The Few, The Proud, The Decent Human Beings

It's easy to post about the crazy, combative, and uncooperative patients that frequent the ER; less common are the posts about great patients who are a pleasure to take care of.  Keep Breathing just wrote on this, and I thought I'd echo him.

One of my patients this week was a delightful older woman.  I greatly enjoyed talking with her as I stopped in her room to grab and EKG, draw bloods, or help her to the bathroom.  She was polite, funny, engaging, and very understanding about delays in finding her a bed upstairs.  Clearly she was also a wonderful mother, as her children that waited by her bedside shared those same characteristics.  I know it sounds cliche to say this, but patients like her really are the ones who make dealing with all the other crap worth it.  (Crap like the guy on PCP just down the hall from her, who broke through the restraints and needed to be placed in handcuffs and police custody)