Today, I wanna thank a person I encountered in the hospital who essentially inspired me. She won't believe what an impact she has created in me :)
She is a clinical pharmacist. A young, vibrant pharmacist with whom we tagged along to observe her giving bedside counselling to patients in the wards.
Before I write further, allow me to make it clear that frankly, the ward is not a pleasant place to be in. What with different patients looking ill and being ill with all sorts of conditions: diabetes, kidney failure, heart failure etc. Some are old, unhealthily skinny or fat (stop relating to medical dramas; they can't find such skinny casts as patients), weak - sometimes so weak that you hear them mourning in bed but no one's really bothering. What's worse? The wards are crowded: in the most crowded ward, there were 30+ beds but 60+ patients. How did they manage to occupy so many extras? By using stretchers as beds and placing them beside the 'actual' beds. Everything was squeezed up; there was not much space left for healthcare workers and patient's family. Just.. sad.
Looking at the serious faces of the doctors and housemen, and how my preceptor interacts with patients in the I'm-doing-my-duty way (which is understandable - she tried to be as friendly as she could), I have to admit I was a bit overwhelmed. It was then that I wondered how people survive in such working environment. Having to deal with so many sad cases and work stress, can they ever be happy?
Then I met this lively clinical pharmacist. The way she goes about performing her duty impressed me. She has cheerful and loving friendships with her colleagues, established good relationships with the doctors (not easy for a pharmacist, really), and has excellent counselling skills complemented with her warm personality. Instead of doing her job, I'd rather say she's touching people's lives - while living her own. After each counsel, she received genuine thanks from satisfied patients. What's more rewarding than that? :)
Looking at how she interacts with the patients made me realise one more thing: patients have the right to be happy, too. They are human after all. They are admitted to the hospital, they are more or less worried, they feel uneasy staying in a strange (and probably depressing) place. Since we are here to serve them, we're supposed to make them feel better, aren't we? To treat them as an individual, not a sad case. Feeling bad for them doesn't help; that's mere sympathy. To understand their needs, stand by them, engage with them, build trust and work together towards treatment goals - that, is the empathy we need to have.
Same credit goes to her for being such a caring and friendly tutor to us students when it's really not her job. I'm so grateful.
Now I'd say she is one that lives up to that quote, and I see how good a fortune it brings.
She is a clinical pharmacist. A young, vibrant pharmacist with whom we tagged along to observe her giving bedside counselling to patients in the wards.
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Before I write further, allow me to make it clear that frankly, the ward is not a pleasant place to be in. What with different patients looking ill and being ill with all sorts of conditions: diabetes, kidney failure, heart failure etc. Some are old, unhealthily skinny or fat (stop relating to medical dramas; they can't find such skinny casts as patients), weak - sometimes so weak that you hear them mourning in bed but no one's really bothering. What's worse? The wards are crowded: in the most crowded ward, there were 30+ beds but 60+ patients. How did they manage to occupy so many extras? By using stretchers as beds and placing them beside the 'actual' beds. Everything was squeezed up; there was not much space left for healthcare workers and patient's family. Just.. sad.
Looking at the serious faces of the doctors and housemen, and how my preceptor interacts with patients in the I'm-doing-my-duty way (which is understandable - she tried to be as friendly as she could), I have to admit I was a bit overwhelmed. It was then that I wondered how people survive in such working environment. Having to deal with so many sad cases and work stress, can they ever be happy?
#
Then I met this lively clinical pharmacist. The way she goes about performing her duty impressed me. She has cheerful and loving friendships with her colleagues, established good relationships with the doctors (not easy for a pharmacist, really), and has excellent counselling skills complemented with her warm personality. Instead of doing her job, I'd rather say she's touching people's lives - while living her own. After each counsel, she received genuine thanks from satisfied patients. What's more rewarding than that? :)
Looking at how she interacts with the patients made me realise one more thing: patients have the right to be happy, too. They are human after all. They are admitted to the hospital, they are more or less worried, they feel uneasy staying in a strange (and probably depressing) place. Since we are here to serve them, we're supposed to make them feel better, aren't we? To treat them as an individual, not a sad case. Feeling bad for them doesn't help; that's mere sympathy. To understand their needs, stand by them, engage with them, build trust and work together towards treatment goals - that, is the empathy we need to have.
Same credit goes to her for being such a caring and friendly tutor to us students when it's really not her job. I'm so grateful.
"Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine." ~ Anthony J. D'Angelo
Now I'd say she is one that lives up to that quote, and I see how good a fortune it brings.
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