If u were the patient,what type of nurse would you like to have?

lovehospital · Jan 10, 2009

Hmmm let me see a non-judgmental nurse....if such exist I may add,nurse that you can easily talk to with a friendly personality,a nurse with sense of humor that can lighten you up in the time of distress!!

bamagt · Jan 10, 2009

Me! If I was a patient I would honestly want a nurse just like me. Laid back but not too laid back, smart, somewhat experienced and someone who you can talk to about anything. I love talking.

Sorry if that sounds stuck up, it's not meant to be

OC85 · Jan 10, 2009

Honestly, more than anything else, I would prefer a nurse that seems extremely knowledgeable and basically completely on top of things. It seems a lot of people on this site push "compassion" as the most important quality in a nurse, but to be honest, if I were a patient, this is the last thing I'd worry about. Whenever I have a problem [health or personal], overly "compassionate" people actually tend to annoy me. I'm one of those people who, when faced with some kind of hardship, prefers to tackle things in a straightforward, no BS kind of way. I can honestly say that I'd prefer the same in a nurse. When people try too hard to be comforting, I feel like telling them, "I don't need you to hold my little hand and tell me everything will be OK. Instead, tell me whats wrong, and what is being done to fix it". I fully recognize that few people share this view, so I wouldn't act this way with patients [unless I could tel that they feel the same way I do], but this is the kind of nurse I would want caring for me.

AGal110 · Jan 10, 2009

I think compassion would probably be my number 1 with a touch of humor. Knowledge is important too. I certainly don't know, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like most nurses ARE knowledgeable, but there are probably a fair share who aren't really compassionate or humorous. If I'm a patient in a hospital, with some horrifying problem, then I'm going to be extremely depressed and sad and lonely and doubtful of probably everything. I think having someone to take care of me who really treats me really kindly in that kind of situation would just make me want to cry and be thankful (not sure if 'thankful' is the right word when I might be dying, but you know). And a sense of humor is extremely vital to me, too: just to be cheered up for any fraction of time is invaluable to me, in pretty much any situation in life.

AGal110 · Jan 10, 2009

OC85 - I see where you're coming from. I get that way (annoyed by compassion) when certain stressful things happen to me, but usually when I'm sick and afraid, I tend to value compassion more.

OC85 · Jan 10, 2009

OC85 - I see where you're coming from. I get that way (annoyed by compassion) when certain stressful things happen to me, but usually when I'm sick and afraid, I tend to value compassion more.

Well, that's how you feel, nothing wrong with that. Personally, even when I'm sick, I'm still more concerned with the amount of knowledge/skill a nurse has. It may have to do with the fact that this is the quality that I respect most. I was basically that kid who got A's all through school without seeming to try or even care. Perhaps because of this, I've developed somewhat of a superiority complex [i'll be the first to admit, its probably my most glaring personality flaw]. Most of the time, I'm able to keep this in check [maybe because I'm aware of it], but when I'm sick or afraid, it tends to come out in full force. Consequently, if I see anything that makes me even remotely question a nurses knowledge or skill, my first instinct is to think, "OK, you're an idiot, and now I have to worry about or question everything you do.". This is more or less how I felt when I had to be taken to the ER last year [turns out I had an ulcer]. I don't claim that this is right, or even reasonable. All I can say is that everyone reacts to stress in different ways. Anyway, this is the reason why I say I don't care about caring/compassion in the nurse thats taking care of me.

Batman24 · Jan 10, 2009

The most knowledgeable and skilled on the unit. I'd also want a nurse who is a great patient advocate.

Pepperlady · Jan 10, 2009

LOL Mr Ian, I get you 100%

Personally I want a knowledgable nurse more than I want one to tuck me in and hold my hand. I don't want an overly sympathetic nurse when I descibe my concerns, I want the nurse who will advocate on my behalf and problem solve. Not saying that they cannot be one and the same but if a nurse has 10 minutes for me I want them to spend thier ten minutes ensuring that medically I am getting knowledgable care.....don't care if I get all the fluff and nonsense that comes along with nursing.

Virgo_RN, BSN, RN · Jan 10, 2009

I would want a knowledgeable, skilled, and friendly nurse.

Mr Ian · Jan 10, 2009

ok enough of the sillies. Boy that was fun.

Ahmad - I apologise for reducing your good question into a Mr Ian side show. :clown:

A serious answer.....

Nursing, like any other job requires skills in all 3 domains:

Knowledge

Skill

Attitude

As stated - nurses with great attitude (compassion is but one quality) are the general norm. Patient's like to feel 'cared about' as much as they need to be 'cared for'.

OC85 clearly prefers those with high knowledge and doesn't mind if they don't excel in good attitude. Tho I'd guess he'd like a little emotion or 'care'.

Skill is also a desired quality - when it comes to competently carrying out vitals, giving a bath, moving or handling or, and perhaps more so, inserting a catheter.

I guess the point that has been made very early on is that patients (who happen to be humans just like us - only sicker) all vary in what they want - and it varies on the reason they're in hospital too. I'd prefer a nurse with good attitude and skill to care for my terminal illness; for my dislocated shoulder - skill and knowledge; for my incontinence - attitude; for my UTI - skill and knowledge....

A nurse's role is to assist the individual - this implies a 'need' - and to apply that assistance in a way that doesn't make me feel like a burden or inadequate.

So, in whatever domain I require them, I want my nurse:

a) to know what my needs are without having to tell them.

b) to meet them in the way they need to be met.

b) to do so in a way that I don't even notice.

OC85 · Jan 10, 2009

I guess the point that has been made very early on is that patients (who happen to be humans just like us - only sicker) all vary in what they want - and it varies on the reason they're in hospital too. I'd prefer a nurse with good attitude and skill to care for my terminal illness; for my dislocated shoulder - skill and knowledge; for my incontinence - attitude; for my UTI - skill and knowledge....

Hmm, thats a good point. I was only thinking of things that I am most likely to be hospitalized for [in which case I , like you, would prefer skill and knowledge]. I hadn't even considered the possibility of a terminal illness [part of being 23, I suppose], but I'll admit, that changes things a bit. If I was diagnosed with a terminal condition, attitude probably would be more important to me, as if I know I'm going to die anyway, I probably would just want someone who was at least good company.....After all, what the worst they could do? Kill me?