Smile and Say Hello

During my second year of nursing school our professor gave us a quiz. I breezed through the questions until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans your school?" Surely this was a joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our grade. "Absolutely," the professor said. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say hello." I've never forgotton that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy. ~Joann C. Jones

On our first day of clinicals at Firelands Regional Medical Center it was explained to us that one of their policies is: no matter who it is you encounter throughout the day you must at least say Hi and smile and the staff at Firelands was required to do the same in return.

Try it! It really does make a difference.