SadhanaOriental Meditation and Christian Prayer
Contemplation in action
ーIn relation with othersー
[17] Discovering – 2 (Large hospital)
Assume you visit a hospital because you need to be examined. Many people are waiting at the reception for various reasons. Some want to see a doctor, some need continuous treatment, some need advice on drugs, and some visit to see hospitalized patients.
Because it is a large hospital, it has various departments, including those dealing with internal organs such as digestive and absorptive functions, blood, and cardiovascular as well as departments dealing with brain, nerves, muscles, eyes, ears, bones, skin, and so on. Each department is further subdivided.
Large hospitals support all kinds of disease categories. One of the largest hospitals has an average of 4,500 outpatients daily and over 1,400 beds for hospitalized patients. Over 700 physicians, 1,200 nurses, and 800 other professionals work for the hospital of this size.
After you fill in an interview sheet, you are sent to an appropriate department. Here, a physician asks you questions and examines you. Hospital and physicians often make great efforts to enhance the levels of examination, which is worthy of admiration.
Each patient is assigned to a physician, who sees and treats him/her on a regular basis. They keep track of patients’ medical records and examination results. Hospital stores paper or electronic data of patients. By storing and keeping track of the records, they understand detailed status of patients’ diseases and injuries. They can also see how patients’ conditions change over time.
After some examination, a patient may be hospitalized. (Or sometimes, he/she is referred to another specialist. In either case, physicians and hospital do their best for the recovery and convenience of each patient.)
When you are hospitalized, hospital provides you with a variety of services in addition to medical treatment, including preparation for beds and hospital rooms, meals, facilities for cleaning bodies, and mental therapy programs.
In providing such diverse services, nurses work hard to encourage and help patients recover from diseases, serving as a bridge between physicians and patients. Nurses essentially use their medical knowledge and skills. They also offer meals as well as bathing and toilet support as needed.
Nurses support patients in a noble manner, working for and engaging with patients in a patient-oriented manner without being selfish. It is a basic attitude of nurses. They do so with smile and cheerful voice.
It is pleasant to see nurses work solely to encourage and help patients recover from diseases. They work with physicians in an appropriate manner, provide each patient with suitable support, and enable well-planned around-the-clock support. When they visit patients, they maintain a cheerful atmosphere, talk to them pleasantly, and listen to/observe their conditions carefully.
Patients who visit hospitals have frustrating experience. They may be feeling that they had a wrong way of spending daily life or working, that they became ill because they had neglected their health, that they were overconfident in their health, or that they got injured or lost their health because they had been somewhat conceited. For these reasons, they are frustrated and wishing to make a comeback. Therefore, they feel so grateful for nurses’ careful attention, kindness, and generosity.
Large hospitals are well organized to provide broad support for physical problems and crises of people. They offer emergency medical care, have advanced medical equipment at departments, cooperate with specialists at other departments (or even at other hospitals), and provide mental care. There are numerous facilities allowing sick and injured people to spend their time at hospital pleasantly, such as restaurant, hospital store, flower shop, dry cleaner, and bank.
At hospitals, we can see the noble desire of physicians and nurses wishing to help patients who have become the weak. Their wonderful attitude reveals that they wish to deliver love, which flows out of them. Most people working for hospital are compassionate to patients, and prudent words and deeds prevail in hospital. We are impressed by the noble spirit which is continuously generated. And we can see that God helps such noble spirit develop in them.