The Impact of a Thank You

I have spent the last month working at Hope Children's Hospital for my pediatric inpatient rotation. I worked on average 12-14 hour days and had a stint of 6 14 hours night shifts in a row. There were very sick kids and it was overwhelming as my first inpatient service month. There was lots of frustrations, lots of feeling overwhelmed, and lots of feeling like a not so great resident. There were even a fair share of tears. However, tonight, on my last night at Christ, I had a moment that made me think that the whole month was really worth it and that I am making a difference. I have been taking care of 4 week old boy for the past 6 days. Tonight I told the mom that this would be my last day here. She spent several minutes telling me how much she appreciated my help in taking care of her son, how she appreciated my patience and how nice she thought I was. She said thank you again and gave me a big hug. It really had such a big impact on me.......it's amazing how just hearing a simple "thank you" or "we appreciate your hard work" can really make all the difference in your outlook. I feel that as residents we work so hard and try to do the best thing for our patients at all times. Almost everything I think about and do relates to my patients. It was so so so amazingly nice and refreshing to hear a simple thank you from a family. It really made me smile and made me have a good feeling about the past month. I know I have a lot to learn and that I made my share of mistakes during this month, however, I also know that there is something to be said for working hard and being compassionate. I really hope I made a difference in my patient's lives and helped them while they were in the hospital. I am now feeling as though I could fall sleep while writing this, so I think it is time to call it a night. I am ecstatic to have a day off tomorrow and I hope to try and get some "normal" stuff done tomorrow like going to the grocery store, cleaning the bathroom, doing laundry, going to the gym, and relaxing a bit too :) :)