last week's post, I didn't even register right away that the two nights were very similar. I didn't even think about cleaning up messes of talking to confused people. Because of the response, it didn't feel like a chore or an annoyance or something that I couldn't handle. I did it with a smile on my face because the people I was serving were thankful. That was the only difference.

I can't emphasize it enough that how my patient's respond to me affects my day. When I remember that, I try extra hard to be kind to my waitress, to the cashier at the grocery store, to the telemarketer who I don't want to talk to, or to person I pass in the hall. People need people. No matter how small the encounter, I can be emotionally affected by any person I interact with through the day. And that means that I can make a tiny difference in people's lives by smiling as I walk down the hallway. I can be Jesus for people through every interaction. That's a huge responsibility and privilege.

That's all. Gotta go to work. Another day another dollar. Here we go :)

-C-