I’m sure most of you reading this would agree that being sick is annoying at best. It eats up a lot of time and makes being a college student incredibly difficult, because of the constant mild exhaustion and the fuzzy haze that fills your head. The only thing worse than the cold that seems to have found a happy new home in your throat and lungs is any illness that drags you kicking and screaming to the emergency room.
Ordinarily I find absolutely no redeeming qualities to a visit to the hospital other than recovery from an illness. The halls smell sterile, the staff is usually rushed, and just being there means that someone is in pain or unconscious. There are usually needles involved and, even if there isn’t a cut of some sort or another, blood always manages to find its way outside of my body. It’s just not my idea of a good time.
Recently, I had to make two visits to Samaritan Hospital over the course of a week. While there was nothing seriously wrong with me, I got to spend several hours lying in a hospital bed. In some ways it was actually a really nice break from my usually hectic life. At least they didn’t expect me to do any real work.
The one thing about my visit that made a fairly large impression on me was the attitude of the staff. During both of my visits—one during a fairly calm time and one during a fairly hectic time—the nurses took the time to take a real interest in my health. We chatted for a bit and joked around—it was really good for keeping my mind off of why I was there. Perhaps I’ve just had a series of bad emergency room experiences, but I’m not used to the nurses being relatively happy and friendly.
My experience began with a nurse who actually knew how to do a proper IV. I was thrilled to be coming up against a competent nursing staff, especially since my doctor’s office can’t even seem to find and retain a decent nurse. The rest of the time I spent there was punctuated by the rapid response of the nursing staffers who were just incredibly sweet people. More amazingly, though, was the fact that they remembered me when I had to make my second trip to visit them.
Personally, I believe that people who do a good job should be commended. With that in mind, I’d like to thank the nursing staff in the emergency department at Samaritan for doing their job so well. While I have little to no intention of ever making a return visit, it most certainly isn’t because the people made my stay miserable.
