And How Do We Feel This Morning?
Without question, going to the hospital is teamwork from the time you arrive until you are wheeled out the front door. Everyone is working together for the common good of the patient, or at least a crack at his bank account. That is as it should be in such mercenary endeavors. Spending a few days in the hospital recently reinforced this in my own mind. Although my time in the hospital was brief, I was given the full treatment. The hospital staff left no bed unturned in the holy quest of my recuperation. No matter what time of night it was, each nurse cooperated in awakening me and asking, "And how do we feel tonight?" Teamwork is good for a number of things in life. Peanut butter and jelly, ham and eggs, and bologna and cheese are a few things benefiting from cooperation. In each example, one element compliments the other and the combination is greater than each individual part. This is coordination at it finest. There is a limitation to the so-called cooperation, especially in the environment of the hospital. I don't want to complain, but now that I am out, I feel a little freer expressing my opinion, without fear of any needling from the hospital staff. I will grant you, nurses are some of the most wonderful people in the world. The job they do is simply marvelous. It is absolutely true that patients could not get along without these nurses. On the other hand, what would these nurses do without patients? I don't want to brag here, but if it were not for patients like me (if there are patients like me), nurses would not have a single thing to do in the hospital. Essentially, they owe their job to me. The level of their significance is in direct proportion to the patients they serve. Not one to belabor a point, (it's hard to do any labor in my condition right now) I think it's about time someone stood up for patient rights. Since I have nothing to do for the next week except recuperate here at home, I am the perfect person to say something about this crucial issue. The major complaint I have is with the "we-disease" rampant in hospitals across the nation. This "we-disease" syndrome has gotten out of hand and despite all the research, no cure seems looming in the hospital corridors. Every morning, around 5 o'clock, my nurse came bouncing into my room with the cheeriest of dispositions, completely disregarding my condition at hand and boldly asked, "And how do we feel this morning?" Even on my best day, 5 o'clock in the morning is not a good time to ask me any question, especially how I'm feeling. If there were any chance that I was feeling good, I certainly would not be in the hospital. The thing most disturbing to me is the sense on the part of the nurse to personally identify with my pain. Hence, "And how do we feel this morning?" I object to this vehemently. It is my pain, not "our" pain. I believe each nurse should go and get their own pain. I'm paying a lot for this pain and I deserve all the credit. I do not choose to share my pain with anyone, especially someone with a bubbly orientation so early in the morning. It's my ailment and I have the right to not only enjoy it but also tell everyone about it. One reason it's so hard to tell people about my ailment is everybody wants to tell me about their own ailments instead. My hospital room that I'm paying for should be the one place I can indulge my ailment. I should not have to compete with nurses concerning my prevailing ailment. From a casual perusal of medical journals while waiting in the doctor's office, there are more than enough ailments to go around. This is my ailment and I share it with no person, especially healthy nurses wielding needles and pain pills. If I hear that phrase, "And how do we feel this morning?" one more time I'm going to throw some business to my favorite funeral home. A related phrase brought just as much frustration. My good nurse came in one morning and quipped, "And are we having our breakfast this morning?" Looking at the breakfast tray before me, with barely enough for me, I simply glared at her. If she had any designs of slicing in on my breakfast, blood would flow. I gripped my plastic knife menacingly. This whole thing came to a head my last morning in the hospital. My evanescent nurse burst into my room and asked, "And are we ready for our bath this morning?" This was the straw that sipped the last drop of patience from my languishing body. Nothing is more personal to me then "my" bath. I will share my tub with nobody except my rubber ducky. Getting rest in the hospital is a challenge for the weariest soul. Just when you think you have snuggled down for a snooze, someone asks how you are. The best rest comes from Jesus Christ who invites everyone to "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30 KJV.) His inquiry is always welcome and comes at the right time, like now. Reverend Snyder is currently ministering at the "Family of God
Fellowship" in Ocala, Florida. More of his articles are available
for reprint at his website: http://www.godspenman.com/
Rev. Snyder is available as a guest speaker. He writes a weekly
column and is the author of "Romance Around a Parsonage
Fireplace" available at: http://www.jamessnyderministries.com/
Related News
ERIN NEFF: The inspirational Michelle Obama - Las Vegas Review - Journal
?Inspirational Moments to Cure Desperate Ones - 3x24 - Your Newspaper and News Magazine
?Inspirational Moments to Cure Desperate Ones3x24 - Your Newspaper and News Magazine, Germany -15 hours agoby Theo McLanahan Inspiration can strike at odd times when you are driving the kids to school, standing in line at the grocery store, or even while you are ... |
World Watches as Obama Makes History - Voice of America
Utahn's inspirational story of survival impresses contest judges - Salt Lake Tribune
Something inspirational from the mind of a geek guru - MyADSL
Fall Convocation offers break from classes, free inspirational book - Waltonian
Friday, August 29 - Teachers Hear Inspirational Messages - The Dispatch
Another milestone for inspirational McCallan - Irish Times
Another milestone for inspirational McCallanIrish Times, Ireland -Aug 27, 2008IRISH CRICKET DEDICATION, LOYALTY and commitment are words often bandied about in sport, yet more and more those terms seem to run hollow. ... |
Inspirational Dorset tower saved from watery grave - Telegraph.co.uk
Inspirational fighter to the end - The Age
Inspirational fighter to the endThe Age, Australia -Aug 27, 2008... for cystic fibrosis in 1991, the then 22-year-old defied the medical odds, something she did repeatedly throughout her short but inspirational life. ... |
|
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Reality Check
Direct Answers - Column for the week of September 16, 2002
Count Your Blessings
Each day brings a new beginning.
