Part of patient care is the person's well being emotionally. So save the judgement. A facility should feel safe. If you have patients who are emotionally upset over their perception of care, this can add to an already diffcult patient assignment. Not to mention it is wrong and mean. A nurse is only as good as a patient's perception is a relatively new concept in nursing practice, but a concept that is not likely to change any time soon. With that in mind, a few words of wisdom...
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There's an old saying "don't judge unless you have walked a mile in their shoes". One of the more difficult aspects on becoming a nurse is seperating your private "you" from your nursing "you".
There has been more than one discussion on "hating" a certain patient group. That they are too difficult to care for, emotionally and/or physically challenging, that you are not one with their culture, their lifestyle, their choices. If you step back for a moment and think about how you as a nurse have the opportunity to keep your patient's dignity intact while providing excellent care, you can define your practice as a nurse.
Life is full of could've, would've, should'ves. As nurses, we are only educators. We don't own time machines to catapult someone back in time to change things for a patient. We can only go on from here. To remember that you can only educate a patient so much, empathize with their condition and the challenges that it presents, that you care about how they are cared for--this all goes a long way to ensure that a patient's condition doesn't worsen (causing more patient discomfort) than what they present with.
This is also a good opportunity to get creative. If you need to figure out how to care for a patient's challenges, brain storm. What can you do and how can you do it so that the patient is the winner? Use your brain and your resources. Ask seasoned nurses how they do what they do.
Part of patient care is the person's well being emotionally. So save the judgement. A facility should feel safe. If you have patients who are emotionally upset over their perception of care, this can add to an already diffcult patient assignment. Not to mention it is wrong and mean.
So really learn cultural competencies. Embrace the notion that patients have ideas different than your own, have customs or religions or definitions of family that may be the opposite of what you as a person feel is not "right". That's ok, but it is not ok to make a patient's perception as such that they feel less of a human because of it. So in your nursing practice, be sure that a patient's needs are put before your own personal thought processes.
Regardless how a patient presents, disease is not illnesses of moral failing, or poor self control, of poor choices. There are disease processes that have developed from choices or lack of, however, one can not assume that because someone is over-weight they eat too much, that they have chronic pain they are drug addicted and or "seekers", that they have COPD because they smoke, liver issues because they drink, psych issues because they are the generalized "crazy". Get those assumptions out of your head now, and it can only strengthen your practice as a nurse.
Patient's perception of care is becoming big business for facilities. With that being said, it should become a practice norm for you. When you are in your own life, in your own skin you can choose to act how you would like to. When you are responsible for the care and comfort of a patient, use your character and integrity as a nurse. It can make you well rounded, well respected, and an integral part of a nursing team.
