How do you stay nonjudgmental?

Ivanna_Nurse, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2007

Sorry for the rotten day!

When it comes to patients like you mentioned, I remind myself that they are indeed, sick. Although they may be nasty to me, I try to be optimistic that maybe they are much nicer when they feel well. I also remind myself that they are somebody's parent, sibling or child. The combination of the above usually gets me through, albeit sometimes BARELY. :uhoh21: I hope your next shift is better, Ivanna

Trauma Columnist · Dec 31, 2007

I agree with the above poster - sometimes the better part of valor is to try to realize that they are indeed ill. My patient population is very noncompliant and I must take care of them as nonjudgementally as possible. Its not always easy.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Dec 31, 2007

It is not easy at all. Most times (at least when the person is half decent), I try to place myself in their situation because I am a scaredy cat when I am sick with the flu. But, when they are morons like the one you mentioned, I notice that my cheeks are sore from biting them to keep my mouth shut. If you have a hard time being impartial, you can see if you are able to request that someone else care for him. Sometimes, that is hard, though, because if you have several who are that way, you cannot avoid them all the time. Breathe deep, say a mantra and do what you can do, or what he allows you to and call it a day. Good luck.

leslie :-D · Dec 31, 2007

and it's not even about being empathetic.

sometimes, it's barely being tolerant.

we're not expected to be compassionate w/all our pts.

(and even if we are, that's too darned bad.)

but we are expected to deliver steady, unbiased care.

with that said, there's a lot of b.s. i will not tolerate.

a pt smearing stool on you, is one of them.

you just give your professional best, reminding yourself of the truly sick pts you're dealing with.

'sick' comes in all forms.

leslie

Grace Oz · Dec 31, 2007

I agree with the OP.

However, I also hold firm to the fact nurses are NOT there to be treated badly or abused. What that pt did is totally unacceptable and you do NOT have to tolerate this kind of behaviour.

It's one thing being sick. It's an entirely different thing using sickness as an excuse or reason to behave badly.

I hope your next shift is better.

anonymurse · Dec 31, 2007

There are 3 different issues mixed in the original post.

1. A pt's lifestyle, while it may summarize a long list of risk factors, being no more than risk factors, can't cause disease. That's unscientific, so it doesn't even cross my mind to pass judgment on pts' lifestyles.

2. Any pt trying to smear potentially-pathogen-carrying bodily excrescences on others is either going to cease any such attempt immediately or get restrained. This is a health issue.

3. My pts can cuss all they want at me, 'cause I'm so busy trying to figure out what they might be trying to communicate that I don't really hear it, but they can't cuss out other pts or my aide. That I'll hear right away and resolve.

jackson145 · Dec 31, 2007

There are 3 different issues mixed in the original post.
1. A pt's lifestyle, while it may summarize a long list of risk factors, being no more than risk factors, can't cause disease. That's unscientific, so it doesn't even cross my mind to pass judgment on pts' lifestyles.
Would you consider alcohol abuse, as a lifestyle choice, to contribute to disease? My father was an alcoholic and had severe liver damage as a result.
We always considered this a lifestyle choice he made because (until a few years prior to death) he refused to seek or accept help for the alcoholism.
Of course, you view things differently when you're in the middle of the situation.

jackson145 · Dec 31, 2007

Sorry to sidetrack your post, I just had that question pop into my head. :) I hope your next day is better!

EmmaG, RN · Dec 31, 2007

2. Any pt trying to smear potentially-pathogen-carrying bodily excresences on others is either going to cease any such attempt immediately or get restrained. This is a health issue.

Agreed. There's nothing 'judgmental' about refusing to allow someone to assault you.

TigerGalLE, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2007

Well i think prostituting yourself and doing IV drugs is a lifestyle choice esp when it leads to herpes and end stage AIDS. So I do think those lifestyle choices directly lead to this person's disease. I have had IV drug users as patients very often.. as well as AIDS patients very often. This is the first time I've had trouble being empathetic because of how nasty this person acted.

For example... after the doctor performed a rectal exam the patient had to tell me afterwards how much he/she liked it.. and then i caught the patient later perform a rectal exam on them self for pleasure....

anonymurse · Dec 31, 2007

Would you consider alcohol abuse, as a lifestyle choice, to contribute to disease? My father was an alcoholic and had severe liver damage as a result.
We always considered this a lifestyle choice he made because (until a few years prior to death) he refused to seek or accept help for the alcoholism. Of course, you view things differently when you're in the middle of the situation.
Alcoholism isn't alcohol abuse, nor is it a lifestyle choice. It's a disease. There's this really cool thing called the disease model of addiction that's worth checking out. Basically it says that people are vulnerable in differing degrees to addiction to substances, just as people are vulnerable in differing degrees to infection by various pathogens. Some may have repeated exposure and never suffer, some may have one and that's all she wrote. So the only way to be absolutely sure a person won't contract the disease is to ensure they're never exposed (either to pathogens or addictive substances). Explaining this model is the way to go when raising kids.