I find people very interesting. The big dichotomy of humanity is that we are all very different and very much the same. All one has to do to prove that theory is watch and listen. It will not require a government grant to collect a large amount of data nor a team of experts to publish the results. A few days on 4-Medicine at IU will suffice. Last week I had two fun encounters that have swirled in my head regarding people and how we relate to one another.
I had a patient who was quite ill and had no definitive diagnosis. We finally decided to put her in respiratory isolation for a few days until some things had been ruled out, or in, whatever your preference. I was in her room when she called her husband to inform him not to visit that evening for safety reasons. Her closing comment to him was, “I love you and I miss your mustache!” The other situation involved a man who was admitted for twenty-four hours with chest pain. When his wife came to take him home, her parting comment to me was, “I’m glad he is coming home. I miss his noise.”
So the question is, "What do we like about one another enough to miss?" I have been thinking about many people in this context: family, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. I love my children and grandchildren dearly, but what is there that I really like about each of them? I have friends that I went to kindergarten with fifty years ago. Why have we maintained a life long connection? I enjoy the people I work with every day. Why? When I arrive, why am I glad to see the people of the night and always happy to work with the people of the day? I especially like the banter in the med room. Uncensored! When I gave report yesterday I told my replacement, “You will really like this patient.” What was there about that person that I liked enough to feel confident that someone else would like them too? Do I just like people who are like me or do I like people who are really different than I am? In order to answer that question, I have to know what I like about me.
The reality is this: there are many people that I genuinely like; more and more I am discerning why. And, that adds a richness to my life. However, at this moment, I am not sure what I think about mustaches and noise.
Sherry
To be a registered nurse at Clarian, visit Registered Nursing Position Indiana.
I had a patient who was quite ill and had no definitive diagnosis. We finally decided to put her in respiratory isolation for a few days until some things had been ruled out, or in, whatever your preference. I was in her room when she called her husband to inform him not to visit that evening for safety reasons. Her closing comment to him was, “I love you and I miss your mustache!” The other situation involved a man who was admitted for twenty-four hours with chest pain. When his wife came to take him home, her parting comment to me was, “I’m glad he is coming home. I miss his noise.”
So the question is, "What do we like about one another enough to miss?" I have been thinking about many people in this context: family, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. I love my children and grandchildren dearly, but what is there that I really like about each of them? I have friends that I went to kindergarten with fifty years ago. Why have we maintained a life long connection? I enjoy the people I work with every day. Why? When I arrive, why am I glad to see the people of the night and always happy to work with the people of the day? I especially like the banter in the med room. Uncensored! When I gave report yesterday I told my replacement, “You will really like this patient.” What was there about that person that I liked enough to feel confident that someone else would like them too? Do I just like people who are like me or do I like people who are really different than I am? In order to answer that question, I have to know what I like about me.
The reality is this: there are many people that I genuinely like; more and more I am discerning why. And, that adds a richness to my life. However, at this moment, I am not sure what I think about mustaches and noise.
Sherry
To be a registered nurse at Clarian, visit Registered Nursing Position Indiana.
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