I had a fascinating discussion with Jake and Geeta, two members of our educational team. Jake, who is our IT guru, was telling me how he felt the doctors and nurses frustration with the different IT systems used across the ED shopfloor. He really wished he could somehow change the software so the clinical staff “would not suffer as much”.
Recognising another person’s suffering combined with the heartfelt desire to relieve that suffering – isn’t that the very definition of compassion ?
Like many, I had not always considered hospital compassion beyond the patient- clinician interface. Listening to Jake, I now recognise this spirit within so many people across the NHS – in very different forms and roles, clinical and ‘back office’.
How can we nurture this deep compassion ?
Well, according to Geeta, -by “putting aside our egos”.
And from Jake – sometimes “just being”.
Thank you both for such a rich sharing.
Emergency Department Compassion 