please proof me wrong

Trauma Columnist · Jun 28, 2008

Hi and welcome to the States and All Nurses! Your English is fine by the way! I love your enthusiasm - I'm sure you take great care of your patients.

I don't mean to disillusion you but medical care in the US, especially in the hospitals is a business. With the nurse/patient ratios high the nurses have to keep moving just to get the basics done.

I do know how important it is to talk with patients, hold their hands, etc., but the sad reality is that I don't have the time. Its not that I'm a bad nurse (at least I hope not), its just a time factor.

mcs1505 · Jun 28, 2008

ps: i'm no saying every nurse isn't passionate,but slwoly i start to wonder about what is more important for a nurse in the usa...the charting&that the drugs are scanned or the patient?!?

firstly, i love caring for my patients. the touch on the arm, the hug, the chatting about their families, i love it.

but, unfortunately it has come to a point where we have to jump through a bunch of hoops to protect these patients we care about. scanning drugs helps protect our patients from fatal drug errors and from unscrupulous nurses who might steal their meds. proper charting also protects our patients by providing other caretakers with information we gathered, and to remind us of important things we may have otherwise forgotten.

it's true that hospitals have become a business here in the us, but that doesn't mean we quit caring about our patients.

and your english is good. :) welcome to fl (my state too) and allnurses!

SummerAngel1985 · Jun 28, 2008

Hi and welcome to the States and All Nurses! Your English is fine by the way! I love your enthusiasm - I'm sure you take great care of your patients.
I don't mean to disillusion you but medical care in the US, especially in the hospitals is a business. With the nurse/patient ratios high the nurses have to keep moving just to get the basics done.
I do know how important it is to talk with patients, hold their hands, etc., but the sad reality is that I don't have the time. Its not that I'm a bad nurse (at least I hope not), its just a time factor.

Thanks for wiriting back...this is true the time is a big factor...but that doesn't mean you don't have a quick smile....I think you do the best you can especially if it's one of those busy,crazy days...:loveya:

I admire a few Trauma,ER nurses how they stay so calm sometimes...you're probably a great nurse from what I hear from you

leslie :-D · Jun 28, 2008

Thanks for wiriting back...this is true the time is a big factor...but that doesn't mean you don't have a quick smile....I think you do the best you can especially if it's one of those busy,crazy days...:loveya:
I admire a few Trauma,ER nurses how they stay so calm sometimes...you're probably a great nurse from what I hear from you

i agree with you wholeheartedly, summer.

and i always manage to squeeze an arm/hand, tousle the hair, sincere smile and even hugs, if that's what i feel my pt wants.

all these interventions are done in a matter of seconds, yet the benefits are timeless.

do not become discouraged.

just continue to be your personal and professional best.

leslie

nursebabygirl 08 · Jun 28, 2008

Thanks for wiriting back...this is true the time is a big factor...but that doesn't mean you don't have a quick smile....I think you do the best you can especially if it's one of those busy,crazy days...:loveya:
I admire a few Trauma,ER nurses how they stay so calm sometimes...you're probably a great nurse from what I hear from you

Hi summerangel and welcome to allnurses!

I work in a GI suite and have been exposed to big,burley men who come to have a colonoscopy be reduced to scared babys before the procedure. Sometimes that extra touch, smile, or attention can make all the world of difference, however i'm in a situation in which i can do that all the time for my pt's.However just like previous posters have stated in a hospital setting it can be very hard to take the time to really focus attention on one pt. And that's sad, considering that sometimes the nursing staff may be the only people that the pt sees that day. :cry: Just know that although you want to communicate with your pts and get to know them ALWAYS remember pt safety first(Maslow's needs pyramid). Medicines have to be given in a controlled, supervised manner. Good luck and by the way your english is just fine. :up:

pagandeva2000, LPN · Jun 28, 2008

Sometimes, it is difficult for the nurse to focus with all of the barriers out there to constantly smile, embrace and comfort in an effective manner because we have to operate safely within all of the chaos and distractions. I believe that I do take the time to smile, but admit that it is not as often as I would like (at least I can say that for this past week). I have people grabbing me from every angle-and it is not the patients. It is each new form, new policy, whining employees, spoiled rotten doctors who come to me in the middle of patient care because their computer doesn't work (yet, they don't want to call the HELP desk themselves...they want ME to do it) and other nonsense.

In the middle of doing my job, I have to listen carefully to what is happening around me while using discernment to decide where should I act first, all in the middle of starting an IV line on a nervous elderly patient with no visable veins and a CNA coming, pulling at me to say that a person's sugar is 190 (not as much of an emergency as the other patient who needs a nebulizer treatment IMMEDIATELY).

I know what you mean, though. The caring ones may not have stopped caring, they may be constantly shifting focus in the madness.

nursebabygirl 08 · Jun 29, 2008

Sometimes, it is difficult for the nurse to focus with all of the barriers out there to constantly smile, embrace and comfort in an effective manner because we have to operate safely within all of the chaos and distractions. I believe that I do take the time to smile, but admit that it is not as often as I would like (at least I can say that for this past week). I have people grabbing me from every angle-and it is not the patients. It is each new form, new policy, whining employees, spoiled rotten doctors who come to me in the middle of patient care because their computer doesn't work (yet, they don't want to call the HELP desk themselves...they want ME to do it) and other nonsense.
In the middle of doing my job, I have to listen carefully to what is happening around me while using discernment to decide where should I act first, all in the middle of starting an IV line on a nervous elderly patient with no visable veins and a CNA coming, pulling at me to say that a person's sugar is 190 (not as much of an emergency as the other patient who needs a nebulizer treatment IMMEDIATELY).
I know what you mean, though. The caring ones may not have stopped caring, they may be constantly shifting focus in the madness.

Amen about the doctors and the computers:yeah: could'nt have said it better myself!!!

Babs0512 · Jun 29, 2008

Unfortunately, in this country, nursing is so redundant, that we have to document the same thing in several places, this takes time away from the patients. Your right, sometimes a hug is appropriate, sometimes just squeezing a patients hand or telling them a joke can be just as meaningful.

I really advocate sitting down when talking with patients, I've mentioned it in several posts. It gives the impression that you care, your giving them your undivided attention, and that your spending more time with them than you actually may be - in short, it makes them happy.

I most nurses dreams, we would have all the time we needed to "pamper" our patients, but those days are gone. As stated in a previous post, medicine is a business in this country and a big business at that. All we nurses can do is give the best we have to our patients.

Hugging may not always be appropriate, not everyone likes their personal space invaded that way. It could always be misinterpreted by the patient as well. I once hugged a young mother in our ER, I was new, she was crying, I felt soooo bad for her and wanted to comfort her. As I was hugging her, I saw lice crawling all around her hair.

I didn't break away, but as soon as I could, I grabbed the kwell shampoo and scubbed my head in the sink until it was raw.

I'm not as free with my hugs as I once was. But I like to joke with my patients, and I love to teach. You'll learn to care and be caring, without getting your heart broken. I guess is called "keeping a professional distance". It's a way of keeping yourself sane.

Good luck, and God bless