Its All Relative...

After spending some time at Foothills Hospital, something I haven’t done for a long time, I was left with the initial impression that our health care system is dying. The general upkeep of the wards, the lack of housekeeping staff and general cleanliness, the lack of privacy and respect for individual dignity are issues that certainly need to be addressed if we are to return to a level of service the Canadian public has come to expect.

However, in this quagmire of specialized equipment, beeping monitors, lack of space, and organized confusion, works a staff that is professional, kind, patient, empathetic and helpful, bar none. From doctors and nurses to housekeeping staff, every overworked one of them is willing to go the extra mile to make patients more comfortable. Even the smallest request is met with a smile and immediate response.

We started out in ER. The ER nurse was cheerful, proficient and compassionate. She was finishing her sixth, 12 hour shift. Overtime. Not enough staff.

The doctor consulted every morning for a week straight – no days off – I guess that’s what residents do. He was never rushed, never put off by the simplest questions.

Blood tests were on time, meds were on time, meals were on time.

Staff members were a league of nations. My husband asked an Indian attendant how long he’d been in Canada. “Four months,” he beamed, “and what country are you from sir?”

A lovely, middle aged African woman passed us in the hall, her cart loaded with bottled water. She told us that delivering water was the most important part of her job, that she was bringing the gift of life to the patients. She told us how precious water is and how blessed we are by its abundance. She went on her way to distribute her sacred offering.

A Korean nurse, male, second year, accompanied our patient for a procedure to an area of the hospital he’d never visited before. He was filled with enthusiasm and wonder, obviously overwhelmed by the sophistication of this newfound department.

The one that really brought things home though was a duty nurse from Romania who told us that she had nursed in Romania in wards crowded, understaffed and undersupplied in deplorable conditions. Our wards, crowded with four beds, were a luxury – smaller rooms in Romania held eight patients. She was thankful to be here and wondered what patients had to complain about. To her, this hospital was heaven.

We left, knowing that hospital care is no longer what it once was but with a firm reminder that we’re pretty darned lucky to be where we are. It’s all relative, I guess.