Battling Tonsilitis Overseas
I often write about noisy co-workers, as if they’re the enemy. And often they are- at least the enemy of productivity. They are distracting, loud, and frequently annoying. But what the times you are the noisy co-worker? Is it possible you are the enemy ever? That you have become the distracting, loud, and annoying person?
I’m going to guess that most of us don’t think of ourselves that way. Interestingly, though, I was in the doctor’s office this week for tonsilitis. My family of 5 just flew from the UK to the US and were jet lagging, too. I was able to leave my 2 older kids with their dad, but I had to bring my nursing baby with me. Fortunately, my mother-in-law came with me to help me with her. Anyway, while I expected to wait, there were several things I did not expect. Having chosen a new facility, I assumed it would be quite state of the art and professional. I was sad to see it really was neither.
- Problem 1: As I waited in the examination room, I noticed a soiled towel by the sink, a piece of trash on the floor, a lid in the sink, and no more clean paper towels, which I only noticed after cleaning up the previous problems and realizing I may have come in contact with new germs and therefore washing my hands, only to find no way to dry them. Sigh. Then, I sat back down and waited again.
- Problem 2: I could hear the chatty doctor telling stories and keeping the staff in stitches, but I wondered why he wasn’t seeing patients. Finally, he came to examine me and let me know that the wait was because he was looking up a medicine for my tonsilitis that would best fit my needs since I am a nursing mother. While I believed him {mostly…he did prescribe amoxicillin which is the usual go-to for these things}, I thought to myself how much more convincing he would have been had I not heard his stories outside my door. Then, I proceeded to wait some more for the prescription. I could hear my baby crying and then giggling with my mother-in-law, as well as new stores being told, so I poked my head out and asked if I could wait with my family instead.
Wishing for More Professionalism
It’s not that i’m trying to be entitles or anything like that. I just wonder what a medical facility would be willing to do to keep my business or get my referrals. Would they be able to see if they were the noisy co-workers? Would they want to do something about it? I am hoping so, since I feel my business is worth it. Thus, here are my suggestions for a better experience.
- Problem 1: While the rooms weren’t filthy, finding little bits of opened wrappers and other pieces of trash is not ideal, especially at a health care place. It’s pretty simple to keep paper towels stocked and to just have regular clean checks, ideally after every patient. It just needs to be checked- not full out cleaned, but trash in the can and an overall clean feel will go a long way.
- Problem 2: Noise travels, and the human voice is no exception, whether it’s doctors, other patients, or your own baby! Sometimes hearing another voice is distracting; other times it’s embarrassing, knowing they can probably hear you. For me, it meant I could hear my doctor chatting it up, entertaining the staff while I just wanted to be taken care of and sent on my way to fill my prescription so I could start feeling better. Sound maskingwould softly cover staff voices, as well as any other noises, while also offering speech privacy for the purpose of confidentiality.
If you’d like your medical facility to be professional, be sure to care for your patients’ states of mind, as well as their physical illnesses. We all thrive on referrals, so be sure to get yours, which could come more easily with satisfied patients via simple things such as clean rooms and sound masking.
