Opinion: Mrs. J wanted a blanket in the emergency department. Saying no chips away at my soul

What upsets Mrs. J isn’t the six hours she’s waited in the emergency department to see a doctor for a growing and surprisingly painful inflamed area on her leg. Or that she’s being examined in an ad hoc space in the triage area because the department’s rooms are filled with patients waiting to be admitted to the backed-up hospital wards upstairs. What’s she’s upset about is that when she asked the triage nurse for a blanket a few hours earlier while still in the waiting room, she was told, “I’m sorry. I can’t give you one.”
“A blanket!” cries Mrs. J. “That’s all I asked for.” Read the rest…