We all have things we'd like to be able to do for patients when time allows. We get many many geriatric folks at my work (from home or nursing homes) who haven't had nail care in AGES. I love to get folks trimmed up (discreetly, of course - the policies are so funny about nail care.)
Another nurse I worked with felt like she wasn't doing her job if her bedbound patients didn't get a backrub at bedtime.
What do you like to do special for your patients "just because" (not because some made it a script or a customer satisfaction ploy.)
You all sound like you are not only great nurses, but great people. Our unit is usually so busy that there isn't much time for the "extras" (how sad that good nursing care should seem like a luxury), but I do like to rub lotion on my patients' backs when it is time to turn them. I must be a frustrated hairdresser, too, because I also like to give hair care. After all these years, though, I can't bring myself to do any more than the most basic foot care. I literally get nauseated if the person has really gnarly toes. Even after a year on a diabetic unit (lots of foot care), I still haven't gotten past it. Thank heavens for the nursing assistants who know this and take pity on me!
Wow! What wonderful nurses all of you are. I am still new to all of this, but tonight I am so very impressed. I have read so many posts about stressed out days and rude patients, Mean co-workers and unfair working conditions. I have thought so often is this really what I want to do with my life. I am a student with a while left to go ,and have been unsure of my choice to be a nurse, after some of the stuff I have been reading. You guys handle so much in the span of 12 hours or so. I am constantly amazed as to how it is possible to put up with so much. