Small Acts of Kindness Reap Rewards

On December 26, 2004, Nate Berkus, the host of Oprah’s new TV show The Big Give, was vacationing at a beach resort on Sri Lanka when earthquake activity at the bottom of the Indian Ocean triggered a gargantuan tsunami. More than 225,000 people in 11 countries died as a result of that disaster, including Nate’s partner, Fernando Bengoechea.

In the ensuing three years I have seen Nate interviewed a few times and, when he speaks of his experience, he always mentions how grateful he was for the small things that were done for him in the days immediately following the tragic event. He spoke of it again today in a TV blurb that promoted The Big Give.

He said that after the tsunami hit, he had nothing. He was in a foreign country without a passport, without money, without clothing and grieving because his friend had been swept out to sea. He said the smallest gesture of kindness was appreciated in ways he’d never dreamed. The offer to share a hotel room with several others, the clothes he was given, something as simple as a smile—he was grateful for all of it. This is a guy who pretty much had it all--a lucrative design business, a measure of fame, a cushy lifestyle--but, there he was, grasping onto a stranger's smile for comfort.

I don’t want to come off as a Pollyanna, although I must say I don’t see anything wrong with being one, but little acts of kindness can make such a big difference for our patients and their families, for our colleagues, for someone you might meet on the street—anyone at all.

Speaking of customers at her business, a friend once told me that she considered unhappy people a challenge in a positive way. She felt it was her mission in life to make them happy and she worked on developing skills and creativity that would allow her to be successful at it.

Technically, nurses aren’t in the hospitality business, but we really are. Hospitality? Hospital? I think there just might be an undeniable connection. Perhaps if we treat our patients a little more like guests, our work days could be described using words like serene, calm, smooth, pleasant. It's not out of the question. Smiles and kind words are easy to dispense and they’re free.