Being a Nurse After Being a Patient

My experience as a patient after being a nurse for almost two years. Nurses Announcements Archive Article

Being a Nurse After Being a Patient

I became a nurse two years ago as a "second career" (although I never really made a career from my first degree, a Bachelors in psychology). Since becoming a nurse, I had never had any major surgery, nor had I ever had to stay in the hospital. Until the birth of my third child.

Unlike my first two children, I ended up having an emergency cesarean section and felt the utter helplessness that can come from having a procedure that you didn't expect or ever want to have. I cried as they rushed me to the OR, because my baby's heart rate dropped to 40 and I was convinced that he was dead. (Thankfully, not only was he still alive but totally healthy, not even needing to go to NICU). I was in shock and didn't even feel it as they inserted an epidural (because up until that point, I had been going through contractions without any pain medication and had been doing fine) and a foley catheter. I didn't really hear much when they asked me to sign the consent (because how am I going to say no when I was convinced my baby was dead?). I do remember somebody telling me to try and stop crying because I needed to breathe for the baby. And I remember looking for my husband, who came once they had prepped me for surgery. I had never felt so helpless in my entire life as I did when I was lying on the operating table. Thankfully my baby's heart rate had gone back to normal once I had gotten to the OR, and he was okay after he was finally out into the world.

It was an interesting perspective, to be a patient in the hospital after being a nurse. Here are the things I experienced/learned/relearned during my short stay at the hospital:

I hate the pain scale:

I have never experienced pain as I did when I had my c-section. All women experience labor pains differently, and for me, labor pains were a cakewalk compared to the pain I had after surgery. It was truly 10 out of 10 pain. What I never realized, however, was how annoying that question is. How can you tell which pain is 7 compared to 9? For me, it was either "extremely painful" or "slightly more tolerable." But to distinguish between the numbers was really annoying. I began to think that maybe it was annoying for my patients as well.

Pain is serious business:

As I said, I was in serious pain after my c-section. I had never felt pain like it before. I couldn't even lift my baby in or out of his bassinet after he was born. Things that were so simple, like readjusting my position in bed, were suddenly excruciatingly painful. Despite my very real pain, however, I realized that I actually felt guilty for having to call my nurse for help, and for asking for pain medicine every few hours. I felt like I had to justify my request for pain medicine, or apologize for bothering her because she might be busy. I realized how important it is for us as nurses to never make our patients feel guilty for asking for help, no matter how busy we are. We also must try not to make assumptions about how much pain a patient is in, because everyone expresses pain in a different way. While some are very vocal about their pain, others (like me) might be quieter about it. We "grit our teeth and bear it" because we don't want to seem like a burden, or we are afraid of taking too much pain medication. Pain assessment, and trying our best to manage our patients' pain, is a very important part of our job as nurses.

Hospitals are the worst!

I love working at a hospital, but I hate being there as a patient. It is impossible to get decent sleep, the food is different from what you are used to, and there is a loss of control and a feeling of helplessness when you are a patient in the strange environment called the hospital. I was admitted Thursday night, had the c-section Friday evening, and by Sunday morning, when the nurse asked me if I wanted to leave that day or stay until Monday, I jumped at the chance to leave as soon as possible. All I wanted to do is be at home, and I know that most of my patients feel the same way. I was grateful, however, to have nurses who were nothing but nice and considerate the entire time I was there at the hospital.

We all have our days of being stressed and tired as nurses. We get caught up in checking lab values and passing our medications on time and doctors who are mean or patients who snap at us or take up a lot of our time or family members who are rude, and we sometimes forget what it must be like for our patients to be in the hospital. Being a patient, even for such a short time, reminded me of how I need to always try to see things from my patient's perspective and to always try to put myself in their shoes, no matter what happens during my crazy day at work. And it reminded me to always be grateful to have a job where I can make a difference, even a small one, in people's lives.

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coffeemamaRN

About coffeemamaRN, RN

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I recently had a c-section, too. The most horrible thing for me was having my table moved just out of reach every time staff came into my room. After the anesthesia wore off and I could move more than just my shoulders and arms, it wasn't an issue ....but I will probably be more careful about moving my patients' tables from now on.

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Specializes in Adult MICU/SICU.

Okay - do I know you? Because more or less you just described my own delivery many years ago ...

I had just graduated with a BSN in December 1993, took my NCLEX (the last pencil and paper exam) in early February 1994, and my son was born late February that same year.

I didn't expect a cesarean delivery either - until my son's HR dropped to 40. I got an epidural for surgery - and felt the surgery on the R side the entire time (It felt like I was having my organs pulled out - the pressure was indescribable and excruciating). "That's normal" they blandly told me ...

Post-op in PACU I was more than a bit freaked out when I discovered was paralysed from the neck down for hours (when they put my son in my arms I was terrified I was going to drop him). I couldn't wait for the epidural to wear off ... until the excruciating abd pain started that is.

