Have you ever had surgery or a medical procedure? If yes, then you will remember lying on a gurney in a preop hold area and then being taken to the operating room or procedural suite.

You have been stripped down to a flimsy hospital gown. It is cold. People are coming at you - drawing blood, sticking IVs, poking and prodding you. There is so much activity all around you. You are in sensory overload. You are about to go under an anesthetic and have your body either cut open or have things inserted in all sorts of places. Nervousness is natural.

Lots of people are milling about, doing their jobs. For them, it's routine, everyday work as they chatter away. You cringe to hear what they are saying in case they are referring to you. Sometimes you hear agitated raised voices, maybe a doctor and a nurse shouting at each other. You wonder if it's about you. Are they going to be calm enough to take care of you? Your life is in their hands. As the doctor and nurse continue to have a colourful conversation, you start getting scared that they are not going to be in a happy frame of mind to take care of you. And, you can't do anything about it since you will be under the anesthetic.

Wait! Aren't you the most important thing here? Without you, the patient, there would be no surgery. There would be no doctor or nurse having to take care of you. Without patients, there would be no hospital. You deserve to be treated like royalty. After all, it's your life at stake. It's up to everyone involved in your surgery to remember that you are their top priority. Everything they do, they should do it for you (to paraphrase Bryan Adams' line from his hit song).

So to all the operating room staff, please repeat the mantra: the patient is my priority.

Please keep your conversations quiet when within earshot of patients who are wide awake, eavesdropping, and hanging on to every word that you are saying. Yes, it's a free country, and we all have the right to speak freely. However, please use some discretion and use that right appropriately. After all, it's just good manners.

Thank you.

Your Trusting and Grateful Patient
(by Rina Jain MD, Chief of Staff)

This special offer through Sharp Healthcare will end soon! Physicians wanting to expedite the process of purchasing MS Office Professional Plus 2010 for $9.95 should contact Nicki Horanzy at veronica.horanzy@sharp.com.. A Sharp e-mail account is required.

SPOUSES WELCOME!

Tuesday
December 7
6 pm
Mission Valley Marriott
Free!

• A great buffet (yes - this is the "lamb chop"party!)
• The Medical Staff Choir (directed by Dr. Plowden Bridges) will perform - they've been practicing for weeks! (And, no, that's not them practicing in the photo above!)
• You can get a quick dancing lesson - we'll have professional instructors there!

Are you interested in seeing a recently published issue of the E-Bulletin?