Well, my 13-year-old will probably not be happy with me writing this blog, but in a way it made me think about when the obvious is not so obvious to a 13-year-old girl, or to our patients. Let me see if I can connect the dots.
One evening, my wife and I had to be at an event, and our 16-year-old daughter was not home, which meant our 13-year-old would be home alone. My wife offered her several things for dinner, but our daughter replied that she would make herself a grilled cheese. She is quite the connoisseur of grilled cheese sandwiches, as she's had several, from homemade to the first-class Sonic sandwich.
You might assume that she had paid attention when one of her parents had made her a grilled cheese in the past and might have even learned how to make one. As we were leaving, my wife told our daughter to call her when she was ready to make the sandwich.
Later that night, our daughter called. My wife told her to butter each side of the bread, turn on the burner, etc. And that is when I noticed the obvious was not so obvious.
Our daughter asked the question: “Where does the cheese go?” My wife, with a big smile on her face and fighting back laughter, told our daughter "Between the two slices of the bread."
So, now let’s turn to our patients. How many times do we think that our patients understand their discharge instructions, understand what meds to take first, second and so on? Or just that they know when their next follow-up appointment is?
I want to encourage each of us to try to connect with our patients, on their level. Maybe it's as simple as sitting down at their bedside and talking with them about their discharge instructions or making sure they understand how to take their medicine.
Thanks for all that you do.
Talk soon,
Jason