It was unbelievable how extremely painful it was too. I couldn't stand up straight and walk for over a week. Every dose of pain medication I felt I had to justify. Some of my nurses told me I shouldn't be experiencing so much pain ("Have YOU ever had abd surgery?" … "No" was the reply each time). Because I was a nurse I felt I was expected to be stoic (nurses don't feel acute surgical pain?). Not a fun experience - and not one I ever chose to repeat. I had originally planned on 3 children - I decided 1 was just fine.

I took 6 weeks off for maternity leave, then embarked upon a new nursing career, as well as another new, very important primary job: motherhood.

I was stunned that everything I learned in nursing school was extremely different from the pt point of view. Things were not always as we were told they were for the pt. One thing I walked away from that experience with was the absolute knowledge that not every pt will experience things the same way - and Lord help you if you don't fit into that neat category of "what is expected".

Luckily, my horrific experience as a pt so early on in my own nursing career instilled in me more empathy for the people who sat/laid in the hospital beds - those entrusted into my care. It is a scary position to be in, and for many it strips one's power away - almost making you feel like a child … naked and dependent. That was not a memory that faded away quickly in the least, and made me consider every action, every word spoken to each and every pt. Compassion for a pt's situation goes far beyond dressing changes, and Rx med passes. Making sure you really see the person, not just the Dx, makes all the difference from the other side of the hospital bed. And a little empathy and kindness goes a long, long way.

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coffeemamaRN,

I hear you!

Being a patient, or a loved one of a very sick person changes one's whole perspective as a nurse. It made me a much stronger advocate for my patients once I visited "the other side"! It also made me realize more than ever, that patients need their basic needs met...and I'm not talking just about food, toileting, bathing...etc...I'm also talking about their psychological needs and emotional needs. I remember something in nursing school about "locus of control" and figured out what it really meant.

Sometimes, medical personnel forget just how much that patient wants compassion and caring....two very basic attributes...or a follow-up phone call about a test result, a follow-up comment (I called the doctor and he said...) or what their basic needs are about. I can't tell you how many times I've heard a nurse say..."look at that patient sleeping, they must not be in too much pain if they can sleep"! Guess what? If I'm having pain and I take an extra strength Tylenol and it works...I get sleepy, sometimes, too!

Thanks for sharing your comments....it does make a difference to be "on the other side".

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I recently had a c-section, too. The most horrible thing for me was having my table moved just out of reach every time staff came into my room. After the anesthesia wore off and I could move more than just my shoulders and arms, it wasn't an issue ....but I will probably be more careful about moving my patients' tables from now on.

For me the worst thing was the door to the room.

I always had my door closed completely and latched.

Every single person who entered my room, left the door open. You would be surprised by how many people enter the patients room (nurse, cna, housekeeping, physician, meal delivery, meal pickup, lab, etc.) Probably 4 times an hour.

I had a 28cm abdominal incision, had on SCDs, had IVs in both arms.

I'd stuggle into a sitting position. Remove the SCDs. Raise the bed to a height I could easily stand from. Unplug my pumps from the wall. (I had IV poles on both sides of the bed, so I had to go around the bed to unplug them from each side.) Drag both IV poles to the door and close it. Then I'd plug my pumps back into the sockets on each side of the bed. Get back into bed. Put the SCDs back on. Lower the bed.

After a while I remembered to ask each person to be sure to shut the door when they left. They would pull it partially close, but never until it latched. When the air handler kicked on, the door would blow open, so I would still have to get out of bed to close it.

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Hey, OP congrats on your healthy babies and your RN!

I was already a nurse when I had my emergency C section- same thing to the t.

The worst part for me? This was the hospital in which I worked. I was crying afterwards. I felt like a helpless failure, I was in pain and I was hallucinating on ketamine.

The nurse came to my door... Finally, someone to check on me!... And she closed the door. She closed the freaking door on me when I was crying!!!

I was her patient and her coworker.

She stood out to me because NONE of the other nurses I worked with were ever remotely that insensitive.

I will never forget her ugly face.

ETA: I also have a BA in Psych, as do many of us here.

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Specializes in Corrections, neurology, dialysis.
I recently had a c-section, too. The most horrible thing for me was having my table moved just out of reach every time staff came into my room. After the anesthesia wore off and I could move more than just my shoulders and arms, it wasn't an issue ....but I will probably be more careful about moving my patients' tables from now on.

I try to be considerate about a patient's bedside table because I see that all the time. Whenever I am dialyzing a patient, several different healthcare workers will come in and out of the room to examine the patient almost no one will push the bedside table back to where it was. It's very common for me to get up several times during treatment and push their table back for them. I also make this a step in any procedure I do. "Apply sterile caps. Wrap ends in gauze. Throw away packaging. Wipe the table with Cavi Wipe. Push table back to'its original position". It's easy to forget that when you're in the middle of something, so if I'm writing a little procedure reminder for myself, I always add this step. It's such a little thing but it can be a huge barrier for a patient who has trouble moving around.

