We need one another...

This week and this month, I would like to acknowledge and honor our hardworking pharmacists, physical therapists and case managers.

Unless you've been a patient or work in healthcare, most people have no idea that healthcare is a complex village conspiring together to provide safe care for each and every patient. Most people have no idea that pharmacists, physical therapists and case managers are the often invisible team members who are highly educated and unbelievably skilled to do what they do best.

My pharmacist friends are typically super humble, a bit shy and super detail oriented. They like to work behind the scenes and serve as the subject matter expert in all things pharmacological. I have thanked God for them many times when I was a NICU nurse. They push back when MDs order a medication that is incompatible with another prescription and provide wise counsel when RNs question whether it's possible to infuse particular medications with a particular IV fluid without crystallizing when combined in the same line. They have saved my backside more times than I can count and honestly felt that I couldn't do my job without them.

My physical therapist friends and colleagues are super patient, kind, tenacious and quite honestly miracle workers! I have personally been treated for past injuries and they gave me hope when I didn't think I could ever gain back full range of motion. Most people don't know that it's highly competitive to get into a PT program, even harder than getting into medical school! I think that you have to really love the art of rehabilitating someone back to their highest level of function to do this kind of work, day in and day out. I would imagine that the burn out rate is fairly high in this field because staffing is limited in most hospitals while the patient load never decreases.

My case manager friends come from various backgrounds; some are social workers, nurses, or other specialties. They have to be highly knowledgeable about anything and everything related to insurance, community resources, transport, long term care facilities, and communicate with the whole healthcare team to ensure a safe discharge plan for each and every patient. They are unsung heroes and often forgotten as an integral part of the healthcare team.

“We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results.” -Herman Melville

My hope is that my colleagues know how much I appreciate them and how they have impacted me both personally and professionally. There is no way we can take care of patients by ourselves, we need one another.

“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” -Helen Keller

I would love to hear about your most memorable story working with or receiving direct care from pharmacists, physical therapists and case managers. I can't wait to hear from you!

Your friend and coach,

Grace