Working as a public health researcher, I probably have a greater-than-average knowledge of what a good medical interaction should be like. My family recently had several interactions with health care professionals, and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised and pleased both at the quality of care and at the humanness of the interactions.
My husband was recently hospitalized for his third bowel obstruction in 8 years. This being his third time, we knew what to expect. There would be x-rays and scans. There would be an NG tube. There would be waiting. Lots of waiting. And hopefully, the obstruction would resolve without surgery. Happily, this was the case, and my husband was only in the hospital for about 3-1/2 days.
What we weren’t expecting were some truly excellent providers in our little local hospital in suburban Boston. From the ER nurse to the floor nurses to the surgeons (2 MDs and a resident) who cared for my husband, each was personable, friendly, not rushed, and really seemed to care. I was particularly struck by how everyone took the time to talk to my 9 year old son when he visited his dad. They asked him questions, discussed baseball, did whatever they needed to in order to make him feel included and reassured during this stressful time.
Shortly after my husband’s hospital stay, we were on vacation and noticed a suspicious red swelling on my son’s leg. We made an appointment at a local pediatric care center, and the physician assistant determined it was an abscess that needed to be drained by a surgeon. The PA was very calm and reassuring, and quickly made an appointment for us with a local surgeon. We drove over to the surgeon’s office, and everyone there, from the receptionist to the nurse to the surgeon himself, was friendly and supportive. My son was extremely nervous about the prospect of having both shots and surgery, and the staff, especially the surgeon, did a great job calming him down. After it was all over, my son even commented that the surgeon was so nice, almost like a grandfather, and that he liked how he explained everything to him before he did it.
These experiences made me realize that the human factors – friendliness, taking time, getting to know each other – really make a difference in the quality of health care interactions. We were fortunate that our recent interactions were positive ones. I can only imagine that more abrupt and gruff providers would have made these two experiences that much more stressful.
P.S. Thanks to Kevin, M.D. for linking to my comment on his blog!
