I have always been on the taking-care-of-people side of healthcare. Recently, my role switched and I found myself on the being-taken-care-of side. (Not to worry, I am fine now. My broken ankle is healing.)
I think the biggest challenge I had as a patient was not being seen as more than a physical problem needing to be fixed. What has left a lasting impression on me is that person-to-person human interaction is just as healing as the procedures performed, and that our medical emphasis is often not on the person and those interactions, but on the problem.
Most healthcare providers do a job that is needed at any given time—surgery, procedures, medication, even taking blood pressure and checking vital signs. But from a patient perspective, it felt as if I was a nonentity. Everyone was kind, but seemed detached from my humanity.
The role of the patient looks entirely different when you are the patient. Submission and powerlessness become the places you find yourself. All the experts tell you what you need to do—or even simply do it without telling you—as if there is no person inside, only a procedure to accomplish. What has left a lasting impression on me is that person-to-person human interaction is just as healing as the procedures performed.
I’ve known about the medical world's difficulty in seeing the person and have written about it, even recently. But having just gone through the ER, surgery, hospitalization, and rehab, I am now experiencing my own words.
It shouldn’t have been the CNAs who stand out as the people who saw me as a person trapped inside a challenging body—and yet they are the ones I remember most.
It was an interesting ride being on the other side of healthcare. As a result of this recent experience, I think it would be very educational if every medical and nursing student had a three-day experience of total bedrest in a hospital and nursing facility. They would learn firsthand the importance of seeing the person beyond the physical malady. Seeing that person is as healing as the procedures themselves.
Something more...
Knowledge Reduces Fear, Volumes I & Volume 2 helps healthcare professionals bring understanding, confidence, and compassion to every interaction.
