You know when I had my stroke in 2004 I stayed in ICU 10 or 12 days then sent to a recovery ward for six months to learn all I could to recover what I lost in an hour or so when the stroke hit me real hard... I think they called it the rehab floor because there were machines everywhere and attendees to work with us hourly...

It was funny, if you wanted them to  come to the room and let you use the commode the first question was "Can you do the paper work?? If you said yes they would come fast but if you said no, they were all at lunch and it would be about 30 minutes before anyone came to the room to let you go use the bathroom...

I remember a lot of the nurses during Ray's many hospitalizations would say: "Welcome back Ray, nice to see you again Sue" as if we were members of their family. That was in the early days of course.  Later when it was all agency staff the reception was a lot colder and more clinical. It was great then to see a familiar face and get a smile and a wave.  Good nurses are still out there working but the majority do not have the time to be as friendly now.