Mamá e hija
Emergency department
Bloody stools and excruciating pain
4 more kids at home
A genuine smile
A twinkle of hope in the eyes
Gratefulness for communication
Persistence
All the while
Uncertainty looms
Answers await
Prayers above all
OR, NPO orders
Mamá e hija
Inpatient floor
1 week’s time
Diagnosis now clear
Treatment underway
It was a late Friday afternoon, and most were looking to go home from work. As we were wrapping things up, we got a new admit, and I decided to stay and admit the patient from the Emergency Department. This is where I met this sweet young girl who was struggling to find relief from her unimaginable suffering for someone that age. Her single mother brought her in, leaving her other children at home. Who would have known that this would not be our last meeting?
I admitted her on Friday and came back in to take care of her on a Saturday, thinking she was likely going to be transferred to another hospital by the time I came in on Monday. Much to my surprise, physicians changed their schedules to accommodate her and ensure she received timely care. By the end of her one week stay, I had been the one familiar face she had seen from the ED to the floor, making sure she was settled into this unfamiliar place and checking in on her daily until she went home with the answers she had came in seeking. As she was preparing to leave, I made a customized calendar for her to follow her highly complex medication regimen. As I handed it to her and her mother, I gave them a final goodbye hug.
Reflecting on this experience allowed me an opportunity to realize the complexity of all the different parts which had to come together in providing the patient with the best care possible. No one single person was more important than the other, from the nurses to the admitting team to the specialists. Our healthcare system is heavily dependent on effective team-based interactions to ensure there are proper hand-offs and everyone is updated on the most current status of the patient. Although in the grand scheme of things, minute details may not necessarily seem important, it is merely because there is a system in place to ensure that errors do not readily occur. However, each individual plays a crucial role in ensuring things run smoothly and patients can trust healthcare professionals to have such an experience when they are in their most vulnerable state.
Pareena Kaur is a member of the class of 2021 at the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix. She is originally from India, but spent her childhood between Arizona and Canada. She graduated from the University of Arizona in 2017 with a Bachelor’s degree in Physiology and minors in French and Neuroscience. In her free time, Pareena enjoys spending time with friends and family, traveling, and dancing. She is a big foodie, and Indian street food is her favorite!