Mom had a cardiac procedure yesterday.  It was a super long exhausting day 10 hour day in the hospital starting early in the morning.  To put this out right up front, It was a fairly routine outpatient procedure and mom is fine (happily).  That’s not the point of my blog.

At every turn over the course of a long day, I kept coming back to the palpable and noticeable care we both received over the course of the day in so many different ways.   Not just the nursing team, but the security guards at the front door, the lovely woman who had to check my ID and vaccine card to issue me a visitors pass and answer all my questions, the staff tending to the waiting room where impatient and anxious family members linger for long periods of time, etc. 

All day, we were met with soft smiles – and yes, I could even tell that was true behind masks (thanks to Carol Greenwald) – and great listening skills.  One nurse came over to take blood and my mom reacted because the nurse’s hands were cold.  Her quick, witty and appropriate response was – “I may have cold hands but I have a warm heart.”

While mom was sleeping, I visited my niece who coincidentally was in the same hospital overnight.  She was having the very same experience.  Lovely and caring caregivers.

Here is my observation.  All day long, we were living the rule that the human care in healthcare is critical to the experience.  If anyone is thinking about how to improve the delivery of healthcare, I strongly recommend an institutional focus on the “care” part of the work.