Respect
Some people earn instant respect by the credentials after their name. Others earn it by the school they went to, the awards they have won, or the position they hold at their job. In pediatric nursing, these achievements mean absolutely nothing. A few weeks ago I had a fifth grade boy as a patient. He had a wound on his leg that I needed to examine, but he was terrified that I was going to hurt him. When I would come near him he would move to the other side of the bed. I needed to earn his trust or I was going to get nowhere. “How far can you get in Guitar Hero?” I challenged him. “I can almost beat it on medium,” he bragged. “That’s cool, I can beat everything but Jordan,” I casually said. His eyes got large and his mouth dropped open as he froze and looked over at me. “You can almost beat Guitar Hero on medium!?” he asked. I smiled and replied, “No. I CAN beat it on medium. I just can’t beat Jordan on expert.” As we continued to discuss Guitar Hero, I assessed his wound and changed the dressing without even an “ouch”.
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