Posted: July 13, 2012 | Author: Doug Della Pietra | Filed under: Healthcare, Patient experience | Tags: care, caregiver, caring, Caring Clown, compassion, daughter, empathy, fear, function, heal, healing, healthcare, hospital, housekeeper, job, nurse, patient experience, physician, purpose, Rochester General Hospital, role, smile, social work, valet, volunteer, volunteers |
Over the past several weeks, I have been reflecting on the well-known saying: “People may not remember what you did or what you said. They will, however, remember how you made them feel.” I think that it has been on my mind especially as I led multiple orientation sessions for new summer college and high school student volunteers because the primary message I’ve wanted to instill in them is this: “Your function (what you do) is not as important as your role/purpose (who you are and how you do what you do).” In other words, making a compassionate, empathetic, warm, and positively meaningful human – “start with the heart” – connection creates a healing moment. By showing appropriate interest in patients and their family members, these students have the opportunity to reduce anxiety, calm fears, assuage grief, warm hearts, nurture trust, lighten a burden, and create healing moments.
Very recently, the daughter of patient wrote the following note to one of the Caring Clown volunteers at my hospital:
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Posted: July 1, 2012 | Author: Doug Della Pietra | Filed under: Birding | Tags: bird, birding, braddock bay, camera, eagle, frisbee hill, lake ontario, migrate, migration, osprey, photography, raptor, raptor project, red-tailed hawk, research, rochester, turkey vulture |
I’ve always had a fascination with raptors. I remember the many times my family and I visited the aquarium in Niagara Falls many years ago. One of the highlights was the raptor feedings when one of the trainers would put a mouse or other prey in the hawk’s cage. (I know that probably sounds creepy; it’s a boy-thing, I’m sure!)
Anyway, I learned very recently that just 30 minutes from home is an internationally known migration project called the Braddock Bay Raptor Research. So, one Sunday morning, I grabbed my camera and telephoto lens and headed off to see what I could find.
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Optimizing Healing Healthcare 