Type C

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Years ago, I attended a great seminar on the subject of stress, given by a speaker who was a Psychologist. The Psychologist made a statement that forever changed my perspective on Patients.

He said, "All Patients are Type C and all Type C's are victims".

The speaker illustrated this point by saying that the Patients are victims of an accident, illness or disease, whether due to a smite by the hands of The Fates, or because of their own self-destructive actions.

He encouraged us to start viewing all the Patients that we serve as victims in order to raise our consciousness in understanding their responses to their situation. With that understanding, we would be able to better deal with their behavior.

We easily feel empathy when an injury affects a Type C child, yet feel some apathy when a Type C adult suffers the ramifications of their imprudent inaction or self-destructive actions. Both or either could be our Patient, and it is our duty to provide quality care in an objective manner.

Providing care in an objective manner isn't easy when our emotions are triggered. We will easily kiss the boo-boo if a child, yet feel righteousness in chastising the behavior of a treatment non-compliment adult.

These are thoughts that I wanted to express and will pause before continuing.

In the meantime, please share your thoughts, if you will.

Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
5 hours ago, Davey Do said:

There is so very much I could say to this statement, TriciaJ.

I sense you are saying, in effect, that a Psychologist's advice about how to go about being a Nurse is equal to anyone else who has not worked as a Nurse. 

With all the admiration, love, and respect that I feel for you, my virtual friend TriciaJ, I must challenge your premise.

I believe I can best challenge that premise with a concept learned from Richard Bach's novel, "Illusions": The Reluctant Messiah, Don, is relating a Truth to the novel's storyteller when  Don's reference is challenged. From memory, the interaction goes along the lines of,

"Aren't you quoting Snoopy the dog?" I asked.

"I'll find my Truths wherever I please, thank you very much", Don replied.

Whether the Psychologist, an Auto Mechanic, or an Accountant had exposed me to this Truth, I found a Truth. That Truth which, once applied to numerous situations, proved itself in accordance with reality.

 

 

Yes.  Except for the part about seeing people as victims.  I don't care who that advice comes from.

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
3 hours ago, Davey Do said:

Consensually berating another allows us to momentarily elevate our low self-esteem and feel a sense of camaraderie.

Thank you!  This is the perfect explanation for a phenomenon I've been witnessing for the past five years.  "Virtue-signaling" just didn't quite nail it.

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3 hours ago, Daisy4RN said:

I also like the " I don't walk in their shoes", pretty much the same thing as "we don't know what they are going through". While at work we of course do need to always "be on" (as DD says) I was also referring to daily life outside of work. My Mom started telling me this as a teen when I would ask something like " why was that person so mean" (person being a store clerk etc). I have always kept that with me and just as I stated, give them space and grace because we just will never know what is going on with them. Even if it is just them being a big jerk maybe they stop and think when someone didn't respond to them in a negative way, who knows.

I did a long stint in Onc and not sure why you have an issue with Priests etc trying to help! Chaplain care is very beneficial to people in these types of situations, at least in my experience.

It's God's will re a five year old? Ten years old with the courage of lions and it's God's will? 

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Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
1 hour ago, TriciaJ said:

Except for the part about seeing people as victims.  I don't care who that advice comes from.

I would be interested in knowing how you see people who have been "harmed or injured...  as the result of... an accident or some other event or action", TriciaJ.

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Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
7 hours ago, Curious1997 said:

 wanting to rip the heads off the priests and shamans 

 

4 hours ago, Davey Do said:

One who has behaved a certain way in one situation has a high propensity to behave the same way in another similar circumstance.

 

7 hours ago, Curious1997 said:

It's all objective. 

 

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
1 hour ago, Davey Do said:

I would be interested in knowing how you see people who have been "harmed or injured...  as the result of... an accident or some other event or action", TriciaJ.

The sexual assault advocacy people refer to their clientele as "survivors".  I personally view patients as people who are coping with the pitfalls of life.  I hoped to nudge them from victimhood to survivorship but that was not always in my hands.  I really don't get how it helps to view them primarily as victims.

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
4 hours ago, Daisy4RN said:

 I did a long stint in Onc and not sure why you have an issue with Priests etc trying to help! Chaplain care is very beneficial to people in these types of situations, at least in my experience.

At the last hospital I worked at the Pastoral Care department was worth their weight in gold.  They always managed to come up with whatever anyone needed from them.

 

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Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).

Thank you for your perspective, TriciaJ, and also for my enlightenment. Your perspective of "survivors" has a much more positive connotation than mine of "victims".

