Hey, You!

Shock! MOI?

You have a great heart! Don't give up on anyone!! :)

I LOVE the "difficult" patients. Most often, I can bring them out of it with geniune caring and conversation. Being geniune, sitting down at their chair with them, and asking them what's going on goes a LONG way to form a good, caring relationship. Dialysis is hard, being a kidney patient is rough, the diet and lifestyle sucks. I remember that most of these folks were like me, living active,busy lives and happy before their fortunes turned. I feel like we do make a difference every day in our patients' lives. They are much like family to me.

I agree with all of you, it is challenging working in a chronic dialysis unit with patients whose lives are controlled by whether or not they come for their treatments and what they put in their mouths. I feel deeply for them when they come in six kilos over their dry weight because, "It's been so hot out this week, and I've been so thirsty!" I mean, who can't relate to that, except that we can freely drink all the fluids that our bodies crave without any repercussions. We can also eat endlessly of the bounty of summer: tomatoes, melon, etc., while to a chronic dialysis patient, too many ripe, juicy tomatoes can mean death. How can you not have compassion for these folks?

I think it's worth mentioning also that acute dialysis nurses fill a very special role in their patients' lives as well. Not only do they deal with the difficult, chronically noncompliant patients who end up in the hospital over and over and are often times angry and depressed, but they have to be a stable, comforting presence to patients who are new to dialysis and consider it worse than a death sentence. They are so scared, because they have never heard anything good about being on dialysis, and often they are filled with myths and misconceptions that must be dispelled by a calm, competent presence. How do you deal with someone who just had a cath placed who tells you with terror in his eyes that his father died on a dialysis machine?

Our jobs are not easy, but we keep on keeping on because we know that these people need us.

OP, you are an inspiration. I'm glad you were able to get through to that patient. He is very blessed to have you in his life.