It's a new leaf in the story of your life. It can be
bright, cheerful and positive, with the courage to
face another day, whatever it may bring with enthusiasm.
I Hate My Computer and Other Inspirational Thoughts
The New Year has not started out very well for Yours Truly. After the first day of the new year, my life went south for the rest of the winter. All I can say is, I hope it has a wonderful winter, and don't forget to write.
The Interactive Holodeck is For Real
[Channelled]
Lifes Purpose
To every life, there is a purpose; a purpose of will and a purpose of choice. A choice to make the right or wrong decisions and the will to act on the choices made.
Love Thy Neighbor
I would like to take a moment to write about our neighbors. We all have them. They could live right next door to you or miles away. We all still have them. The bible quotes, you should love your neighbor as yourself. I was always taught from a very, yong age to help and respect your neighbors and people in general. Back in the old days people depended on the help of their neighbors and you could always depend on them in return. I am pretty lucky to have the neighbors I have. I am surrounded by good people. I would like to think I have also been a good neighbor.
Where I live now, I am surrounded by people, living in an apartment really puts you up close and personal to everyone who lives around you.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Whoever coined this phrase is a genius.
Life finds ways to dish out exactly this- the good
the bad and the ugly. At times all in one day.
Get Your Guidance and Get to Know Your True Self
Many people feel they have everything they need in life, yet happiness remains elusive. What is the key, the missing element when everything seems satisfactory externally? The answer: look within.
Careful What You Wish For...
I have always been fascinated by the concept of "wishing.", especially "collective wishing." If enough people wish for the same thing, does it make it happen? For instance, humans probably always wished that they could talk to each other without having to "go there" physically. Perhaps the invention of the telephone was actually the result of a long-standing collective wish from days of the caveman. From the long lensed perspective of human history, the telephone, which literally manifests far away voices into thin air, truly is a magical object.
Love the Opportunity
Somebody said you have to love what you do, but that's not necessarily true. What is true is that you have to love the opportunity. The opportunity to build life, future, health, success and fortune.
My name is Smarty Jones -- Embracing Gods Glory
Our deepest fear us not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond
measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that
most frightens us?..We are born to manifest the
glory of God that is within us?.And as we let our
own light shine, we unconsciously give other
people permission to do the same.
The Amazing Destructive Power of Tradition
After more than thirty years of studying the Bible I can say with full assurance that Jesus Christ never contradicted himself. There is one instance where it would seem that he did but after careful examination I found that rather than a contradiction it ends up being more of an enigma.
Learn From Failure and Confirm with Success
Both failure and success are good... if you know what their specific purpose is.
Irresistible
Direct Answers - Column for the week of December 29, 2003
Vistas
The other day I found myself frustrated with the slow progress on my new project. Other people involved, subcontractors, just 'weren't getting it'. Why couldn't they just see what needed to be done and do it? Why was everything taking so long?
Synchronicity
Synchronicity: the coincidence of events that seem related but are not obviously caused one by the other (Encarta Concise English Dictionary)
The Secret Of Lasting Personal Change
Why do so many of us end up frustrated
when we try to improve our personal reality?
Create Your Way Out of It
When life has you feeling less than happy, and you would like to see things different than they are, here are some tips that can help you.
The Power of Notes
Notes are very powerful. They express your thanks, encouragement, sympathy, apology, congratulations, feelings, and requests to others.
A Prison Planet
I decreed my 'twin' into my life in early 1990. It is a story I tell in other books but I think even Edward House would have a hard time topping my gifts. She was the only woman with a brown card in California when she sat on the Governor's Blue Ribbon Panel on Prison Reform. A brown card allows you access to all Penal System buildings. She had once been put in prison because the FBI could not catch her Mafia bosses who had duped her and many others in a Huntington Beach land fraud. She would not testify against them until they were behind bars because the Mafia goons had threatened to kill her two young daughters. It is a horror story of corrupt bureaucracy to say the least.
|
