I just brought my daughter home from the hospital last night. At just
four years of age, she broke her arm falling off a couch. Fortunately,
her arm was put back together at a children's hospital, where pretty
much everything is set up for the comfort and well-being of little kids.
From the whimsical décor to the well-trained pediatric nurses, the
hospital took a really bad situation and made it a whole lot better.
When what was normally an outpatient procedure turned into a two night
stay, it wasn't so bad because she was treated so well - except by one
person.
Don't focus on the one bad person
There's always one person, isn't there? Just one person who isn't on board can virtually flip the boat. Our bad apple was an aide who attempted to take my daughter's blood pressure multiple times with a monitor she later admitted she knew was almost out of charge. She didn't cut it out until she made my little girl cry. Then when we were discharged, the same aide tried to refuse to walk us to the entrance where we were parked, insisting that I leave my scared four-year-old with her in a hallway while I hiked the entire hospital complex before returning to get her. Again, tears were imminent, so I said no. This one bad aide nearly ruined our experience with her lousy attitude and behavior.
But you don't have to let one bad person ruin an experience. I chose to focus on the great people who helped us shift after shift, and doted on my daughter like she was a princess. They made the rest of our stay fantastic. Well, as fantastic as it can be when you are stuck in a hospital with an injured child.
Dwell on the positives
No matter the situation,
things are not always going to go your way. Instead of dwelling on the
negative, which can really bring you down, choose instead to focus on
the positive. The day my daughter was released, the doctor who came
around in the morning said that she was putting in the orders and we
could go home in two to three hours. Unfortunately, a couple of hours
later my daughter's pain spiked and she needed more IV meds. That
extended our stay a few more hours.
Rather than focusing on the negative - the fact that our departure was
delayed - I chose to focus instead on the fact that the nurse was doing
what was best for my daughter's pain management. They got her pain back
under control and she was still able to go home in the afternoon.
Make a change
If the negatives are too much to bear, whether they are just too numerous to handle or there is just one big negative that makes things intolerable, do what you have to do to change the situation. That is what I did at the first hospital we visited with my daughter's broken arm. They wanted to sedate her on a full stomach, and I knew the dangers that could present. Even though the staff was very sweet to my daughter, and everyone seemed to be taking good care of her, the treatment plan they presented was too risky for me to accept.
I had to make a change. That's how we ended up transferred to the
children's hospital an hour away, where a PICU was on hand in case of
complications. Making the best of a bad situation sometimes means
getting out of that situation altogether. Knowing how to take that step
when needed is important. It could save a life.
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