A Time You Made a Patient Smile?

cindyloowho · Jan 27, 2012

I had a large athletic pt freak out in his MRI and called it off, refusing to finish. He was young and healthy had a stroke out of nowhere, so we were working him up and he really needed that MRI! Well, when he arrived back in his room, I basically had a "stop being a baby" talk with him and convinced him to suck it up and get back in the tube. When he came back up, for the second and this time successful time, he was grinning from ear to ear. He was sooooo proud of himself and so thankful I beat it into him. The whole rest of his stay he kept telling everyone how he conquered his fear and how a tiny little nurse bullied him into it. I was proud of him too :-) Of course the ativan and my team leader holding his hand from outside of the tube the whole time helped, LOL!

schooldistrictnurse · Jan 27, 2012

My mom was the one who cracked up the PT and myself. At this time,she was about 85 pounds and had been through a couple of nasty strokes. Picture the little old lady that you might describe as a little bird. So the PT has her sitting in a chair and she is listing to the left like crazy. The PT asks her "Katherine, why do you always lean to the left?" Mom replies without skipping a beat, "that's my politics."

GitanoRN, BSN, MSN, RN · Jan 27, 2012

i don't know about everyone else, but with all the stress that we put up with being nurses, whenever i make a patient smile or have one tell me "thank you for being my nurse today" it makes it all worth it.
today i had a elderly woman patient with a gi bleed taking a bowel prep for a colonoscopy so she was on the bedside commode every 10 minutes. she said that she told her family earlier, "i had no idea i was so full of sh*t." i asked her what color her eyes were. she looked at me for a second and said "what?" seeing she had green eyes, i said, "well, they're not brown are they?" she looked at me for a second then started cracking up laughing and told me she had never heard that before. i could tell she was worried and scared about her condition, and just seeing her smile made me feel like i made some kind of difference in her day.
anyone have any good stories to share? :)

certainly, we all can relate with this issue some more than others. just today, i had a pt. that came up to me and said "i know that today is going to be a good day, cause you're here". at times, it strikes me funny how little encouragement we nurses need to make it all worthwhile. :cool:

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Jan 27, 2012

I had a funny moment with one of my residents just this afternoon. I'd just drawn up her B-12 and brought everything to her room, explaining that I was going to give her her shot, when she asked me what kind of shot it was.

"It's the B-12 you get every month, Ginny," I told her. She got a funny, fake-disappointed look on her face and said "Oh, I was hoping for a really GOOD shot. Like a shot of whiskey!"

I shook my head and joked, "Nope, and even if we had some, I'd have to find someone around here who's old enough to serve it to you." Whereupon she broke into shouts of laughter beyond anything I was expecting, as absurd as my statement was. That's because I'm 53 years old and have more grey hair than some of my residents! I've never seen that little ol' gal laugh so hard in all the time I've known her, so it was worth it......even though it was at my own expense! :lol2:

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Jan 27, 2012

I have had many moments but once in cath lab I was going through my usual blow by blow play for the patients in my care and I had the sweetest, cutest little ole lady....you know the type, very prim and proper... blue hair and all. As I was going through the blow by blow "You are going to feel something cold and wet in your groin" usually I follow it with "as they clean the area for the procedure" but I got distracted by lab.

It was then time to infiltrate with lido and I said "You are going to feel a little prick in your groin" to which the patient replied...."Doesn't the doctor get angry when you describe his talents in such a negative way? I mean really....wet, cold and little? But at my age honey Little or not I'll take what I can get" :rotfl: After a brief stunned silence we needed several minuets to recover our composure to continue the procedure.

Blueorchid, ASN, RN · Jan 27, 2012

A slight reversal of the situation.

