I was very fortunate to get my feet wet early in hospital pharmacy with a position as a pharmacy intern at my local community hospital (literally a hop, skip, and a jump away from my front door.). My colleagues at the pharmacy had their work cut out for them in training me to be useful in the pharmacy, as I came to them without any pharmacy or hospital experience in my first professional year. They invested a lot of time and energy in my training, and I will always be grateful to them for their patience and encouragement in showing me “how things should be done.”
One of my most favorite things I learned as a pharmacy intern was how to mix IVs. I felt it was very meaningful to be able to mix the drugs that would be instrumental in helping the patients at my hospital feel better. When I mixed the IVs, I made the decision to put a little heart next to my initials on each IV bag that I made because I made each bag with love in my heart for the patient who was to receive it. I wanted the patient, if they looked up at the bag, to see something familiar (my little heart) jumping out of all the medical jargon. I wanted them to see the heart and know that someone was thinking of them and made that medicine especially for them. My colleagues in the pharmacy had a good laugh about me sentimentally putting hearts on all of my IV bags, but I kept doing it anyway. At some point, one of the technicians pointed to my heart on the bag and asked a patient, “My friend mixed this IV and insists on putting these little hearts on here. Honestly, does the little heart make you feel any better?” To which the patient replied, “Why, yes! Please tell your friend, yes, yes, yes, it does…and thank you, thank you very much.” So my hearts got a little bit bigger and a lot prouder that day. I don’t get to mix as much as I used to. But I keep putting the hearts on the bags—right next to my initials. Because I believe that little hearts can do big things.
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