Monday, March 16, 2009
I've been employed by Waco Center for Women's Health since the spring of 2007. Babies are delivered, by their mothers, into my loving hands at Providence Hospital in Waco. All 7 of my back-up Physicians are great, they come quickly when we need them and are highly respectful of the midwifery philosophy.
I love this work. I've been helping babies and their families for 25 years now. Sure, there are times when I'm up all night when I wonder why I do this, but then I attend a beautiful, healthy, natural birth and I get that thrill all over again. Or, I attend a woman with a difficult history, a risk factor, or an unhealthy habit and through patience, trust in birth, kindness and good teamwork I enable her to experience a beautiful and empowering thing.
I love it.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Best Kept Secrets
"Christy! The Doctor had to run to the hospital to do a delivery. Can you see his patients?" I get this query often and am usually pleased to fill in. As I build this practice I try to be as helpful as possible to these physicians who went out on a limb in this conservative town and hired me as the only full-scope, full-time Certified Nurse Midwife in Waco. But when I went into the exam room the patient turned to me and said, "Do I get a discount?" When I had scraped my bottom jaw off the floor I responded (very politely) that she was most welcome to wait for the doctor and that I had my own busy slate full of patients that I needed to get back to. She decided I'd do and proceeded to have one of the best Provider/Patient interactions she'd ever had. I spent the time, I listened, I was compassionate, and I knew my stuff.
Best kept secret in Waco? There are Nurse Practitioners, Physicians Assistants, and Certified Nurse-Midwives (one anyway) all over town who, though categorized as "second best" in the minds of many, provide top level care to the people of Waco. We dot our I's, we cross our T's, we follow up on labs and testing, we go to funerals, we make ourselves available to our patients. In fact, we do it for our patients and we often do it for the physician's patients too.
My badge says "Mid-Level Practitioner". I'm not mid-level. I'm at the top-level of my discipline. I'm at the top-level of experience. I'm at the top-level of integrity, energy, and commitment.
It's time for some recognition for all the hard-working "extenders" in this town. If you're pleased with the care you've received, tell people! Write a letter to the editor. Ask local TV stations to cover stories about nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners who do extraordinary service. Write to the doctors that employ them. Tell all your friends. Let's try to change the wrong assumptions. I have a dream...someday health care providers will be judged, not by the letters after their names, but by the quality of their service.
Best kept secret in Waco? There are Nurse Practitioners, Physicians Assistants, and Certified Nurse-Midwives (one anyway) all over town who, though categorized as "second best" in the minds of many, provide top level care to the people of Waco. We dot our I's, we cross our T's, we follow up on labs and testing, we go to funerals, we make ourselves available to our patients. In fact, we do it for our patients and we often do it for the physician's patients too.
My badge says "Mid-Level Practitioner". I'm not mid-level. I'm at the top-level of my discipline. I'm at the top-level of experience. I'm at the top-level of integrity, energy, and commitment.
It's time for some recognition for all the hard-working "extenders" in this town. If you're pleased with the care you've received, tell people! Write a letter to the editor. Ask local TV stations to cover stories about nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners who do extraordinary service. Write to the doctors that employ them. Tell all your friends. Let's try to change the wrong assumptions. I have a dream...someday health care providers will be judged, not by the letters after their names, but by the quality of their service.
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