The Real Residents

Although we are called residents and housestaff, most days of the week, I get to leave the hospital and go home. Over the last few weeks, I have noticed some people around the hospital who are here even longer and later than I am.

We don't often think of our patients' families. Of course, when they are at the bedside and asking questions, when we run into them in the hallways, when we are giving discharge instructions, we are glad they are around. But I often don't realize how hard it must be to be present when the intern pre-rounds at 6:30am, to ask questions when the attending comes later in the morning, to help the patient get to the bathroom, to assist the physical therapists, to accompany their loved one to radiology or endoscopy or other tests, to bring food in the evening, and to hold their hand and watch television at night. It's a full time job, caring for someone in the hospital, and family members are the underappreciated. So next time I see a caregiver, I give them a word of encouragement, a smile, an understanding that they are as central to the healing process as we are.