Dr Au came into the Fundraising Office to ask if anyone would be interested in sharing a story for the upcoming Schwartz Round. We chatted about potential stories, and I put myself forward. Though I must admit I thought that, because my story wasn’t related to patient care, it wouldn’t be suitable the Schwartz Round. But Dr Au assured me it was totally suitable.
I drafted some notes and did some practice runs of my story to get the timing right. I had two meetings with Dr Au where we chatted about the content and she made some suggestions about what could be changed. She really helped me to focus the story more on the emotional side and how it impacted me, reaffirming that stories for the Schwartz Rounds do not have to be patient-based.
Myself and the other story tellers took part in a pre-Schwarz Round Teams meeting, with Dr Au and Dr Sanderson-Thomas. We all had the chance to tell our stories, which was really useful practice and also meant we weren’t hearing the other stories for the first time on the day of the Round. I am so glad we did that, because the other stories were very emotional and, truth be told, I cried during both!
Due to the need for social distancing, the Schwartz Round took place via Teams. For me, this made it much easier as during the call the only people I could see on screen were the facilitators and the other story tellers.
I felt very comfortable telling my story, but I do think if I had done it in person, in front of a room full of people, I’d have been more nervous.
Despite having already heard the other two stories previously, I still felt very emotional hearing them again.
After all three story tellers had told their stories, the other staff on the call were able to ask questions or make comments. At times people were just silent, reflecting on what they had just heard. Dr Au had told me to expect this, and I did worry that it might feel a bit awkward, but it wasn’t in the slightest.
I would recommend being a story teller, and would be willing to do it for another Schwartz Round in the future, if asked.
During the open session and after the Round had finished, I received some lovely comments from people saying how much they had enjoyed my story. That was really nice to hear, as I had worried that people wouldn’t find mine as interesting as the other, more emotive, stories.
I felt very supported during the process, and gained an insight and appreciation of the experiences of the other two story tellers that day.
