All it Takes is a Smile

It’s already been 2 weeks since I’ve been in the surgical ward, which means tomorrow I’m starting in the internal medicine A (infectious diseases) ward. At the end of my first week in surgery I went to the basement of the hospital with two other interns and the head nurse of the ward. He’s the type of guy (the head nurse) who LOOOOOVES to talk your ear off, so naturally he was giving us advice and telling stories during the entire trip. The other interns are all second years from nursing schools in Yaoundé. At one point the head nurse asked the other interns what makes me different from the rest of the interns (besides my skin tone and my American accent) and they were clueless…as was I. Finally, he told us that what sets me apart is the fact that I smile. He said it makes all the difference for the patients and the staff we work with. After he said that, I started noticing that the nurses here don’t really smile and that every time I smile at a patient, two things happen: 1) he/she has an incredibly surprised look on his/her face and then, 2) he/she smiles back, relaxes and his/her demeanor softens. That’s literally all it takes. I hadn’t noticed it before, probably because I smile all the time, but it all made sense to me because whenever I run into a patient or his/her family in the hallway, they always stop and talk to me. The head nurse made me realize that it’s simply because of my positive attitude that the patients feel comfortable telling me about themselves. For example, here it’s common for patients to give a little tip to nurses they like or feel are deserving of a reward. One morning I was changing one patient’s sheets as he was standing by the window. As I was working I said, “Bonjour, Monsieur Mahamat! Comment allez-vous ce matin?” (And of course I smiled). He turned to face me, smiled (was shocked that I was talking to him) and replied, “Bonjour, ca va très bien”. Ten minutes later, his brother came to the nurse’s station and gave me 1000 francs (about 2 bucks). He said that his brother was so pleased with the way I was with him that he wanted to give me a little something. It’s crazy how subtle culture differences can have such a huge influence on day-to-day life.