Better to let nursing staff police itself

This is not an easy letter to write. Surgery and a hospital stay, no matter how brief, are unpleasant experiences and there is every incentive to forget them as soon as possible.

However, I would be remiss if I did not thank the nurses and their assistants at Northwest Community Hospital Floor 7, North Wing, for the care provided me following surgery in June. Their expertise and compassion, their humor and encouragement, were so welcome and comforting that when it was time to leave to go home, instead of rejoicing, I felt a certain regret.

I roomed with a guy much sicker than I. On my second night he was incontinent on three occasions and was extremely embarrassed. But the nurse and assistant who cleaned him and changed his sheets would have none of it! Their light bantering and good cheer sparked a chuckle even from him as they eased his embarrassment and helped preserve his dignity. Such empathy, I thought, was priceless.

On my last day, a perky volunteer carrying a clipboard entered my room and asked whether I had any complaints because, she said, the administrative staff "would take care of them at once." The hospital had people like her all over, searching every nook and cranny for "problems."

This bothered me. Such "fishing" expeditions, such spying, seemed to me to be morale busters and insulting to working staff.

Of course, she disagreed and we left it at that. But this hospital policy, if it is one, still bothers me. It seems to me that staff dedication, élan, teamwork and patient empathy result from practices that veteran nurses know work.

On every hospital floor I bet there is mutual respect and kindness among staff members, a professional culture in which new employees get inducted, where high standards are taught and maintained and employee behavior is informally monitored and evaluated by peers.

In other words, the nursing staff in the most successful hospitals on the best floors polices itself. It is this self-policing that creates and sustains the qualities I mentioned.

In any event, I wish to thank Rhea, Sharon, Laura, Jocelyn, Susan and Alex and everyone else whose name I've forgotten. You are golden and deserve twice what they pay you!

Roger Fraser

Rolling Meadows