I just wanted some input into some simple and quick nursing interventions I can do for my patients to show them that I hear what they are saying, and show that I care.
I'll give an example, Pt- "My neck hurts!" So I'll ask them to lift up their head and fluff the pillow. Or if they complain that they are hot I'll flip the pillow over to the cool side.
Its not that I think it will solve all their problems, but psychologically, I'm acknowledging that I heard what they're saying and I want to help.
Just looking for quick little interventions I can try to show people that honestly I do care, even if I can't solve all their problems :)
{ rant alert} there is no such thing as a "blood thinner." that term confuses people because it makes them think of turpentine in the [color=#00ff00]paint and water in the [color=#d3d3d3]milk. i know perfectly well that a lot of people use it but we are nurses and responsible for patient teaching to a far greater degree than anyone else.
just regarding your rant... here is a direct quote from government website regarding coumadin
"warfarin is in a class of medications called anticoagulants ('blood thinners')."
sometimes you just have to use words they will understand...like blood thinner. many people have an education level less than 7th grade and will not understand a word such as anticoagulant.
my best nursing intervention daily is to take a few minutes while giving meds, assessing to get to know the patient and make them more comfortable while in the hospital. those few minutes at the beginning of the day save me lots of time in the end.
i respectfully disagree. the fact that a government website uses a misleading term (even parenthetically) does not mean it's a preferred or accurate one.
the word "anticoagulant" might be too long for some people, and "clot" is something that everyone understands. i stand by my opinion that "thinning" is not the concept we want to communicate.
I have been know to give my patients the "business class treatment". A hot fresh towel for them to freshen up with really makes them happy. Thes who can't freshen their own faces, a few moments to help tehm always seems to bring a smile to a patient's face. The whole process would maybe take me 15 minutes to complete.
GGT1
209 Posts
just regarding your rant... here is a direct quote from government website regarding coumadin
"warfarin is in a class of medications called anticoagulants ('blood thinners')."
warfarin - pubmed health
sometimes you just have to use words they will understand...like blood thinner. many people have an education level less than 7th grade and will not understand a word such as anticoagulant.
my best nursing intervention daily is to take a few minutes while giving meds, assessing to get to know the patient and make them more comfortable while in the hospital. those few minutes at the beginning of the day save me lots of time in the end.