Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation

[Master's Teaching]
I often say that life is the most precious thing in this world. The profession of saving lives is therefore a very noble one. It is a very tough job, however—for doctors, nurses, technicians, and other medical personnel alike. The patients also do not have it easy, because they endure a lot of pain and suffering. Since a person can suddenly become ill, and accidents can happen to anyone at any time, medical professionals will need to be ready and prepared to treat patients at any given moment. So, the job can be quite busy and stressful. Under such pressures, many medical personnel start to lose sight of the value and significance of their work. It becomes only a means for them to earn money to support themselves and their family. They go to work without much willingness and end up not being happy on the job.

When I have the opportunity to speak to our medical staff, I would often encourage them to learn from the Tzu Chi volunteers who come to our hospital to care for the patients. These volunteers normally do charity work in their community. They devote their time and efforts to helping the poor and others in difficult circumstances, giving them love and support. For our volunteers, helping people is their mission. When they see people in need getting the help they need, they feel very happy. They feel a sense of accomplishment and inner peace to know that they've done something good for another fellow human being.

The work of medicine is like that of charity. The essence of it is to help patients and alleviate their suffering. In our hospital, medical staff sometimes make house calls to follow up on some of their patients. When they see the patients in their living environment, they see for themselves how the treatment they gave has helped lessen the people's suffering and made their lives easier. Because of this, the medical personnel feel a renewed sense of purpose. From that time on, they go to work with a sense of mission. The content of their work hasn't changed, but because they have rediscovered their work's meaning and purpose, they come to have a very different inner experience. With this change in perspective, although the work is still just as tough and demanding, they do it joyfully and find their job very satisfying.

Source: Nursing Journal