Great Stories
Montana Campus Corps:
College Students Meeting Critical Community Needs
Compassion and Caring by Carmin Eckhart

Health care professionals always strive to make a difference in someone’s life, either by improving their health, monitoring their changes, or allowing them to be comfortable during their final days. I have had the privilege of having my clinical site at two very different organizations, and as a result, I have learned two very unique ways that an organization will try making a difference in their patients’ lives. The same tool at both places seems to be an overpowering strength, the power of compassion. Compassion either from a hospital staff, a loved one, or both is what is the real driving force on how individuals respond to their treatment.
There is one couple that still stands out, in my first couple of weeks, that I really started understanding the importance of compassion, caring, and every action that goes with this statement. An elderly gentleman had been checked in the hospital by his wife, who had driven him a considerable distance, from my understanding, just to get him the care he needed. His wife had heard that the VA Hospital had a wonderful reputation of turning patient’s health problems around. The gentleman’s wife every time I seen him was right their at his side. She would follow him all over the hospital, to x-ray, to CT, anywhere his nurse would wheel him to. At the same time, the hospital staff in return treated her (just like they would with any of their patients) like family. I began to see how not just treating the patient, but the patient’s family is just as important as treating the problem. It all can be started with compassion, caring, and a smile!


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