A friend has a tag on her blog that says “People Who Get It Right.” Like her, I believe it’s not only important to point out problems, but also highlight exceptional occurrences in TAB behavior. Recently one happened worthy of its own entry.<\/p>\n
In Blindness v. Medical Profession, <\/a>, I described the radically different experiences I had with the removal of my left eye versus the unblocking of my trachea, with the former suffering from the juxtaposition. Staff behavior was one issue I mentioned because people kept coming and going from my cubical without telling me or beginning procedures without alerting me. Though my friend tried to address the situation, he was ignored.<\/p>\n When I scheduled my right eye removal, I decided to directly address the situation mentioning my experience to the pre-op nurse. She put me in touch with the Nurse Manager. <\/p>\n I freely admit I was not expecting much based on previous similar events. I freely admit I was very wrong. The Nurse Manager called me and I explained my concern. I said something like, “I know people aren’t used to interacting with blind folks.”<\/p>\n She said, “We treat eye conditions, so we should be.”<\/p>\n “Yeah, I replied, “but probably newly blind people not long-term blind people.”<\/p>\n “We need to do better,” she stated, quite firmly. <\/p>\n I told the Nurse Manager that I was impressed at her response and she said, “It’s my job. This should not be happening to you” <\/p>\n The day of the surgery, I showed up curious about how things might go. It was like the same staff members had been taken over by a body snatcher with perfect blind person manners. Everyone said who they were, made their comings and goings crystal clear, and let me know what was happening before it happened. I kept looking at my friend with amazement and we both kept saying, “Wow, it’s completely different.” <\/p>\n I called to thank the Nurse Manager. Usually, speaking up about TAB bad behavior gets a list of justifications and excuses. I was thrilled that my concerns were not only heard but addressed in such an complete way. Kudos to the Nurse Manager.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A friend has a tag on her blog that says “People Who Get It Right.” Like her, I believe it’s not only important to point out problems, but also highlight exceptional occurrences in TAB behavior. Recently one happened worthy of … Continue reading