I stared at PF, down at the stack of casenotes, discharges, unfinished reports and a PICC line to flush cum IVs to give and stared back at her with a sense of helplessness.
"Ok, coming. Let me settle some last things and I'll be there."
Quickly finishing up with some work and skillfully juggling a stack of casenotes over to my dismayed looking MO for him to finish the rest, I put down the rest of work and headed over to the farewell party we threw for Sister Geh.
Even then, the never ending disruptions came in throughout the party. A head would occasionally pop in and and interupt the fun by a " Can two morning staff please come over to the clinical area? We need some help here". " Is SN blah blah around? A relative wants to speak to you". " Hi, Staff nurse in-charge of blah blah blah from bed/no blah blah, patient/dr... is looking for you".
I smiled at the interesting combination of fun in the midst of never ending work that commands 24/7 patient responsibility. Yet, I thanked God for the personal touch among the staff who took the time off their busy schedules to come together to celebrate and appreciate a wonderful exempt staff who had been such a blessing to the patients and staff.
Nurse clinician (NC) Geh has been with the department of gastroenterology and hepatology and endocrinology for a good number of years. She was transferred over to the surgical department last week. I, being new only had the privilege of working with her for a short period of time. Yet, she was one nice person whom I will remember as a great example of one who works with genuine love and concern for people. She was one who talked to me frankly about the work here on my very first week of work while peppering it up with words of advice and kind encouragement. She would also sense my discomfort at being asked awkward questions and would help diffuse the situation for me. That was so important to me then and I really thanked her for helping me through the tough few days :)
I would always remember the time she took back 2 huge bags of stinking clothes from a backpacker who got admitted into our ward and washed them all for him. It was really something that she did out of her heart as the laundry service from the external vendor we contacted had really high charges and NC Geh decided to help the patient to save money by doing the laundry all for him for free. I was so touched when I saw her bringing back the 2 big bags of neatly ironed clothing the following week, with only few who knew where they came from. What an inspiration she is!
And so, it was no surprise when we gave a big big thank you card that says " A big card for you. No one gives a big card to those whom they do not care".
Bidding her farwell later on personally, she looked at me and said " I was so happy when I saw your name. I was glad that you chose to come back here to learn from us. Although it may be tough, but you can always call me or pop by my new ward to look for me if you need help". I smiled at her gratefully and cheekly replied " Yes, I will, sister. Like calling you to ask you for the SAP password :)" ( SAP is a very commonly used programme for us, so it was a joke when another NC called her up to ask her for the password the very next day she left for her new posting)
Joke aside, I truly thank her for her wise words which I will definately not forget.
" Remember, Li Xin. There will be good times as well as tough times. But remember, no matter what people may say, always know what you want in life. Remember that you will not stay in this ward forever. You will move on in life. And so, you must know where you are going and not let all these things bring you down".
This year, our very own Prof Ng Han Seong won the prestigious National Outstanding Clinician Mentor Award. This award is given out to those who have contributed significantly in clinical work, research and mentoring of younger clinicians.
Extracted from 'life at SGH':
There's no doubt Prof Ng is passionate about medicine. He has admitted before that he loves to serve people, and he always preaches that 'doctors must have passion, empathy and compassion', something he probably learnt from his own mentor, the late Prof Seah Cheng Siang. Prof Seah who was initially Prof Ng's boss, came to be his teacher, mentor and friend, and in Prof Ng's opinion ' the greatest teacher' he knows. Prof Ng himself has since taught and mentored decedes of doctors, many of whom have gone on to assume leadership positions in SGH and Singapore... To date, he still conducts grand clinical rounds with the staff in the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology on a regular basis...
" My clinical group was very touched when Dr Ng came back to hospital to teach us when he was on leave.
Teaching was always linked to food, eg. informal teaching when he was on call followed by supper at his home. Even scolding is linked to food-- Don't hold your tendon tapper like a wok-fryer!
Prof Ng is an excellent cook... And eat lots of abascus seeds if you want to excel in Maths.
Tutorials and lectures always concise, succinct and to the point and peppered with hilarious anecdotes- this is his hallmark-- underscoring the very organised and focused attributes of this highly intelligent man. "
( A/prof Lee Lai Heng; Head & Senior Consultant, Department of Haematology)
" Professor Ng Han Seong truly leads by example. He does not chase us to trace the latest investigation and lab results but he is on the phone himself with the laboratories. He does not chastise us for not summarising the notes but he can be seen ploughing through the volumes himself. He does not demand that we come every weekend for ward rounds but he is there every saturday and sunday when he is the covering Consultant. He does not insist that seniors step-down to cover our juniors but he did stay-in overnight calls as a covering registrar when he was Head of Department and Senior Consultant.
When I made a mistake as a junior member of the team, he assumed all blame and apologised to the patient.
Such is true clinical leadership".
( A/Prof Ooi Choon Jin; Senior Consultant, Department of Gastroenterology & Hepatology)
Then, just this morning, I read about stewarding our influence in the right direction.
In " The Dream Releasers" by Wayne Cordeiro:
The influential pastor of a large church became disheartened and depressed. All the efforts of a close friend to encourage him met with failure. At a point of desperation, he disenchanted leader lamented, " I just feel like jumping off a building!"
' Go ahead," his friend replied, " and a thousand people will follow you."
As a Dream Releaser, God entrusts you with an increasing amount of influence. If stewarded well, it can command armies, move nations, right injustices and transform lives. If abused, it can corrupt even the greatest of causes. The book of Galatians gives us great insight into this gift of influence and how it can be both used and abused....
The apostle's God-given influence had a far-reaching impact.
Its easy to get seduced by your influence to open doors, gain personal favors and be noticed. But such influence, like milk left out, can quickly sour....
How you exercise the gift of influence will determine your legacy. Steward your influence well."
I read with great delight as I saw how the above 2 clinicians touched and inspired so many with their lives. A great teacher is one who is personal, inspires, is a dream releaser and believes in the potential of even the most untalented and looked-down upon new comer. He/she picks that person up, nurtures them and allow their God-given dreams and potential to soar to their fullest heights.
Such is a dream-releaser- the making of a great teacher.
A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops
No comments:
Post a Comment