LESSON 1
LOSS AND CHANGE
Section I. THROUGH THE PATIENT'S EYES
1-1.
INTRODUCTION
a. Take a few minutes to sit quietly and imagine yourself as you go through a
typical day in your life. Imagine a workday; then imagine a weekend. As you do, jot
down all the things that are truly important to you, the things that make you happy.
b. Now imagine yourself entering a hospital. Picture everything that happens to
you from the time you are admitted to the time you are released. As you do this, cross
off of your list all the things that you would lose. If you are like most people, few, if any,
items remain. Think about the sense of loss you could be experiencing as a patient.
Virtually all control over the things that enable you to feel content and secure have been
taken away. Depending on a number of factors affecting your life, you may or may not
find it easy to adapt to these changes.
1-2.
EXPERIENCING ILLNESS AND HOSPITALIZATION
a. Loss of role identity is one of the things you, as a patient, may experience
upon entering the hospital. They take your clothes away and put you in blue pajamas,
the same blue pajamas as all the other patients. You are given an identification
number. You hear people making rounds referring to you by your illness rather than
your name. You hear other health care personnel talking about you in the third person.
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