Karma Smith holds a picture she painted for Candace Gilson, RN.
If you make a few minutes to listen to someone, sometimes Karma will reward you with a gift you can hang on your wall for years to come. At least that’s true if you’re talking to Karma Smith.
Candace Gilson, Homecare’s executive nurse director, was visiting patients with Lindsey Hansen, RN, and Jessica Fraughton, RN, when they stopped to meet Karma, an 89-year-old woman who lives in Orem.
“Karma was so sweet and I had such a nice time talking with her,” Candace says. “She has an amazing talent of painting and she was telling me all about her hobby. While I was there she showed me all her paintings.”
Candace got out her phone and showed Karma two landscape photographs that Candace liked. Karma asked her to email them to her. Candace sent the photographs to her and didn’t think any more of it. Just before Christmas she got a phone call from Karma.
“She left me a message stating she’d painted one of the pictures I sent her and that she wanted to give it to me,” Candace says.
Candace Gilson, RN, says visiting with patients reminds her of how much they offer us.
“Truly it’s a blessing she did this painting for me because this picture has personal meaning for me, so to have it in a painting is so touching, especially when our role is to serve her,” Candace says. “I hear from her nurses that this is the kind of thing Karma does for everyone and it’s that kind of blessing of loving kindness that truly reminds me of why I went into nursing.”
Compassionate Connections, a set of Intermountain principles for caregivers, emphasizes the importance of listening and being present when serving our patients. Candace says it doesn’t take much to find value in what people have to offer and listening when they share can be a first step in that process.
“Even if Karma had never done a painting for me,” Candace says, “my exchange with her was a highlight for me. That’s why I like to sit down and talk with the people we serve. It reminds me of how much they offer us, even as we care for them.”
Leave a comment on Yammer.