Greetings!Yes, I've been away. I've been a bit unable! Early last week I became increasingly short of breath and on Wednesday, via an urgent visit to my GP, I was admitted to Wellington Hospital – congestive heart failure. I was there five days. So that's why, if you clicked in over the last week, you couldn't find a current post. But now I'm back and writing again. As it wasI hadn't been a hospital inpatient for a very long time so the environment seemed very new to me. Immediately, the informality, or perhaps friendliness, struck me. I was 'John' not 'Mr McInnes'. And the nurse, the porter, the security person, the doctor, as I encountered them all gave me their first names and expected me to use them. I liked that, particularly as I wasn't allowed any support person or family member (whanau) to accompany me. On this, the first day of a sudden Level 4 Covid lockdown, all such supporters were classified as 'visitors' and to visitors the hospital was totally closed. From everywhereStaff who cared for me during my five days, came from all over the world. New Zealanders born and bred were in the minority. Asians from a number of different countries were in the majority. Canada was represented and there were men and women from a scattering of European countries. Not all were recent arrivals. "Six years" ,"seven years," and similar numbers were common answers when I asked, "How long have you been here?" And those answers usually meant those persons had had at least part of their secondary or tertiary education here. The BSc (Nursing) was a common qualification. Older people had done their base qualification in their home countries and then had gone through a transition course here. "Wow" I thought, "without all these overseas people this hospital would collapse. Our country is dependent on them." We in New Zealand often think of ourselves as a small independent country at the bottom of the world, but without these emigres from the diaspora of many other countries we just couldn't function. Will they continue with us? Are they here because they have made some sort of personal commitment to New Zealand? Or are they here because for the present, living here is a better deal in some way than living at home? After a few years, will they go back home or somewhere else (maybe Australia)? If they stay will they think of themselves as New Zealanders? Will their children, and their children? What cultural habits are they throwing into the New Zealand mix? What is happening? I wish I could be here in the future to find out! CareIn the weeks before I went into hospital I had become used to seeing media headlines such as: 'Nurses to strike again on 19 August.' I expected therefore to find quite a lot of unrest – even agitation – on the lips of those with whom I interacted. I didn't. When I asked I got answers like: "Yeah I'll take better pay and better conditions if they come along, but its okay and I'm not pushing." What I did find was a high commitment to 'care' and to nursing as such as a means of giving care. Most nurses I met, wherever they were from, were in the job for the long haul – a career. Those I met often came from 'nursing families' and were proud of that. Mum, sister and even brother were nurses. And I especially noticed how keen they were to 'care' for me. "How are feeling?" "Have you got any pain?" "Are you comfortable?" "Have you had a good sleep? " I was looked after. Good experienceI'm sorry I have congestive heart failure but I know many people my age do. I'm glad though that I had a hospital like Wellington Regional Hospital to go to. My experience there was all good – competence and care! Given its dependence on migrants, I hope that state of being will continue. □ John McInnes Friday 27 August 2021 ##########
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