In the Hospital: Laura Shea

What’s fun about your job?

I love meeting new people. I met a woman a few weeks ago who was talking about being a hippie in the ‘60s in San Francisco, and how great it was and how soft millennials are. She actually put meth in her coffee because she needed a pick-me-up to clean her house. You can’t make this stuff up! It’s just really fascinating how people live their lives, and to have a window into their world and perspective is a privilege.

Do you take work home with you or do you disconnect?

I try to disconnect, however there are days when something sticks with you and you really worry and wonder about a patient. As I mentioned, you can’t give from an empty well—so I try to acknowledge this. I find that trying to have a rich life outside of work is an important part of self-care as well. Social work is a big part of my identity but it’s not entirely who I am. I focus on friends, family, travel, yoga, and things that sustain me. I can’t do my job effectively if I am not taking a step back regularly.

What advice do you have for other providers and for patients?

The hospital is so overwhelming for our patients, more so than some providers realize. I could be in the room with a patient for 45 minutes and six different providers may come in. I try to maintain that this is the patient’s bedroom I’m walking into. It’s a private, and a sacred space for them. That’s where they sleep. This is where they are trying to recover and grapple with what brought them into the hospital.

Laura, thank you so much for telling us about your work. Anything else you’d like to share with us?

Some days I’ll go home completely exhausted and wiped out, and at first, I don’t feel like I did a single solitary thing. Some of the things that I’m trying to help people work through ...it never occurred to me that someone could, for whatever reason, find themselves in such challenging situations. I don’t have a magic wand to provide someone with housing or sobriety, but maybe in that moment I can begin to make a connection. When I just listen, I am beginning to build relationships – which for some patients is something they haven’t had in a long time. It’s in these moments of being present, without an agenda, walking with them in their challenges, that I feel most connected to the work.

Thanks, Laura.