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Since we have a thread going on patients who are dependant on the government for healthcare due to their dire straits, I thought I would start one on patients with interesting or colorful occupations.
I find that asking a patient about their jobs is often a great icebreaker. Sometimes I'm very surprised to find a patient whom I initially judge to be a needy 'loser' ends up having an 'important' occupation. Someone who seems relatively 'highbrow' might end up having been an underachiever who has not acheived worldly success in life.
Sometimes I'll really get treated to a facinating conversation with a retired gentleman who has had an illustrious or colorful career. I love finding out about patients, and most people love talking about themselves!
i work in a ltc facility that is on the "upscale" side. there are so many interesting people in ltc. one of my residents is a former ceo of sun oil, taught at west point. he is 99 years old and just a facinating gentleman. his wife was a patient with us also. she recently passed away, and she loved to tell stories about being the wife of a ceo. very funny lady. we have many centenarians also who just have amazing stories. we also have a man who is 99, just had a pacer put in...a bit of a pita. but is from greece and had amazing stories of being captured after being near a bomb blast. i have to say that i have worked in hospitals and ltc. as for people with the interesting stories ltc takes the cake.
when i worked in the hospital, we had will smith's mother as a patient. that was always exciting when he came to visit with his family. we have had other famous people from the pro teams. but i favor the ltc people and the real life stories that they behold, for when they are gone, so is their little part of living history.
I had a MD who helped write the DSM he was world famous and the cutest man I'd ever met. We used to call him king of the gnomes (inside joke). He saw pts at our foster home until he was 94, and met regularly with one until he died. I still smile when I think about him. Just one of the brightest sharpest guys ever.
feebebe23
109 Posts
Took care of the sister of a famous football player. She asked to be a no info patient. I asked why. She said because of the threats..... They were playing in the superbowl about 2 weeks after I took care of her. It appears crazy fans are now threatening family members of players......what a crazy world.