One afternoon a scared little boy came to the ER with a laceration on his knee. He immediately and very loudly announced that he doesn't like needles and no one was going to poke him with a needle. A short conversation passed. With the thought in our minds that this was going to be doable, the provider approached this child with a lidocaine filled syringe WITH A NEEDLE !!! Immediately legs were flying and staff were ducking potential blows. Several more comforting conversations followed with multiple staff trying to talk this boy into allowing us to take care of him. His mother attempted tenderness and then a firmness in her voice but the child wasn't buying it.
Steve came on shift and wandered into the room. He walked over to the child and started talking to him. Nothing special. No special technique, no tricky words, just Steve being Steve. Within minutes the boy was laughing. The signs of stress left his face and he was relaxed. It was a natural fit that Steve took over care of the patient; his knee got sutured and he went home a happy kid, not to mention a much relieved mother.
This story isn't a single event. Day after day, the ER nurses are subjected to "where's Steve?" from patients that have crossed his path. Even people in the community relate Rumford Hospital's ER with Steve or "Doctor Steve", as he's been fondly called by some of them. Steve has a unique quality that endears him to those he cares for.