Caring - Dartmouth-Hitchcock

have a hillside on the hospital grounds
that used to look too bare,” she says. “I
got permission to plant 30 daffodil bulbs
there, so patients would have something
to enjoy in April before the birds come.”
“The flowers come up to greet us
every spring, and it always makes me
think of Joyce,” says Marilyn Bedell,
director of nursing for the unit, who
arranged payment for the bulbs from a
grateful patient. “They’re so pretty—there
must be more than 100 now that dot the
hillside.”
This year, the daffodils—long considered
the “flower of hope” by the American
Cancer Society—may receive even
greater attention. “Because of infection
control issues, we won’t be able to allow
patients to have real flowers in their
rooms,” says Bedell. “That will make the
appearance of the hillside daffodils even
more special.”
A Healthy Distraction
According to Langevin, it is the hummingbird’s
ability to capture attention and to
fascinate that makes it so beneficial to
patients. “They’re amazing to watch—
the way they’re able to hover with their
wings beating 53 times per second, and
the way the male’s dark throat turns iridescent
in the sunlight.”
“The birds serve as a frequent distraction
or diversion from whatever is bothering
the patients physically,” she says. “It
gives them something else to think about,
and something to look forward to.”
On one occasion, a patient became
so enthralled with the birds “the patient’s
girlfriend decided the feeder was theirs,
removed it, and took it home with
them—I wasn’t very happy about that,”
Langevin says, laughing. “Thankfully,
most are content to enjoy them from their
rooms.” That goes for the daffodils, too.
2003 NURSING ANNUAL REPORT
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