Home 禄 Opinion 禄 Chinese Views
A smile can be the most precious medicine
鈥淚s she good?鈥 a nursing assistant jokingly asked my bed-ridden father, pointing at her fellow assistant who was holding and massaging my father鈥檚 hands.
They were both middle-aged women, making fun of each other to amuse my 88-year-old dad as he recovers from a surgery on a fracture at a major hospital in my hometown, Yangzhou, in neighboring Jiangsu Province.
鈥淚s she good?鈥 my dad repeated in murmured amusement, a clear answer apparently eluding him because of the lingering effect of the anaesthetic.
鈥淚f she is not good, I will teach her a lesson,鈥 continued the joking assistant, raising her arm and pretending to beat her colleague.
鈥淟ook at her round eyes!鈥 my dad murmured, sounding both surprised and amused by the nursing assistant鈥檚 fierce expression. 鈥淲ill she really start a fight?鈥
On cue, the two nursing assistants feigned a scuffle. Dad waved his hands to suggest a truce and then burst into a hearty laughter when he saw that he had 鈥渂rokered鈥 a 鈥渃easefire.鈥
Such is the merry atmosphere at the No. 1 People鈥檚 Hospital of Yangzhou, where many nurses and nursing assistants go out of their way to soothe the pain of a patient not just through medical skills, but also with sunny smiles.
Indeed, smiles are part and parcel of a successful convalescence plan.
While his fracture surgery was successful, Dad has found it difficult to urinate on his own, in part due to lying in bed for too long.
Soft words
Sometimes Dad would unwittingly wet the bed, and the nurses and their assistants were there to comfort him with smiles and soft words.
鈥淵ou cannot scold an elderly patient for that,鈥 said Sister Xu, the joking nursing assistant. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to speak softly, encouraging him to urinate whenever he feels like doing it. This way he may regain his bladder power to urinate.鈥 This is also the advice I鈥檝e received from nurses in convalescence centers in Shanghai.
Concerned about Dad鈥檚 problem, I visited a convalescence center run by Red Cross in Qingpu District, last month. The smiling duty nurse received me with great patience and offered sage advice.
鈥淧ut a hot water bottle on your dad鈥檚 stomach or massage his stomach,鈥 said the nurse, who is in her 30s. 鈥淗owever often he unwittingly wets the bed, change him. Don鈥檛 loathe these frequent changes.鈥
Last week, I visited Shanghai Wenjie Nursing Home in Changning District.
The head nurse, in her 40s, greeted me with a smile and patiently answered all my questions as we stood and talked in the crowded corridor for nearly an hour.
She then referred me to the doctor on duty, who listened to me and then said: 鈥淚f your dad wets the bed, remember, this is actually a good thing. Don鈥檛 be annoyed.
鈥淪mile to him, so that he will feel free to urinate. This is very important in restoring his bladder power.鈥
We hear much from the media about doctor-patient relationship gone awry 鈥 reports of doctors assaulted or even killed by patients unhappy with treatment, or of patients suspicious that doctors are just out to get as much of their cash as possible.
We鈥檝e forgotten that in the everyday, the stories can be quite different.
At the No.1 People鈥檚 Hospital of Yangzhou, many doctors and nurses take it upon themselves to smile to patients whenever they make the rounds of their wards.
In my dad鈥檚 case, they even try to sing old revolutionary songs familiar to him, so as to keep his brain active and to keep him in good spirits.
A smile goes a long way in soothing the pain of a patient. A smile is at once the 鈥渃heapest鈥 and 鈥渕ost expensive鈥 therapy.
It is 鈥渃heapest鈥 because it has no production cost. It is 鈥渕ost expensive鈥 because it encapsulates all the positive energy of the person who gives the smile.
A smile to an elderly patient is especially valuable in today鈥檚 China, where children often work and live apart from their hospitalized parents.
So I take my hat off to those doctors and nurses who live up to the Confucian ideal that one should respect others鈥 parents, as well as their own parents.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔$粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.