Do No Harm

I promised in my heart when I was going through Nursing School, I would "do no harm". Three words but amazing depth. Harm can be purely negligent or it can be something small. For example walking by a patient/resident quickly because there was a phone call waiting, and not saying "hello". This simple act may have caused the patient to feel sad and unappreciated. To me that is harm.

I talk to our caregivers about a heart to heart connection. I now believe on some level that if people don't have it with our residents, they will not be successful in their job. How do you instill that feeling? How do we open their eyes to the fact that caring for another person is the most precious gift they can give.

I was sitting in church one day. (you rarely find me talking about religion here but bear with me) I was late for work and the service was running over. My mind was wandering and I was probably thinking "hurry up, hurry up". Then the pastor said "you are serving God though your labor". Of course I sat up and paid attention. He spoke about work and how we serve God if we work with our hearts connected to our heads. I thought "wow, he is right". How else better to serve than take care of the meek, the frail and sick?