My medical nurse wife Belinda and I have just experienced a few eventful days involving a visit to the ER with a subsequent laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The experience was concerning, painful, hilariously funny, admirable, and finally, relieving. I have nothing but good things to say about the doctors, nurses, and other staff at the hospital where Belinda works in IMCU, which I given the pseudonym of Anomaly Memorial.
Belinda awoke me at 5am on Tuesday, after making attempts at relieving pain in her URQ which she had started experiencing at 2am. She had experienced similar pain to a lesser degree on a couple of occasions, consulted with physicians, had tests, and had decided, with support from her physician and surgeon, to undergo surgery when she was ready. The pain was severe enough that Belinda believed she was ready.
We arrived at the ER at about 0530, and in a relatively short amount of time, Belinda had been assessed by a staff a RN, seen by the ERP, and received Zofran and Toradol IVP. The meds decreased the nausea and pain to the point that Belinda could bear the symptoms. Plans were put in the works for surgery ASAP.
While we were waiting the next phase of treatment, her pain returned with a vengeance, so the ERP RX Dilaudid 1mg IVP. Belinda has a high pain tolerance, does not drink alcohol, and the Norco 5mg which she once received PO in the past made her loopy then knocked her out. I made the RN aware of this, but Belinda's pain was so severe we all thought it best she receive it as RX.
After the Dilaudid was slowly administered, Belinda said, "Wow! I can't believe some of my patients can still walk around after I've given them 2mg of Dilaudid IVP!" The RN agreed and added, "Some patients tell me to push it fast!" I rhetorically asked, "So they get a better buzz, eh?"
Belinda was now able to lie comfortably on the gurney, but said, "I don't like this feeling because everything is spinning". I sat by her side and held her hand. After a few minutes, she appeared to drift off to sleep. Then, with her eyes closed, she softly said, "Good night, George. See you next week." "Who's George?" I asked, and Belinda responded, "George, George".
When I later relayed to her what she had said, Belinda furrowed her brow, and seemingly asked herself, "George?" Her eyes widened as she recalled a scene from the movie "Father of the Bride II", which I have not seen, with characters played by Steve Martin and Martin Short.
In the movie, Martin Short's character gives Steve Martin's character (George) some of his sleeping pills. George wants to get a good night's sleep, so he takes several of the pills. Steve Martin's character asked Martin Short's character what taking that number of pills will do to him. Of course the answer is: "Good night, George. See you next week".
What Belida said was entertaining at the time, but once I had a frame of reference, it became hilarious!
I do hope you will stay tuned to this thread, for that is merely one, in a long line of entertaining situations, that I plan to impart to you. I will do so in doses smaller than George's.
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
Belinda is doing just ducky, londonflo, and I will inform her of your kind words.
41 minutes ago, londonflo said:
It is funny how when you are a patient one nurse who you don't remember her name does some spectacular patient care/teaching/comfort.
I try to always get and remember the names of those who provide services. Lessee... Jen, Dr. K, Ashley, Lisa, Dr.M, Jamma, Renee, Becky, Dr.R... the list goes on, and I identify and thank them by name. Due to circumstances, I did not get the name of the a OR nurse whose actions I sang the praises of in a previous post, so I sent her good vibes through the cosmos.
Learning and using the names of those responsible for providing care has its benefits. First, when we use their names, they are no longer a non-entity and interactions become more personal. People are willing to do more for us of there's a connection and we are not merely "the gall bladder in room 275", but a patient by the name of Belinda.
Secondly, learning and using the name of an individual providing services makes them more responsible. "That ER nurse who (fill in the blank)" becomes "Nurse Jen,(and that's how she introduced herself) who assessed Belinda in a timely manner and followed through by getting her meds that relieved some of her discomfort, did a good job".
On the other hand, had Nurse Jen not done a good job, or a poor job for that matter, she could have been specifically called to task.
Learning the names of those who provide services AND letting them know our names and positions in the scheme of things, results in a higher chance of receiving quality care. I sang the praises of all those who provided services to Belinda and I'm relatively certain that part of the reason they did their best was because I put them in the spotlight.
I was a strong link in the chain of Belinda's care, and the competent, caring professionals followed suit.
