Two Encounters

One of the things I've noticed about being a pharmacist is that sometimes I feel that I only see angry people.

I get the angry phone calls, I get summoned by nurses to deal with angry patients, and it is all reminiscent of my retail days when every single interaction was an angry encounter. In the acute care setting there is less direct interaction with patients, but there are the angry nurses, the angry doctors, just anger, anger, anger.

I'm sure it's not just pharmacists though. Maybe it's just the nature of healthcare and the fact that we are working with patients whose lives have changed significantly.

But it does grate on your spirit.

This afternoon, I was summoned to go speak to a patient to counsel him on why it was important to continue taking one of his medications that he had been refusing. We worked out a deal and with the doctor's permission, we will proceed to tinker with the medication to see if the patient can remain off of it or we need to resume it. Part of this encounter included some education. In the end, he was so appreciative of the information I had provided and we joked for awhile. This interaction is one of the few jewel moments that I get when I have a happy camper.

Tonight's later interaction that had me at work until midnight was with a very particular patient who wanted things done a certain way. These type of interactions I am more accustomed to, and I take on a certain tone of voice--matter of fact, no-nonsense, and blunt. I essentially become a negotiator. I find that when I use this voice, most patients are receptive because I want to find a solution and I don't want to dilly-dally and they sense that I'm not giving them BS answers. I'm giving them choices to cooperate with me or not. It's your health--I will only help as much as you want to be helped. This is a voice that has developed over time after dealing with countless situations like this. It is not the natural me but it has become a side of me that is useful. I was with two other nurses who were a lot more accommodating and sweeter than me and so, naturally I became the evil villain out of the three. But in the end, the job got done.

As I'm dealing with these situations more and more and as I'm starting to develop a thicker skin, I still want to remember to appreciate the interactions like the one above.

The ones that made me feel good.

The two nurses I helped out in this last case came by later and thanked me profusely for the help and as we talked like war buddies who had just come out of a battle, it felt good to be someone who was able to be in the trenches with them.

One of them told me of some sweet patient interactions that keep them going.

I think I need to collect memories of those ones and keep them near and dear to my heart to keep going.

I hope other healthcare workers out there will find sustenance in those moments too.