1 hour ago, TriciaJ said:

I really don't get how it helps to view them primarily as victims.

Viewing all Patients as victims gave me a different perspective on their status and how I approached them. These Patients, as I quoted in the definition, had been harmed in some way and respond, as I previously mentioned, as a Child, Parent, or Adult.

Their responses to this situation as being a Patient ranged from tantrums to stoicism.  Viewing Patients as victims gave me a point of reference of reaction that I could sense upon a first meeting and respond in the most therapeutic way possible.

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
1 hour ago, Davey Do said:

Thank you for your perspective, TriciaJ, and also for my enlightenment. Your perspective of "survivors" has a much more positive connotation than mine of "victims".

Viewing all Patients as victims gave me a different perspective on their status and how I approached them. These Patients, as I quoted in the definition, had been harmed in some way and respond, as I previously mentioned, as a Child, Parent, or Adult.

Their responses to this situation as being a Patient ranged from tantrums to stoicism.  Viewing Patients as victims gave me a point of reference of reaction that I could sense upon a first meeting and respond in the most therapeutic way possible.

I suppose it really comes down to how you perceive the word "victim".  To me it once had a neutral  connotation; someone that something bad had happened to.  It is a step up from judging people and blaming them for their misfortunes.  If the word "victim" evokes empathy and lets you proceed from there, fair enough.

Unfortunately, many people embrace victimhood as a sort of nobility.  It becomes a ticket to entitlement, passivity and setting a much higher standard for others than for oneself.  For this reason, some of us like to limit our use of that word in order to maintain compassion, empathy and neutrality.

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2 hours ago, TriciaJ said:

At the last hospital I worked at the Pastoral Care department was worth their weight in gold.  They always managed to come up with whatever anyone needed from them.

 

I'm sure they did in some instances however some people actively try to understand the illness that's affecting their child and the tx regime and some priests etc tries to reassure through religious dogma which can be patronizing and confusing. Hope cannot be channeled in multiple ways and religious explanations when situations are dire isn’t helpful. 

I saw hope manufactured and crushed and the priests walk away with God's will or God's hands, while the the tx team who tried to be realistic in the outcomes bears the brunt of the disappointment. 

I prefer my GPS directions than I think if you drive five miles and you see the big tree and then you turn right at the next lane. I believe people are better prepared if they are given the facts tactfully! 

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
51 minutes ago, Curious1997 said:

I'm sure they did in some instances however some people actively try to understand the illness that's affecting their child and the tx regime and some priests etc tries to reassure through religious dogma which can be patronizing and confusing. Hope cannot be channeled in multiple ways and religious explanations when situations are dire isn’t helpful. 

I saw hope manufactured and crushed and the priests walk away with God's will or God's hands, while the the tx team who tried to be realistic in the outcomes bears the brunt of the disappointment. 

I prefer my GPS directions than I think if you drive five miles and you see the big tree and then you turn right at the next lane. I believe people are better prepared if they are given the facts tactfully! 

Doesn't sound like the chaplains in your hospital were up to much.  Ours did NOT proselytize and did not provide religiously-based platitudes.  Every single time I called a chaplain for an anxious patient, I was thanked by the patient.  

They had a fantastic music thanatology program, a community clothes closet, tape players for elderly restless patients, hospice quilts and an employee assistance fund, among other services.

Every time I called social work for any reason I was told that wasn't something they did.  (I still have no idea what is.)  I would subsequently call Pastoral Care and they came through.

I'm really sorry their counterparts in your hospital function so pitifully.

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43 minutes ago, TriciaJ said:

Doesn't sound like the chaplains in your hospital were up to much.  Ours did NOT proselytize and did not provide religiously-based platitudes.  Every single time I called a chaplain for an anxious patient, I was thanked by the patient.  

They had a fantastic music thanatology program, a community clothes closet, tape players for elderly restless patients, hospice quilts and an employee assistance fund, among other services.

Every time I called social work for any reason I was told that wasn't something they did.  (I still have no idea what is.)  I would subsequently call Pastoral Care and they came through.

I'm really sorry their counterparts in your hospital function so pitifully.

Contextually, how many southern or any priests or pastors do you think in this country are preaching about not wearing masks or toeing a republican line? Snake charmers etc? 

Just wondering which states are experiencing the new surge? Bible belt states? The anti vaxxers, how religious are they? 

What's your opinion about religion conflicting with science? Is medicine, science? 

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