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OMG! Thank you for bringing up the door being opened. It was opposite for me. I'm not complaining that my door was shut, I'm complaining that when I requested, received and read my medical records after my first born, I was upset because of what the "nurses" wrote in my chart. When they came into my room and leave, they would shut the door. I didn't shut the door nor did I ask for the door to be shut, they just shut it, but the comments made were "how I would keep my door shut". When they would bring my baby to the room (days before the baby's could sleep in the room and be with the mom and dad all day), another note written was "hooray for mom, she has the baby". "Finally, mom has baby in room". "Mom keeps door shut all the time". First, being a first time mom 30 years ago, I didn't know the rules and didn't speak up or asked a lot of questions. They would bring the baby for me to nurse and then take the baby back to the nursery. They brought my baby to me and would take it back. 30 years ago, I'm not sure if we were even allowed to ask for the baby to stay in the room. When I was in the delivery room, they kept my arms under the blankets, drape. They placed my baby on top of me, but when I moved a little, they kept me from bringing my arms out from under the drape. Yet a comment in my chart was "didn't bond with baby". I haven't been in the hospital for over 20 years as a patient, but recently I was and I had a few special request and the nurses acted as if I asked for a million dollars. I hope the nurses who read this post realizes they need to try and see stuff from the patient's side of the bed.

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When I was 22 and a free loving Deadhead waitress, lol, I was in a car accident driving to California from Colorado with two friends. The driver or our car fell asleep in Nevada and rolled our car 300 yards into the desert. I fractured my neck in multiple vertebre, skull fracture x5, BIL collapsed lungs.

I was in an induced coma for about 3 months, I hear, as I still don't remember any of it. In a stryker frame with screws in my head. By the Grace of God and the skilled hands of a surgeon and most excellent care of my nurses, I was saved. I spent about a month going to rehab, both inpatient and out. Shout out to what was called "Washoe Medical center in RENO,NV and their staff for saving my life.

Coming close to death changes a person in a way I cannot describe unless you have been there. Changes your perspective. I felt like I had been saved for a reason and I needed to give something back. I became an Ortho Trauma nurse at a Level I trauma center. I loved it so, I felt I had a connection with all my Trauma patients, and I would share my story with them.

My accident was in 1991, at which time I had a cervical fusion. Well in 2008, 17 years later, I had terrible pain in my neck. It was then that I discovered that my fusion had never worked, and my neck was still broken in two places. I had a revision fusion of C4-C7 and was a patient on the floor I WORKED ON!!!! My fellow nurses were wonderful! I guess I think words to live by for nurses are this " That your patient may only be in your life a short time, But you may be in theirs forever" When it's time for your patient to have their Bolus of TUBE feeding, guess what? They are HUNGRY! Just cause you aren't allowed to eat doesn't tell your stomach aren't. I remember mostly wonderful care, but I also remember a nursing staff telling me to try to use a diaper because a bedpan was apparently too much work for a 22 y.o continent adult. Just terrible. Being a patient is definitely a humbling experience. I value my experiences as I think they made me who I am, and have helped me to give back for all I have received. Life is Good

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I've had a few hospital experiences personally and a bunch as a family member. They have made me a better nurse and a better person.

In general, I like people. To answer the question asked in I bought a Zoo, people are my favorite. I believe most are trying their best to survive and I count my blessings for my own rich full life with countless wonderful opportunities and experiences and I think that gratitude makes a world of difference in my attitude towards others.

Combine all of that and I feel like I've most succeeded when my patients have caught themselves realizing they aren't my only patient. Up until then they felt so cared and advocated for they believed they had me all to themselves. This did not make them more demanding, it made them feel secure and a secure patient is calmer and more trusting.

I think that is a hard concept for most nurses to grasp but in my own patient care experiment, treating all people like people has the best outcomes for us and the patients/families.

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C section pain is the worse. I now sympathize with my patient.

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I'm in the process of becoming a nurse because of my time as a patient. I had a serious accident that lead to weeks in the hospital, multiple surgeries, and months of PT. This accident was my first real interaction with the medical community and it made me consider changing careers. Because of my background and the fact I spent the most time there, physical therapy became the obvious choice. I started going back to school for the basic anatomy, physio, micro prereqs and volunteering at a hospital in preparation for getting into a PT program. Now I had a few good memories from my accident of nurses being incredibly helpful and caring. An ICU nurse spending most of the night with me after I woke up from a late surgery, still not really understand what had happened to me, is the biggest. I wasn't considering nursing as a career though. Volunteering at the hospital showed me that RN's really seem to be the backbone of healthcare. A lot of patients I've discharged want to say thank you to their RN but not one has asked about their doctor. After awhile it dawned on me that nursing would be a good career choice. I feel you can make a bigger impact on peoples lives as nurse then in doing almost anything else. I had some issue with it though, and to be honest a few of them were because I'm a guy. After doing more research, which lead me here, I made my decision to pursue nursing instead of PT. I start an ABSN program this year, hope to be a ICU nurse for years, and then maybe a primary care NP.

Treating people as people and not a task or puzzle seems to be the biggest thing in helping people get better. They need to feel you understand them so that they can believe you are really interested in helping them. Its a skill most doctors don't seem to have but a lot of nurses do. I think this is really clear when you are a patient.

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