Thank you for remembering that I'm a person too

Patients desire their healthcare workers to treat them like humans. I am the first to understand this importance. My family was blessed with incredible doctors, nurses and others who took care of my brother and our family, who explained and who sympathized and who treated our family like human beings.

But there's something to be said for patients treating their healthcare professionals like humans too. I didn't realize it until I was taking care of this gentleman with end stage lung cancer. Our team almost fought over who got to see him. He might be the only patient on our service who had every one of the residents come and visit him in the morning. I tried to explain it later that day, and the only way I could, was to say that this man and his wife treated us like people. There was no fast interview. Before I could get any questions out about shortness of breath, they were asking questions about me and how I was doing. It was actually awkward at first. He was so active and at peace with where he was in life. His goal was to maintain mobility. His wife's goal was to love him and surround him by family. They were realistic and didn't expect us to be miracle workers. As selfish as it sounds, they invested in us and it was profound.