by Pamela A Mertz

Created on: December 01, 2008

Hospital Observations

You see a lot of the human condition while spending time at a hospital. There are always people milling around, at all hours of the day and night. This includes employees, medical staff, patients, families, visitors and strangers. It is a place where you can see the whole gamut of human emotion, just by observing people. You see sorrow, grief, anger, happiness, joy and fear. You see novices to the hospital scene and you see familiar faces.

I have spent a lot of time in emergency rooms and hospitals, accompanying my partner, who is chronically ill. Hospital visits are becoming an unfortunate routine, as his health deteriorates. The emotional part doesn't get any easier, despite the amount of time I have spent in hospitals.

Last weekend, we went to the Emergency Room, for what became the start of another 10 day hospital admission. The ER was typically busy and hectic for a Friday night. Hospital people are easily identifiable. Even if they are not clinical staff, most employees wear scrubs and ID tags, and soft soled shoes. You don't always hear them coming up from behind with those soft shoes, particularly if you are lost in thought. That has happened to me more than once. I have been startled by someone seemingly just appearing out of thin air.

Family members are easy to identify as well. Spouses and parents have worried expressions on their faces and on their overall person. You can almost see the weight of the world on the shoulders of people worrying about a loved one. Sometimes you also see fear and resignation, particularly in the eyes. I have often found myself thinking I am intruding in another's emotional landscape when we find ourselves sharing waiting space.

Hospital employees tend to be very close knit. They have to be when tending to sick people and overwhelmed family and friends. I have seen technicians and nurses act playful and funny and laugh with each other in hallways and unit stations. At first, I used to think, "How can they be so disrespectful of other people's pain?" Then I realized that medical staff must take care of themselves and have light moments during their shifts and days, in order for them to have the strength needed to help those needing help.

I remember sitting in the ER last weekend and seeing a woman sitting with a man, who I assumed was her husband. This woman looked so sad. I could see it in her eyes. She was knitting and mind of murmuring to herself and to the man she was with. I could not hear what she

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