What kind of nurse are you?

[imintrouble]

I'm not asking the obvious. My question does not deal with specialty or area of nursing. It's more an insight into who you are. I've been on here a couple of years, and have absorbed opinions about some of you by the words you post. I admire some of you enormously. Others..not so much.

In that vein, what kind of nurse are you?

Pessimist/Realist

Optimist/Dreamer.

Do you view situations the way they are? Or the way you wish they were?

Do you gloss over the ugly, or present it in as gentle and yes, compassionate, way as possible?

I'll start.

I had a pt who would not leave their O2 on. His sats dropped in the 70s. He was SOB.

Not confused, just angry and obstinate.

All day the nurse "fussed" over him. Explaining ad nauseum why he needed the O2

When I came on, I looked him directly in the eye, and told him if he didn't wear the O2 he was going to die. Plainly, bluntly. I was not mean. My intention was not to hurt him. I wanted to make sure he understood the ramifications of his choice.

I don't approach pts like that every single time, as situations warrant different approaches. But as a whole, I prefer the direct, plain and simple approach.

What about you? Are you a fusser, or a plain speaker.

[Babs0512]

I'm a realist, I can be "blunt" when the situation warrents it, I can also gloss things over when the situation warrents it. I work very hard to be a patient advocate first, before anything else. I give hugs, kisses - and I've also bluntly told a patient, "You are being completely rude and obnoxious, KNOCK IT OFF!" Every situation is different, and a good nurse needs to be pliable enough to roll with the punches.

One of the hardest things I've ever told a person was, "Go home from here today, and celebrate your life, make this Christmas very special and make lots of memories - because it will probably be the last Christmas you see." The man had asked me to be honest, and I was. He and his family thanked me. I heard he died 3 days after Christmas. Sometimes, you have to tell the patients what the doc's won't.

Blessings

[NrsLucky]

Once I was with a patient who was very critical. He asked me, "Am I about to die?" I said quietly and kindly, "I don't know, but I am staying with you." Every moment is unique and calls for its own approach.

I can be direct and honest with my pts about everything but death and dying. It's so hard for me to admit to a pt that they're dying, because I'm scared too.I am exactly the same. I can be forthright and blunt, however due to my severe case of empathy I always take an empathetic approach when dealing with my patients. Which simply I have no problem in informing a patient of a probable or potential outcome regarding their lack of complying with the Dr. Orders although I tend to do this in a rather mild and "comforting" way. Death however I have failed many times to be direct as I am unable to muster enough courage to inform a patient of an outcome since life has such a high worth to me that I often find myself feeling as if I care for my patients life more than they do. I freeze up when confronted with questions pertaining to a not so good prognosis. I have used the answer however "I am not sure. But I will be here with you. I won't leave you."

[RNMom2010]

I am a very direct and honest nurse. I do not generally sugar coat things. The majority of my home health patients have verbalized to me that they like that I tell it "Like it is". My more sensitive patients I handle with care, but still honesty. I educate fully, yet still allow the pt to know that it is their life, their body, and their choice whether or not they listen to the nurses and drs.

[CathRN]

By nature, I am very up front and blunt, and according to my co-workers, entirely too honest. Although, depending on the situation and patient, I can be very kind and caring. It all depends. I have held hands with a dying patient, prayed with patients who just recieved a bad prognosis, bought blandkets and toys for the pediatric floor, etc.... But at the end of the day, most of my co-workers will tell you that I am a caring nurse who happens to tell it like it is. LOL

[Perpetual Student]

I'm a no BS nurse who wants to provide excellent comprehensive care. I tailor my approach to each patient based on my assessment of the best way to accomplish my goal (generally to keep him safe, comfortable, and ideally satisfied).

Some of my colleagues give me a hard time and say I'm like Mr. Rogers in my default initial patient reception mode. That said, I can become very matter of fact and blunt when warranted (e.g. "you're just waking up from surgery, if you get up now you're going to fall and break your other leg").

[tokmom, BSN, RN]

Very much a realist. I call it as it is. If the day is going to be ugly, I admit it's going to be ugly and then take the steps to keep it from getting really, really ugly!

I'm direct in pt education, especially with the frequent flyers. Those that have a new diagnosis and are scared, I try to be very much to the point, but gentle.

[Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN]

Just be very very careful of what you say.

This event haunts me to this day, even though it took place 18 years ago.

I had a pt. Cannot remember her name/age that I've lost. What I do remember is she was a post op hysterectomy. This was pre-laproscopy days - when a hysterectomy could result in a huge incision and long post op recovery. Pt was not mobilizing well.

I told her "You need to get up and walk or you will get a PE and die".

One day - made pt walk to BR. She threw a PE while on toilet. Coded. Went to ICU - eventually died.

Now- intellectually, I know I did NOT cause her death. The MDs had been in. She was on anticoagulants. They had done tests to look for PEs. We were trying to mobilize, etc. Everything that could be done to prevent a PE had been done.Who knows - she might have had a PE no matter what but-

But my comments haunt me to this day.

[Neferet]

Depends on the pt. Some patients need to hear it out straight. Some patients are more anxious, nervous and would probably prefer another way.

By the way, was the pt on O2 mask or NC?

I had the same problem with a pt on a mask, and we switched to NC and she didn't take it off anymore.