Betty Wells: a model of kindness and inspiration

Abstract

It is easy for pediatric radiologists to become infatuated with our own credentials and expertise. After all, it takes many years of hard study and work to fully qualify in the field. Yet when it comes to making a difference in the daily care of patients and families, professional qualifications do not tell the whole story. In some cases, people with considerably less education and training often make important contributions, and in some cases, pediatric radiologists can learn a lot from such individuals. Once such person is Betty Wells. Wells had been employed for 30 years as a housekeeper in Louisiana’s Ochsner Health system before her supervisors discovered her calling [1]. As a member of the housekeeping staff, her daily routine includedmaking beds, changing linens, disinfecting rooms, restocking supplies and mopping floors. But when supervisors looked at her productivity, they realized that she was accomplishing less work per shift than her colleagues. Knowing her strong work ethic, they found this puzzling and decided to spend some time observing her as she made her rounds. They discovered that Wells spent less time moving her mop across the floor than leaning on it. And while she was leaning on it, she was talking to people. They might be patients whose room she was cleaning, visitors who had gotten lost in the hospital, or coworkers who were having a difficult time at work or in life. When she cleaned, she worked as hard as anyone, but she spent so much time talking to people that she could not get as much work done as her peers. Her supervisors might have asked themselves whether they should let her go, in favor of a younger and more task-focused replacement. Fortunately, however, they had not only their eyes and ears but also their hearts open, and they observed something remarkable — not so much about Wells, but about the people she spoke with. In nearly every case, those with whom she had spoken seemed less stressed, more reassured, and generally happier than they had been when they first encountered her. The effect she was having was not listed in her job description and did not show up in any of the metrics usually applied to hospital housekeepers, but she seemed to be lifting up just about everyone she encountered. Instead of firingWells, her supervisors decided to redeploy her. Instead of continuing to function as a somewhat underproductive housekeeper, she would become the hospital’s official greeter, the first person patients, families and coworkers encounter when they get off the elevator at Ochsner’s Jefferson Highway facility. One of her supervisors told her: “You know, Miss Wells, you have been doing this ever since you came here. We just didn’t have a label for it” [2]. Part of her motivation in taking on the new role was gratitude for the help the hospital had provided in repairing her home after Hurricane Katrina. Wells’ job shifted from the kind of cleanliness that can be achieved with a mop and a bucket to the sort of psychological hygiene that requires a smile, a kind word, and perhaps even a hug. Instead of removing dirt and microbes, she now adds good cheer. Though not as well qualified in many ways as the hospital’s professional staff of physicians and nurses, she embodies better than most a lesson imparted by its founder, Alton Ochsner, who said: “Don’t forget that you are treating people. You are not treating diseases, but people” [3]. In the more than a decade thatWells, known throughout the institution as Miss Betty, has played this new role, she has come to understand a number of things more deeply. As she describes it, “Patients like you to laugh and joke and carry on a lot of foolishness with them, because when they get to laugh, sometimes they forget that they are stepping into the hospital” [4]. Her mission is to put them at ease, and it is a mission she takes so seriously that, even though her shift runs from 6 am to 2 pm, she arrives each day 90 min early, because that is when patients start to arrive. She wants to be there for them. And Wells bears more than a smile. The blazer she sports each day is covered with pins given to her by patients and families. They include pieces of jewelry, souvenirs from landmarks, sports team logos, religious symbols, and even treasured family heirlooms. In fact, she has more than one such * Richard B. Gunderman [email protected]