Beneath the Costume

I love dressing up. It is fun, and makes you feel special. I know that I stand taller and feel more confident just by wearing fancy clothes. I think that may be true for many people. I have spent my career working with people from all walks of life. Rich or poor, one thing is true, that once they are in the issued hospital attire, they are all the same, vulnerable. I think this may be true everyday but our costume of outer wear hides that condition.

I was privileged to provide care within a prison unit. Now, there is no doubt that there are all kinds of frightening or horrible people in prisons, but there are also some that simply made bad decisions, choices that may have seemed rational at the time. What was true was that we were not privy to the reason for their incarceration. So you had 20 or 30 inmates and you had no idea what brought them to prison, only what brought them to the hospital.

The "blinder" effect is one that allows you to give equal care with compassion to all. You do not know if you are dressing a wound to a murderer or a bad check writer. No clue by way of the hospital record. But what if you knew what they did? How would you change your approach, your conversation, your care? Would you change or could you continue to care for their human needs without reservation?

Occasionally you would find out. Behavior towards the inmates could be seen changing in the staff right before your eyes. It was like watching a dogs hair bristle. Suddenly their years of nurses training to provide compassionate care were laid aside for another kind of care. Perhaps it was vengeance, justice or fear that motivated the change but it definitely was noticeable. And the inmates could see it too.

Problem is, we were not there to pass sentence, that had been done. We were there to meet their needs. And like any patient in a gown, we were not there to inflict any additional punishment, but simple compassionate care. It is an interesting test of character, much like that game where there are people in a lifeboat and you have to decide who to throw over board to survive. How do you choose, what is the measure of the man, or woman? How do we know they have not or will not change? What if the wonderful secretary becomes a hardened criminal, or the mass murderer becomes a devoted prison minister? How do we know? We don't.

So I guess the thought for today is: be sure to treat everyone equal, no one better or worse, everyone with the potential to change, everyone naked and vulnerable beneath what ever clothes they are wearing in public. We are definitely more alike then unalike, the only difference may be the costume we put on in the morning.