What's your spiel?

[lucymalfoy]

Hi everyone, I'm a very new nurse on an orthopedic unit. I find that I am sometimes kind of awkward when first getting introduced to patients by the departing nurse. I start out strong with "Hello Mr Jones, my name is lucymalfoy, I am going to be your nurse tonight," and then kind of lose my direction.

Do any of you have a standard patient introduction speech that you use that you would care to share?

[Bortaz, MSN, RN]

When I was still doing bedside nursing, it'd go something like this:

OHH, look at the pretty little baaaaaaaaaby. Remember, I only allow one poopy diaper per shift! NO TALKING BACK! Oh, snap...that's right...you can't talk, can you? Yay, that makes me a happy nurse! Now, let me see...how's that tummy? No firmness or distention, right? OH MAN, who kicked this IV out?! I warned you yesterday...now I have no choice but to poke you again...don't blame me...not MY fault...I didn't kick it out! Where's your mama...I smell something that I probably don't want to see. Do you hear that baby over there in the next bed, crying and creating chaos? That is exactly the behavior you do NOT want to imitate. Isn't that noise annoying? I KNOW, I don't like it either. AWW MAN, did you just spit up on my clean scrubs?? Hey, STOP PULLING MY BEARD!!

Man, I miss it.

[chopwood carrywater]

I work at an inpatient hospice facility. Several parts of my spiel would not work for general situations. one that I use and builds trust and respect quickly is "if you are not sure if you should call me - call me."

This is for pts and families both. I have had very few people overuse this, and I suspect the ones that do would be 'hard on the light' anyway.

If your knees can handle it, I try to kneel down to talk at their level - even if they are in a bed I can raise up.

[ChristineN, BSN, RN]

I work in an ER, so I go through my intro various times throughout the day. What I say varies greatly depending on the chief complaint, but is usually "Hi, my name is Christine, and I am going to be your nurse. I was told you are here for x, can you tell me what has been going on that caused you to come to the ER?" Typically we are having this conversation while I am helping them get undressed, placing an IV, drawing labs, etc.

[Twinmom06, ASN, APN]

since I work 11p-7a I'm usually waking my pts up to assess them. I introduce myself, ask about pain and review the pain med schedule and remind them to call me for whatever they need. Some of the elderly think that we are sleeping and I gently remind them that we don't sleep and are here to take care of them. My favorite saying (to put people at ease) - "I'd rather you call me 100 times for nothing than fall once when you need something" - it usually works.

[OCNRN63, RN]

Like many others, I adapt what I say depending on the patient and the situation. The most important thing, IMO, is to come across as sincere and genuinely concerned about the patient.

If I were in the hospital and someone came in spouting that Studer Group script, I would be freaked out.