Issue link: http://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/537639
MERCY MEDICAL CENTER-CENTERVILLE /// www.mercycenterville.org 7 To LiveUp is to make the most of life by putting others first. Here are some easy ways you can LiveUp this week: Give your spouse an unexpected compliment. Leave an encouraging note on a coworker's desk. Make a healthy gift basket for a neighbor using fruits and veggies from your garden. Donate to a disaster relief fund. Accompany an elderly family member to a medical appointment. Help a parent or grandparent complete an advance directive. Help your child research local volunteer opportunities. Give someone an extra-long hug. How Do You LiveUp? LiveUP moment Recently, Mercy Medical Center-Centerville received a letter from a patient who had come to the Emergency Room (ER) struggling with drug abuse and wanting to change. THE PATIENT STATED that the Mercy-Centerville ER nurses had changed his life. He said they treated him with respect and never looked down on him. He described how sweet and caring they were, even when his own friends and family weren't. They even used their personal resources to provide him with assistance and arranged for him to go to a facility in Des Moines for help. Clean for 100 days, he wanted to thank them for the difference they made, noting that he would never forget it. Not surprisingly, one of those nurses was Carla Cochran, RN, a 26-year veteran at Mercy-Centerville who works primarily at night. Surprised to hear about the letter, Carla stated that it isn't unusual for the nurses to help people in ways like this, even drawing from their own resources to contribute. "We see many people who come to us broken — not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually, also," she says. "To hear back from a patient that we've been able to help in some small way reinforces what a privilege it is for us to serve everyone." This is just one way that Mercy-Centerville employees Respect Dignity Always and in All Ways. Words to LiveUp By "The simplest and most practical lesson I know is to resolve to be good today but better tomorrow." — The Venerable Mother Catherine McAuley, Sisters of Mercy