I'm sorry to hear that Belinda had emergency surgery, but happy that she came out OK. I'm glad she has you to help with the recovery doldrums
My mom is having a lap nissen next week, and spent hours being upset that I can't take off to come help her recover. 1 nurse is off on maternity leave, another is off for spinal fusion. As a retired nurse, I expect that she'd understand. Moms....
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
As a Sister Knitter, Hoosier, you know what you can do to weather the doldrums. I will pass on your kind words to Belinda, for she is well aware of you and our virtual friendship.
Go Hoosiers!
Although you didn't hear it, you got a big empathetic "Ooooh!" regarding the situation with your Mom. I will be sure to send some of my empathetic vibes out into the cosmos for both you and your Mom.
Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.
On 2/12/2022 at 9:33 AM, Davey Do said:
I do believe I've reached my destination.
I had to catch up all in a chunk, so I'm glad that all things have moved along smoothly. It's funny how something as routine as a bowel movement can suddenly become the focus of all of our energies, and how much it can impact the course of care. Hoping that Belinda is feeling all recovered soon.
It's heartening to hear that the professionals that you encountered were almost all a positive force in the care and healing process. So many times lately we focus on the negatives, and I know that all of the staff must have appreciated your gratitude.
Thanks for sharing, while I wouldn't have wished that Belinda go through the recent events, I'm glad it's all turned out well.
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
Thank you for the well wishes, JBMmom. I let Belinda know about my online stuff and will convey them to her.
17 hours ago, JBMmom said:
So many times lately we focus on the negatives
Well, to respectfully disagree, it's always been that way.
Case in point: Some time ago here on this site, there was an enormously popular negative thread about a particular subject which had literally hundreds of responses. I did a little sociological experiment and posted a positive thread using the same subject and got two responses.
Upon observation, one can note that negative threads always get more responses, like flies to feces.
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
9 hours ago, sideshowstarlet said:
I hope that Belinda is doing well. It feels like I know both of you in real life from your many posts. Take care!
-S3
Thank you, I will tell Belinda, and isn't it something how certain things click? Richard Bach wrote, "Your friends will know you more in the first few moments of your meeting than others will know you in lifetimes".
Take your ID Badge thread for example: On just about every long post, I will speed read and brief through it, hitting the high points and getting the gist. But when I saw you were the author, I took pause, appreciating your humor in past posts, and actually read it.
It's pretty danged amazing what comes through on a member's personality just through the typed word. So it is when we encounter those who serve us.
On initially taking Belinda to the ER, two red flags popped up. The first was with the guy who wheeled her into the ER. He was unkept, bland, didn't introduce himself, and required the services of Captain Obvious.
The next red flag was with the RN who first assessed Belinda, who was kind of loud, had a nasal voice, and asked her, "Why are you coming to my ER?"
So I was on guard and very business-like with the staff. But from then on, no real big red flags popped up, and the interactions became a little more relaxed and personal.
I just watched the movie Hitch last night, being in a Will Smith phase as of late. I was impressed by the translations of behavior and the mental chess played between the movie's characters.
Yeah. We say a lot about ourselves, saying very little.
Davey Do
10,666 Posts
Belinda is doing just ducky, londonflo, and I will inform her of your kind words.
I try to always get and remember the names of those who provide services. Lessee... Jen, Dr. K, Ashley, Lisa, Dr.M, Jamma, Renee, Becky, Dr.R... the list goes on, and I identify and thank them by name. Due to circumstances, I did not get the name of the a OR nurse whose actions I sang the praises of in a previous post, so I sent her good vibes through the cosmos.
Learning and using the names of those responsible for providing care has its benefits. First, when we use their names, they are no longer a non-entity and interactions become more personal. People are willing to do more for us of there's a connection and we are not merely "the gall bladder in room 275", but a patient by the name of Belinda.
Secondly, learning and using the name of an individual providing services makes them more responsible. "That ER nurse who (fill in the blank)" becomes "Nurse Jen,(and that's how she introduced herself) who assessed Belinda in a timely manner and followed through by getting her meds that relieved some of her discomfort, did a good job".
On the other hand, had Nurse Jen not done a good job, or a poor job for that matter, she could have been specifically called to task.
Learning the names of those who provide services AND letting them know our names and positions in the scheme of things, results in a higher chance of receiving quality care. I sang the praises of all those who provided services to Belinda and I'm relatively certain that part of the reason they did their best was because I put them in the spotlight.
I was a strong link in the chain of Belinda's care, and the competent, caring professionals followed suit.