13 Things I Learned From 13 Days In The Hospital
Every day for 13 days I spent several hours a day at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI. I wasn’t a patient, I was visiting and assisting my mother. She has made good progress and has moved to a skilled rehabilitation facility. Our goal is to get her healthy enough to return to the house she has called home since 1954.
While sitting with my mother as she slept, ate, took medications, talked with a variety of doctors and repeatedly had blood drawn and vitals taken, I noticed several things. Most of these I knew before but was reminded of them over the hours and days at Beaumont.
13. Registered Nurses and Nurse Assistant jobs are demanding. Caring for patients is physically and mentally challenging.
12. Most nurses show that they care about patients and want to help. Some nurses seemed focused on the tasks they need to perform but don’t seem to notice or care about the patient as a person.
11. Few people will actually try to find a solution or answer to your question if it’s not easy. They will give a vague non-answer and hope that gets them off the hook. It’s rare that someone takes time to find an answer for you. (This is not medical related, just in general, most people take the “that’s not my job” attitude.)
10. Medicine is not an exact science and doctors are often guessing and just trying to eliminate possibilities.
9. Patients who don’t have a family member or friend with them in the hospital have a difficult time getting the attention and answers they need.
8. A hospital is like any other large organization. The left hand often does not know what the right hand is doing.
7. In many situations hospitals are not the place to get better. At best, it’s a place to determine what is wrong.
6. I’m glad I don’t work in healthcare and I’m glad other people do have that calling even if they aren’t perfect.
5. Elderly and sick people need to be treated with dignity and respect as much as anyone else. Maybe more.
4. It’s difficult to see loved-ones suffer and not be able to make it all better.
3. A positive attitude doesn’t always make everything better. But a negative attitude never makes anything better.
2. Making time to run and exercise helps reduce stress and I pray I can be active until I die.
1. There is power in prayer. I don’t know how people live without faith in Jesus Christ. It must be scary to believe this earthly life is all there.
The effects of time will eventually catch up with all of us, but do what you can to hold it off. Stay active, both physically and mentally. Care for each other. Show compassion.