-This literally happened. A patient who is confused is trying to get out of bed to go home. I keep running in there to make sure she doesn't fall. She wants us to call the police. Eventually, my manager goes in to explain to her that she needs to stay in bed but she has a call light to call us if she needs anything. (I'd already explained this, but she didn't listen to me) She pushes the call light (which happens to be connected to my phone so it rings whenever a call light goes off) and I walk into the room. I ask her, "What can I get you?" as I turn the call light off. She pushes the button again. My phone rings and I shut it off. I turn the light off. I ask her what she needs. She pushes the button. My phone rings. I shut it off. I turn the light off. I tell her that I'm in the room to answer the light. She pushes the button. My phone rings. I shut it off. I turn the light off. I tell her that the button is calling me. She asks us to call the police. She pushes the button. My phone rings. I shut it off. I turn the light off. I ask her why she keeps pushing the button. She pushes the button. My phone rings. I shut it off. I turn the light off. Another nurse comes in cracking up cause she can hear the conversation. We try to distract her with something else so she doesn't keep pushing the button. She pushes the button. My phone rings. I turn the light off.
Eventually, she quieted down a little bit.
-I have a patient who is unable to eat, move, or talk. All she can do is lie in bed and moan in pain. The patient's family won't consider hospice or making her a DNR patient. They want to take her home and let an 18 year old family member be the primary caretaker. I can't do anything to help her or make her more comfortable except give her medications through her feeding tube.
-I spend less than 10 minutes explaining diabetes and it's management with a patient who is newly diagnosed. He tells me, "Thank you so much for explaining this. You made so much more sense than the doctor who was in here earlier. I really appreciate you taking the time cause you made it very clear."
Eventually, she quieted down a little bit.
-I have a patient who is unable to eat, move, or talk. All she can do is lie in bed and moan in pain. The patient's family won't consider hospice or making her a DNR patient. They want to take her home and let an 18 year old family member be the primary caretaker. I can't do anything to help her or make her more comfortable except give her medications through her feeding tube.
-I spend less than 10 minutes explaining diabetes and it's management with a patient who is newly diagnosed. He tells me, "Thank you so much for explaining this. You made so much more sense than the doctor who was in here earlier. I really appreciate you taking the time cause you made it very clear."
-Sidenote: I am definitely going to teach someday. It gives me such satisfaction to see somebody understand something for the first time.
-I help a tiny old lady up to sit in the chair, and as she stands up, she urinates all over my shoes. She doesn't even know it.
- It wasn't my patient, but I witnessed a patient pass away for the first time. It was expected and peaceful, but still heartbreaking for the family that was there.
-A patient tells me that I shouldn't sneak up on him during the night to get his blood pressure because he was in the war and might accidentally punch me. I followed his advice and keep my distance until he was definitely awake.
-I have had the opportunity to pray with more patients. I've gotten bolder about asking. Each time, it feels like a sacred moment. Prayer is a powerful thing. It can calm a woman who is anxious about an upcoming surgery. It can give confidence to a man who is worried about paying for his medical bills. It can bring emotional healing to the family of a very ill patient.
- Part 1. I have a semi-violent patient who is getting worse as time goes on. She tries to pull out her IV and heart monitor, refuses to take her medications, she takes off her oxygen, she breaks her breathing machine, and is screaming at the top of her lungs, so we get an order to put her in restraints. While we're putting them on, she slaps me in the face (lightly, luckily) and grabs my nametag and starts pulling. Luckily she's not very strong.
-Part 2. The scenario above takes place in a semi-private room where the beds are separated by a curtain only. While I'm getting slapped and am trying to do some damage control, the patient's neighbor is calmly describing to my her new problem of incontinence, asking me to bring her some peanut butter, and asks me if I can change the TV channel for her. My verbal response, "I'll be with you in just a minute!" My mental response, "Can't you see I'm busy here!"
-I help a tiny old lady up to sit in the chair, and as she stands up, she urinates all over my shoes. She doesn't even know it.
- It wasn't my patient, but I witnessed a patient pass away for the first time. It was expected and peaceful, but still heartbreaking for the family that was there.
-A patient tells me that I shouldn't sneak up on him during the night to get his blood pressure because he was in the war and might accidentally punch me. I followed his advice and keep my distance until he was definitely awake.
-I have had the opportunity to pray with more patients. I've gotten bolder about asking. Each time, it feels like a sacred moment. Prayer is a powerful thing. It can calm a woman who is anxious about an upcoming surgery. It can give confidence to a man who is worried about paying for his medical bills. It can bring emotional healing to the family of a very ill patient.
- Part 1. I have a semi-violent patient who is getting worse as time goes on. She tries to pull out her IV and heart monitor, refuses to take her medications, she takes off her oxygen, she breaks her breathing machine, and is screaming at the top of her lungs, so we get an order to put her in restraints. While we're putting them on, she slaps me in the face (lightly, luckily) and grabs my nametag and starts pulling. Luckily she's not very strong.
-Part 2. The scenario above takes place in a semi-private room where the beds are separated by a curtain only. While I'm getting slapped and am trying to do some damage control, the patient's neighbor is calmly describing to my her new problem of incontinence, asking me to bring her some peanut butter, and asks me if I can change the TV channel for her. My verbal response, "I'll be with you in just a minute!" My mental response, "Can't you see I'm busy here!"
That's all for now. More to come in the future!
-C-
-C-
I love reading your "moments" posts - I like to picture you in each of these situations as I read them. Some of these provide some really funny mental images. ;) I love how passionate you are about what you do. Keep up the good work (and the blogging about it too)! :)
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