Peter talks about memorable patients and co-workers over his years as a palliative care doctor.
“I was talking with someone the other day whose relative died and he said ‘It really caught me by surprise.’”
“It wouldn’t have caught me by surprise.”
And I wondered, ‘Where have we gone wrong? Why did we not gently explain that things were drawing to a close?'”
“Tell me about a health care worker you have really admired.”
“There was a physiotherapy assistant working on a ward with chronically ill patients. He had a marvelous way of getting people up and walking. There is a tendency to say that we’ll give patients total autonomy, and if they don’t feel like getting up today, they don’t have to. But you might say “Well it would be good to get up, and I think you probably should.” He had the capacity to do that without offending people. He’d get people up and walking who I don’t think had walked in weeks. He was really good with elderly people. I used to really admire him. It’s hard to thank someone like that, because that’s their job, and they think that’s what they are supposed to do. But, you see them do it better than others…”
“Tell me about a patient that made a big impression on you.”
“She was a Polish lady who was quite schizophrenic. She thought she was the mother of God. She had ulcers on her legs and wouldn’t allow us to do anything. I wanted to treat her psychosis but she wouldn’t let me. Not a drug would she allow. But the nurses cared for her and made sure she was fed. And she slowly got better. That taught me what nursing care means. Not that I didn’t know. But that sure underlined it.”
“I don’t usually go to patient’s funerals. I always feel that I am a reminder of the sick times, and they should be remembering the other times.”
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