Hello, again!
This week was my first week interning at the hospital on the pediatrics floor, and what an experience it has been!
After completing weeks of paperwork, vaccines, and more paperwork I was finally able to leave for my first day at the hospital on Monday morning and I was ecstatic! I confidently strode to my car, coffee in hand and plopped into the seat and began on my lengthy drive to Springfield. It was then that it hit me… what on earth am I thinking?! I have never broken a bone, had a surgery, or had to be in the hospital for any reason at all. I have never even been stung by a bee! How can I possibly have any understanding for what the patients are going through with absolutely no frame of reference?
Still, I met with Katey, got my badge and made my way to the floor, and then I watched all the sessions. At the end of the day these sessions collaged to create an image in my mind which stuck with me…
I stood in a small hospital room with beeping sounds coming from what seemed to be every direction. There were toys and socks on the floor, a throw blanket over the chair, and family resting nearby. There may have been machines and beeps, gowns and gloves, and a nurse’s station outside but for them, whether for a single day, or years…this room was their home. And sure enough I could look over and see Katey making music with the patient and the patient may have been playing the instruments, telling a story, or simply watching in silence.
This image sat with me until it occurred to me; providing care in this context is not about understanding by one’s own history or wisdom but approaching every situation with an attitude saying “Whatever it is you need to say, I hear you” and sharing in a musical moment together.
-AH
