Just be nice

As I have had to navigate the health care maze for my elderly mother, I can feel my blood pressure going up. There is so much waste and stupidity, yes stupidity in our system!

Mom fell and has a very big and nasty gash on her leg. She spent several days in the hospital to combat a nasty infection. She is home now. The bandages have to be changed every other day. A visiting nurse has been assigned to do this. Better her than me since a nurse is much more attuned to signs of infection.

I have been here when the nurse comes, so I can hear first hand what she says and what she does. Somehow this has been translated into, “no further nursing services needs since patient (Mom) has a family member living with her.” What????? I didn’t find this out until Saturday when I called to see where the nurse was. I was told, “no nurse has been scheduled.” Mmm, the copious paperwork we had to sign clearly stated that a nurse would be coming. Needless to say I was furious! I made my displeasure known to the person at the VNA, politely of course. She said she would try her best to have a nurse come on Sunday. A nurse came on Sunday.

First thing Monday morning I called the Visiting Nurse Association and asked to speak to the person in charge. I started out by thanking her profusely for getting a nurse here on Sunday. She was somewhat taken aback I think since very few people call to say “thank you.” I then went on to ask for her help. I explained that my Mom lives alone and I was NOT available to change her bandages. The manager quickly said, “no problem, if you need a nurse, just call me and I will make sure that one is scheduled to come out.”

This got me thinking how being nice can move mountains. It also means being authentic. I was sincerely grateful that a nurse came out on Sunday.

I could have called the manager and been very curt. Somehow I don’t think I would have had the same result.

What about you? Have you had an occasion where “nice” worked?

Smiling, happy face photo is courtesy of Sunny Skyz.