Hospital Staff-Abdi

Abdi was my nurse on my last day at the hospital. We started off together shortly after 7 in the morning when I asked him to get me my clothes for the day. I feel awkward asking a man to get my clothes but Abdi was my only option at the moment. I had bought some flannel lounge pants to wear after surgery.  I asked him to grab my blue and green pants, my blue sweater, any color underwear except pink, and my bra.  He looks in the drawer and says he can't find what I am saying.  I look and see he has the blue green plaid pants in his hand.  I tell him he has them in his hand.  He asks, "You call this blue and green plaid?"  The pants are navy blue and green plaid.  I say yes.  He says he is color blind.  Next he says he can't find the blue sweater.  Again he has it in his hand.  I say it's in your hand.  He says this is a blue top not a blue sweater.  Next he says he found my pink underwear.  I laugh and say, "I wanted any color but pink and those are purple but hand them over."  We both laughed and Abdi's laugh is a girlish giggle that I love to hear and I try to make him do it all day. He has a wife and daughters and is no good with choosing their clothes either.  Abdi is smart though. He knows his medications and he is a good problem solver.  He explains things thoroughly and he treats me with the dignity of realizing I want to know the details.  His explanations aren't quotes from a textbook or a drug handbook.  He uses his own words and I can tell he has thought all these things through. He tries to solve problems creatively and some of his ideas are so terrible we both laugh together. During the day he gets assigned a patient on another floor who is in isolation with the flu.  I don't get to see him much.  Abdi was there when I needed him though and when I finally was able to urinate on my own, he was as happy as I was.  I would think having a young man like Abdi as my nurse would have been awkward but it wasn't.  He was kind and respectful and a skilled nurse.  I was lucky to have him.  Receiving such good service inspires me to offer good service when I get back to my job.  Not that I don't already offer good service but I will try a little harder because now I know how good it feels to get it.