DudeRN

While I can understand the sentiment and concern for patient autonomy, I dislike an umbrella term like "pushy". Patient education is one of the primary duties of our profession and as you get further along in your practice you'll notice that most people will swallow (literally) anything you put in front of them based upon the fact that they entrust you with thier care and expect you to know what's best for them and thier individual diagnosis. I know absolutely nothing when it comes to the plumbing in my house. When a plumber came to my house and explained why my septic system needed to be replaced, what it was going to cost me and how long it would take, I entrusted the job of "healing" my septic system to him. His expertise in the specific field of plumbing didn't make him pushy. It made him the best person to get the job done. The same is true of our patients. 95% of them have diagnoses that we as nurses see on a daily basis. I see 100 small bowel obstructions a year. When I walk in to the patient's room it's routine to introduce, do a goal for the evening, go over the plan of care as common chit chat while you do your routine assessment. After that it's gravy. "You're NPO, remember we talked about this". "No, you can't remove that NG tube, you need to rest your bowels". On and on. It's not pushiness. We're the most qualified, hands on technicians available to get the plumbing back working. :)