Over the past six years on behalf of MITSS, I have had the great fortune of travelling the country and abroad. I have spoken at conferences and forums, large and small, speaking with patients, family members, and clinicians. It seems that everyone has a story. Each time I speak with someone who has been affected by a medically induced trauma, I not only relate on a truly personal level, but it has served to strengthen my commitment and resolve to change the systems which fail each of us every day.
There can be nothing more powerful than a personal story, and we have encouraged anyone affected by an adverse event to share their experience with us on our website. There have been some very moving entries recently added, and we invite you to take a look at our patient and family story page. Also, if you’d like to share your own story, please feel free. By sharing your personal experience, you may be helping someone out there to feel less isolated and alone.
Linda
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Reading these stories confirms for me that often it's the emotional things that hurt patients the most when something goes wrong with their care.
ReplyDeleteI could have handled my injury so much better if the medical team hadn't emotionally bailed out of the relationship.
Really, it wouldn't have taken much. If only they had said up front, "We're so sorry this happened." If only they had made an effort to ease some of the burden by helping me set up the appointment for the corrective surgery (I had to arrange for the surgery myself, as well as all the pre-surgery lab work).
After the surgery, my right arm was immobilized in a splint and a ton of bandages from my elbow down to my fingertips. At the post-surgery visit, the nurse was "too busy" so I was told to remove all the dressings myself. And she walked out of the exam room and left me there alone, trying to unwrap all these bloody bandages with one hand.
We're not talking about spending more money here, or investing in expensive technology or completing redesigning a complicated process. It's ordinary, simple kindness toward another human being in need.
And I think the personal stories illustrate this so beautifully. I hope you continue to collect more of them.