Most memorable thing patient has said to me...

Nurses General Nursing

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I had a patient the other night tell me "If I can't remember you later will you promise to remember me?

I thought this was such a sweet thing to say, she had dementia and I work with her for several nights she said I made her feel at ease... She touched my heart and I don't think I ever will forget her.

What is the most memorable thing a patient has ever said to you?

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

I work at a nursing home, which is different from the hospital setting because staff tends to build long-term relationships with the elderly residents.

About 2 1/2 years ago, my beloved 95-year-old little old lady said to me, "I love you for all that you do for me." She died in August 2007, and I continue to miss her.

Specializes in Med-Surg, gynecology.

Wish my most memorable pt. statements were as nice as yours!

I was once caring for a 95 y/o post-surgical pt. who was experiencing confusion d/t all the pain meds she was on....after she started clawing at her surgical dressing, pulled her NG tube out, and then set to work on her foley, I and another nurse put her in wrist restraints. Then for the rest of the night, every time I was in that pt.'s room, all I heard about was that I was a "stupid B****", was the "ringleader" of all the mean people trying to kill her, and (my personal favorite) an "annoying heifer". What a night!

Specializes in med-surg 5 years geriatrics 12 years.

I worked in a nursing home until last week. I had a resident tell me to take care of myself because my family needed me. Then she pointed at a group of fellow residents and told me that was the family she was talking about.

Specializes in Finally an RN!.

My most memorable time is not what the patient said, but how they said it. A simple "thank you for all you have done," but said as a final goodbye from a hospice patient who knew they would be passing soon. After taking care of this patient and his wife for several weeks, he looked me straight in the eye and said those words, and I knew it was his final goodbye. Such simple words given with heartfelt thanks, to this day still brings tears to my eyes. I believe someone can not understand until they have been in that position, which I hope every nurse gets at some point in their career.

Just last week one of our patients/residents asked me..."are you a nurse?" I said "no so and so, I am a nurse aide" He says "that's even worse". I looked at him and he had the biggest smile on his face. God love him, even while he was dying he had a sense of humor!

"You have a beautiful smile!" I think I look silly when I smile, so this really made my day.

Specializes in ICU, Telemetry.

I was having a really bad night - 2 CIWAs, a new acute CVA, a brand new open chole that was still groggy from the surgery, a frequent flyer alzheimer's pt with dementia/hallucinations who was screaming "snakes!" at the top of her lungs q5minutes, and a A/O gentleman who was in for syncopy that turned out to be almost complete occlusion of his carotid artery. Every time I'd go into the last pt's room, it would seem that I'd get paged out for the snake lady, or because the BP/temp of my surgery pt was low, or the BP of my acute CVA was high, or to help get one of the CIWAs back into the restraints he'd busted out of. It got to the point where I'd go into carotid artery guy's room ( he was frightened and just wanted to talk -- I don't think he slept all night) and we'd both turn and look at the speaker to see if the unit secretary was going to call for me. They were all alive at morning, but it was a rough night.

I stuck my head in my carotid artery guy's room, apologized that I couldn't have spent more time with him, and told him the name of the nurse coming on. He smiled and said:

"Ma'am, I know you must be exhausted. Drive real careful on the way home, the news says it's foggy out." I don't know why that little statement of human kindness, of acknowledgement that I was a person who existed outsde the walls of the hospital hit me so, but I felt tears in my eyes, and told the guy thanks, and I appreciated it.

He went to the big teaching hospital at the state capital, but I've always remembered that man's kindness, and hope he did well.

I had a pt, a young woman with scleroderma (sp?) in who was a sweet as she could be, her family was really nice, had family portraits in her room which were hard to look at because you could see how disfiguring the disease had been for her-it had only been two yrs since her dx. Anyway I was covering her nurse for lunch this day-Halloween,she had been off the floor for a test, kids had been coming and going all day in custumes. Well she came back unto the floor, I helped to get back into bed with other staff and there was a note from a family member-they had come by with her kids but had to leave, as it was getting late-she just started crying and venting saying all 'I wanted was to see them!' The sadness in her voice had me tearing up, I told her how sorry I was-if I had known I would've gotten a pic or something, so we both are crying and she says "My legs are hurting" so I ask her what can I do? She says "I don't know, but you gotta do something!" The way she said it we both just started cracking up while still crying. All the pain she was in I think the fact that she missed her childrens visit that day hurt much more.

Bless her heart. That is so sweet.

I had a patient the other night tell me "If I can't remember you later will you promise to remember me?

I thought this was such a sweet thing to say, she had dementia and I work with her for several nights she said I made her feel at ease... She touched my heart and I don't think I ever will forget her.

What is the most memorable thing a patient has ever said to you?

This week one of my patients asked me to raise the head of his bed so he could see "over the stearing wheel". "I'm having trouble finding the ignition". During the day he is fine but at night....sundowners city.

" No one has ever felt the pulses in my feet!"

-Really, they document that they did....

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