As a new grad on a busy ICU floor, I had the pleasure of dealing with a nurse for the first 4 months or so off orientation who would go out of her way to tell me each and every thing I did wrong. She would pick over my charting with a fine tooth comb (despite the fact that when I looked back at her notes I found things missing that she would yell at me over), and on special occasions would take the time to insult me in front of patients who were awake and oriented, or extubated and completely conscious. Don't get me wrong, I learn from my mistakes (and I end up being a better nurse for it) but the way she "taught" was terrible- if she even called it teaching. At one point, after taking report from her on night shift, with two days in a row of the same shebang I'd had enough.

My patient could clearly see I was upset (and I was doing my best to hide it from him). He had a huge soft tissue infection that had gone down to the fascia and in some places the bone of his right leg (it later moved to his left...ah vibrio...) His response after hearing everything she said?

"Actually I thought you were one of the better nurses Ive had up here."

I took a deep breath and said while she had a right to an opinion, I tried to learn from everything people taught me and that I wasn't going to let it get to me. (Can you feel the PR coming from that response?) His rebuttal? "And you know what else? Opinions are like *******s, everyone has one"

The first comment made me smile, the next one had us both laughing. He eventually passed away but every once and a while I still think about him.

caregiver1977 · Jan 27, 2012

This is a great thread.

dudette10, MSN, RN · Jan 27, 2012

I had a youngish patient in chronic pain for a few nights straight. I also had her roommate. Both had trouble sleeping at night, despite the sleep aid on PM shift and the pain meds I was giving to both of them. The last night I worked, my young patient was crying quietly. I asked her if she would like to talk about it, and she said no. I let her be, but I looked for an opening whenever it was time for pain meds. At one point, her roommate whispered to me, "I could hear her crying all day long."

All right. That's it. I went to my young patient's bed, held her hand, and said, "This pain you're going through is crap. I know you want to be home with your children. Sometimes, you just need to cry it all out. Do it. I'm here." She cried her eyes out for a few minutes, and I had a few tears run down my face too. When she was done, she grabbed the tissues at her bedside and said, "One for me and one for you." Then she laughed.

The rest of the night, she didn't cry at all, I administered the usual pain med to her, and she slept quietly for a few hours.

Giving "permission" to a patient for a no-holds-barred crying session can be therapeutic and cathartic.

silverbat · Jan 27, 2012

One time I started an Iv on a pt with many dx, including schizophrenia. She laughed till tears came throughout the whole IV start. I thought she was laughing at the TV, but...NO!!! She looked at me, when I was done and said," How did you start that IV standing on your head?". LOL I was sitting in a chair at her bedside starting her IV...Not standing on my head.. hee hee

Aurora77 · Jan 27, 2012

I had an elderly woman with multiple broken ribs. We tried all kinds of pain meds, nothing was helping. Finally got an order for something new (don't remember what now). I give the med then go off to check on my other pts. A little while later the xray tech comes tracking me down telling me that she wouldn't let them do her xray until they came and got me. Lo and behold, she was relatively pain free and had managed to turn herself! She was grinning, I was grinning. It was just a great night.

Another good story, when I was doing my precepting for my ASN program, I had my first pt with an NG tube. I was pretty excited to do whatever it was I had to do. The pt commented about my enthusiasm. Later, I had to give her a suppository. I told her this was my first, but I wasn't nearly so excited about that. She had a good laugh and it made a hard time just a wee bit easier.

badmamajama · Jan 27, 2012

"all right. that's it. i went to my young patient's bed, held her hand, and said, "this pain you're going through is crap. i know you want to be home with your children. sometimes, you just need to cry it all out. do it. i'm here." she cried her eyes out for a few minutes, and i had a few tears run down my face too."

you can be my nurse anytime!!!

"one time i started an iv on a pt with many dx, including schizophrenia. she laughed till tears came throughout the whole iv start. i thought she was laughing at the tv, but...no!!! she looked at me, when i was done and said," how did you start that iv standing on your head?". lol i was sitting in a chair at her bedside starting her iv...not standing on my head.. hee hee"

wow, how did you respond to that?

i :redbeathe this thread!

t