Reply #7: There's a practical reason for that [View All]

which you'll find when you get out of school and get plunged into the real world of cost cutting in health care: the caregivers have to avoid being buttonholed by patients at all costs when they're doing time critical things like delivering hot meals. That usually means avoiding eye contact while they fly from meal cart to patient and back again.

Unfortunately that spills over into other care for some caregivers, especially as burnout from overwork sets in.

Sometimes the best you can do is acknowledge the patient by name, "Here's your lunch, Mrs._____, I've got to scoot."

I survived 25 years in the trenches and if I had it all to do over again, I would, so don't let this discourage you.