Gifts Given and Received

This is a special time of year to celebrate! No matter what religious or spiritual path you travel, this time of year is filled with wonder, joy, magic and love.  It is a time of giving and receiving gifts – gifts that expand your vision, gifts that extend your touch, gifts that help you grow (personally and professionally), and gifts that embrace life and love.

Though I know this is a love letter to healthcare, you can easily translate these scenarios into your own profession! No matter what role you fill or what industry you work within, you impact the lives of others each and every day using the gift of self.  You continually give gifts to those you serve – your talents and your skills. You give the phenomenal gift of time.  Each day you come to work you share precious moments and hours with your co-workers, your patients, and their families. 

You give the gift of your body and soul – your intelligence, your listening ears, your kind hands, your strong back, your tired feet, and your caring heart.  You touch torn skin and help make it whole.  You touch torn hearts and souls and help them begin the healing process.  You touch a troubled mind and help bring calm and peace.  You snatch some people from death with CPR, and you help others go gently into the night.  You nourish (literally and figuratively) your healthcare family and the patients you serve.  You work behind the scenes and in the spotlight.  You give the gift of light in dark times – you provide smiles – and yes, you give the gift of tears.  You listen with your ears and your heart.  You educate – counsel – console – advocate – collaborate and care.  You are part of a large family – your patients, your department, your workplace and your community.

And for as many gifts as the healthcare worker gives, you receive just as many.  One of these is the gift of trust.  Your patients and their families give this trust, willingly and openly, to you every time they choose you for their care. They are absolutely confident that you will hold their health, their life and their care most sacred.  They look to you to tell them the truth, to deliver the highest quality care and to do so with hands of skill and hearts of compassion. 

You receive the gifts both of patience and impatience.  You walk slowly beside a woman who is recovering from a stroke, even though you have other tasks to do. You gain patience as you feed a gentleman who can no longer do so for himself.  You receive the gift of impatience with the status quo.  I hope this impatience pushes you to become involved in research, to look at evidence-based practices, to create needed changes to make a difference for your patients and your profession.

You receive the gift of wonder.  What incredible miracles you get to share – the joy of birth and the creation of a new family, the grace of a quiet death, the first bites of a meal for one who has worked hard to lift his arms to accomplish this critical task, the sharing of secrets that allows a psychiatric patient to begin to heal, the recovery of a patient who you didn’t expect to do well.  You get to be part of patients’ lives in such holy ways and to experience such tremendous wonder.

You receive the gift of inner strength – because it is not always easy to do what you do.  You grow as you help an angry patient deal with a dreaded diagnosis – as you listen to the rants of a family who no longer knows what to do – as you hold a daughter while her mother dies.  You become strong and help others deal with despair, to be a shoulder to lean on, or to provide a cheerful smile to a co-worker having a rough day.

The gifts in our profession are endless.  My wish for you is that you recognize and embrace the gifts that you receive.  And that you freely give the important gift of yourself to others.  What wonderful professions you have that both give and gather! 

Thank you for all you do, for all you give, for who you are,

Phyl