It was my first night caring for an elderly patient. When he grew sleepy, I wheeled his chair as close to the bed as possible and, using the techniques I’d learned in school, grasped him in a bear hug to lift him into the bed. But I couldn’t clear the top of the mattress. So I grabbed him again, summoned all my might, and the same.

When the night shift nurse arrived, I told her what had happened.

“Strange thing,” she said, looking puzzled. “Usually I just ask him to get in bed, and he does.”