The first interview
35 years ago I went to nursing school. It was a fairly random choice,
Sensible, helpful to others In need, appreciated, employable.
The first interaction was an interview with a patient.
That is generally a pretty safe first encounter to help break the fears we had.
My assignment was to interview a middle aged pretty healthy thin woman.
I was doing a preoperative interview ....trembling...
Tomorrow she was having her voice box removed.
She would never talk again,
Never yell again,
Never whisper again.
I was tongue tied,
Stumbling speech,
Wanting to forget the whole thing.
How does she feel?
My imagination,
Sometimes in Technicolor,
Imagining it was me having surgery.
Looking her in the eye with an empathetic glance,
Pausing to hold her hand and put down the checklist for a minute.
She taught me so much,
And still does.
35 years ago I went to nursing school. It was a fairly random choice,
Sensible, helpful to others In need, appreciated, employable.
The first interaction was an interview with a patient.
That is generally a pretty safe first encounter to help break the fears we had.
My assignment was to interview a middle aged pretty healthy thin woman.
I was doing a preoperative interview ....trembling...
Tomorrow she was having her voice box removed.
She would never talk again,
Never yell again,
Never whisper again.
I was tongue tied,
Stumbling speech,
Wanting to forget the whole thing.
How does she feel?
My imagination,
Sometimes in Technicolor,
Imagining it was me having surgery.
Looking her in the eye with an empathetic glance,
Pausing to hold her hand and put down the checklist for a minute.
She taught me so much,
And still does.
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