I Treat Every Patient Like They’re My Nan.

Because kindness shouldn’t depend on who’s sitting in the chair.

My Nan and I, in my room at the clinic! (Used with permission from all parties)

Picture it: It’s 2pm. Your clinic opened the doors at 7:30; the waiting room bursting at the seams since just before 9.

You haven’t peed in hours. Food seems a distant dream. Those 4 cups of coffee you chugged in your first hour here are doing everything they can to keep you just hydrated enough to keep running from room to room.

Then.. they come in. That patient you simply can’t stand — sometimes, for no explainable reason. You know the one.

You want to treat them nicely, you really do. But the combination of a bladder splitting at its seams, a stomach beginning to eat itself, and a patient who, let’s be real, is a bit of a turd… it’s all too much.

So you’re short with them. Not cruel… just a flat tone with that hint of “please stop talking” behind your glaring eyes.

Look, I completely get it. And I want to be upfront from the beginning — I do not do what this piece encourages others to do, all the time. I still really struggle when that mid-afternoon monster surfaces inside of me.

But I’ve had a rule that I’ve been living by, ever since I started work as an ophthalmic assistant some 8-years ago.