RT Journal
A1 Waxman DA
T1 WOrlds apart
JF JAMA
JO JAMA
YR 2012
FD September 26
VO 308
IS 12
SP 1219
OP 1220
DO 10.1001/jama.2012.9980
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2012.9980
AB 
The university hospital is as happy a place as a hospital can be. There is valet parking, and there are smiling employees everywhere. The positive attitude is infectious. Plenty of staff are available to help the place run smoothly and to make me as efficient as possible. Scribes follow me around and write the charts, allowing me more time to listen and explain rather than “document.” On a recent shift, a clerk asked whether he could transfer a call to my wireless phone. A patient had given a urine sample and then walked out before being seen, and the urine had proven to be full of white blood cells. The patient had left a nonworking phone number, but somehow the clerk tracked her down. The patient was fine. She had gone to her physician and was already taking ciprofloxacin. The clerk seemed genuinely relieved. Meanwhile, a 7-year-old patient was about to have an intravenous line placed. Out of nowhere, a pediatric therapist appeared to help him with coping strategies in preparation for the discomfort: “Some people like to make up a pretend bad word and say it to themselves.” No kidding.