“How do you work there? It must be so sad.”
Have you ever gotten that response (or
some variation of it) when you tell people you work at Children’s Specialized
Hospital? Whether people have come for a tour at one of our sites or have just learned
what we do, the response is usually the same – a sense of remorse and sadness.
When I hear this, I immediately launch
into my support of the children we serve.
I tell them that these kids have no idea
how sick they really are, and that their main focus is getting home and being
with their family. These kids are courageous in ways I could never be and they
are determined!
These kids want to be kids – they want
to experience joy and laughter. They want to find ways to enjoy life,
regardless of any limitations that may be present.
One of our colleagues encouraged me to use
my speeches to focus on how we strive to develop our children to be as independent
as possible, and how we teach their families to have the courage to advocate and
create the most inclusive community possible.
Working at Children’s Specialized
Hospital is so much more than providing health care to these children. It is
about doing what you would do for a member of your family; giving them the
support to achieve all that is possible and reaching their maximum potential.
So, if asked the question, “How
do you work there,” how would you respond? What would you say
Regardless, it is still such a blessing
to be involved with our children and watch them grow and progress to become
amazing adults. It’s not sad to work here, it’s inspirational.
5 comments:
When I started to work here my children were little and I remember going home every night in tears and hugging my boys tightly upon arrival. One can not say it was sad, it was a wake up call for the blessing we never realized we had. That sense of thankfullness, made me embraced my work and commitment so hard, that it became my life. Few years after working here, my husband also join the CSH family. One of the things we both learn is, blessings come in disguise. The reason we say that is because we learned so much from here and not only that, we've been blessed to have the opportunity and sharing all we learn with other communities and people. At the end of the road the most important thing is the opportunity of changing the life of one person at a time. If we can do that, our life had purpouse and all we learned was meaningful. To answer your question Amy, for Jimmy and I, we are humble and thankful for the blessings received here.
I have always said how lucky I am to work with such courageous kids. I am excited to see how the interventions I provide can help the grow and to maximize their potential. I love how I have the opportunity to influence the rest of their life in some way.
I had previously worked in the "acute care" pediatric world (38+ years of PICU) and often received the same comments on the order of "...working with sick children...how sad it must be!" I always replied that children have an amazing capacity for healing and that it was amazing to be part of a team that affected such positive
outcomes! Now, working here at CSH, not only do I see tremendous potentials being realized, but I am amazed at the varied departments and state-of-the-art equipment that assists these children in reaching even higher potentials. I guess you can say that I have had and currently do have an amazing occupation! I feel privileged to be able to assist in the care of our children along with an amazing staff and I hope to make a difference everyday.
I tell people about the fantastic, meaningful results we see. That not only do the children we work with make progress, but their parents learn how to implement strategies and see their children's behavior improve with them at home and in the community. Not to mention that kids do and say funny things that make us laugh no matter how long we've been in the field!
For years I have gotten pity looks accompanied with "you must have so much patience" and similar statements. I have seen looks that seem to convey that people who have a challenging job like this don't know that there are better jobs out there! I acknowledge to people who say things like this, that it's not for everyone, but that people who do it, love it!
I was familiar with Childrens before I came to work as my son received wonderful care here and participated in Lightening Wheels and Friday Night Fever. When people tell me that they couldn't work here I tell them they don't understand all the wonderful good things that Childrens does.
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