Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Caretakers and Guardians



I continually witness guardians or family members staying with the patients.  Recently there was a young man helping his aged father with his needs, such as positioning and repositioning him in bed, giving him his medication, feeding him, helping him go to the bathroom, etc. When I see something such as this, the more I give my attention and help that I can.

On another day, I admitted an old woman who was accompanied by her two sons. The charge nurse directed the guardians to bring their mother directly to the shower to clean her first before getting on the bed. This attracted my attention right away, so I assisted the two men as to what to do because they appeared caught unaware as to what was expected. I informed one of them to buy a bath soap and a wash cloth while the other man stayed with his mother.

In summary, this kind of situation that I witness gives me the satisfaction of giving my voluntary service to my patients here at St Elizabeth Catholic Hospital Cardiac Center.

Unfortunately the first patient I mentioned passed away due to Malaria and the son was crying hard.  I told him how good he was to his father and that I appreciated what he had done. I prayed for the deceased man and the son to be able to cope with his lost parent. This is not easy because deep inside I cry with the family.