Things that make me smile

Yes, even though some of our nurses say we should not nominate people for department awards for doing the little things as part of their job, it is the little things that people remember. It brings back all those lectures on servant leadership. Keeping things stocked and thinking of the nurse who follows you are two things that were impressed upon me in my first nursing job, and  yes, it is everybody's business.

And as a result, the things that have made me smile recently during all this Manglement madness have been the little things.

1. Patient X goes home and calls me recently from a restaurant we talked about all during his stay. I even got the lowdown on the daily special.

2. Patients who say "please" and "thank you". There are just too many barbarians who have forgotten their manners. Mr. X., thank you for thinking of me and being polite, even when many of your other fellow patients do not do the same.

3. Dr. F. brought us all goodies this week. It made us feel important, too.

4. And finally, one of my patients came back to the unit, We had a really nice chat and I told him about his old roommate sending us a card, which was posted on our bulletin board. Before he left, he told me, "You know, I miss seeing you. You are the best."

Thanks Mr. D., and so are you. We loved the candy, even if it means another mile on the treadmill for me.

Stay tuned.