Hospital Experience II: Caveat Emptor

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¹³ Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. ¹⁴ And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee. ¹⁵ And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit:

1 Samuel 1:

Last week, the doctor jabbed at the test strips and lancets and queried, “What about these?” (Hospital Experience I: Caveat Emptor – Earthly Living in Heavenly Anticipation (elihasthots.net)

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“I have diabetics in my family, so I check regularly,” Nana responded.

“I have been looking for the test strips for his particular machine for months without success. Your colleague doctor who first examined me indicated that she had the test strips that my machine uses. So I bought them from her, and that is why they’re on my bed. I am not diabetic, sir.” Nana was feeling the heat of anger in spite of the sickness.

While the doctors hurried to regain their composure, he rolled on.

“Also, I have not treated typhoid for a very long time. I cannot even remember the last time I did. Kindly correct your records.

After a moment’s total silence, one of them almost whispered, “Ok. We have taken note of this, sir.

“Thank you!” replied Nana.

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At 8 pm, no food had been brought, so Nana slipped out of the ward. Still simmering with anger, he ambled past the gate and headed for the nearest eatery he could find. At that time of night, his options were desperately few. He eventually found one nice lady and her two kids in a decent-looking “check-check”* place closing shop.

She took one look at him with the contraption sticking out of his arm and immediately pulled out a chair. Fried rice and chicken would be ready in about twenty minutes. While waiting, he grabbed a piece of fried chicken and munched on it. She served the food with a smile, but Nana had misplaced his appetite. After two mouthfuls, he could not continue. The lady was hovering around, so she offered to pack it for him. Just then Nana’s wife’s call came through. She could not find him at the hospital! “Where are you?” she inquired.

The night nurses were dissatisfied with his behaviour. The scowl on one’s face made it all clear. They immediately sent him to the male ward. The ward seemed not to have been occupied for some time and needed cleaning. Later, Nana managed to settle into his bed, allowing his poor wife to go catch some sleep at home.

At about 7 a.m. Friday morning, his son came in with victuals and other stuff he had requested. He freshened comfortably and soon had more fluids dripping into his arm.

The doctor who did the nightshift was very respectful and kind. Obviously, he was treading carefully with this patient (Nana). But Nana was still concerned about getting the wrong information about him out of their system. The young doctor assured him that it was not the case. He avoided discussing what happened last night when he was taking over from the other doctor. So Nana decided to let sleeping dogs lie.

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Later, more nurses came to check on him. Two of them came to ask him to evaluate their service. He mentioned the misinformation episode with the doctors the night before. The nurse apologized again and again. He assured him that it was not on their records. This nurse encouraged him to improve his exercise routine. They got to talking about living life as a Christian, a topic he really liked. With several bible verses, the nurse impressively discussed how he saw life as a Christian.

Our text above talks about how the priest, Eli (man of God who should know) assumed that a woman kneeling before God’s altar and silently mumbling was already drunk that morning.

The doctor (whose professional ethics precludes jumping to hasty conclusions) just assumed that Nana was diabetic simply because he had the test strips on his bed. I am glad that we serve a God who accurately assesses your and my situation. His understanding is limitless (Psalm 147:5). I certainly cannot hide anything from Him. And yet He loves me dearly. I learned a lot from this experience. Let me share with you:

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1. Discuss what you know. Do not assume if you can fact-check first. Check (Be Harsh, Be Gentle – Earthly Living in Heavenly Anticipation (elihasthots.net).
2. When you are in a position of power, keep in mind that you are still responsible for your organization and your client. Most hospitals even have a charter outlining how they should treat their patients, including patient information. Check Genesis 39 for an example.
3. As a patient, inmate, or student, remember that you are subject to some rules of conduct and behavior. You should adhere to those rules to avoid unfortunate situations. Look at Hebrews 13:17.
4. If a colleague acts inappropriately and negatively impacts your church, school, or organizational brand, ensure that you are part of the remedial measures that will at least reduce the impact of the wrong move while retaining your client or member.

Drop your own lessons and comments below and I will gladly respond. Blessings

*Check-check is the name given to Ghana’s version of a bistro or diner which serves fried rice and/or noodles at night.