The Human Touch
by Tammy Harrison

Technology is really great. It allows me to work from the comfort of my own home, communicate with family and friends without picking up the telephone and gives me an opportunity to shop without having to endure crowds. 

What it does not do is touch me.

I have four children, and each one was born in a hospital. Each birth was a joyous experience in and of itself, but the evolution of technology has opened my eyes to the constraints of the ways this great engineering has changed everything from business to health care.

Nearly six years ago, I was admitted to the hospital to have our first child. The nurses came in with their clipboards and took my vitals and visited with me about my condition. I remember the little tracking stickers on all of the products the nurses used on me, and after asking why the nurse had stickers all over her smock I understood that after she was finished working on me, she would go out to the computer and input all of the tracking numbers so my account could be appropriately billed. The nurse touched me, even just touching my arm while she was talking to me.

The next two children came along starting three years later and were both born in the same hospital, 16 months apart. At this hospital, they used the same tracking system except it had evolved from the nurse inputting each individual number to the stickers containing UPC codes and the ward clerk using a UPC scanner to input the charges. Not much had changed with the way my nurse took care of me, except she put the blood pressure cuff on me and left it there for my entire stay.

Six weeks ago, I was admitted to the hospital to have baby Grace. After we got settled in a room, the nurse came in to admit me. She took all of my information and input it into the computer, which was sitting next to my bed. Throughout the day, the nursing staff monitored me in much the same way I had remembered from previous experience - except for touching. Everything was computerized! 

The nurse did touch the computer screen and keyboard, each time she came in to check on me. She looked at the monitor to make sure the baby's heartbeat was strong and she looked at the monitor to make sure my contractions were progressing. The automatic blood pressure cuff measured my blood pressure and heart rate at prerecorded intervals. The monitors strapped to my abdomen monitored the contractions and the baby. An ear thermometer showed my temperature and the IV pump was plugged in to pump fluids into me. 

After returning home and recovering, I realized that I was just as guilty as the health care profession at losing my human touch. I prefer to visit with people via email, on my own time and in my own way. I rarely have to talk to people on the telephone and I meet people in person even less. 

Is time I took matters into my own hands and put touching back into my business.

I went in this morning and ordered two HBWM.com t-shirts, so I could wear my home-based lifestyle for all to see. This way, I open myself up for others to see where my heart is and possibly visit, in person, with people who are interested in what I do. Last week, I called more people than usual, making sure they realized there really was another person on the other end of my emails. I have found that most would rather have a telephone conversation with my kids doing their thing in the background than never hear my voice. 

Technology is wonderful, but the limitations are clear--we lose the one thing that makes us human and that is our ability to touch others.

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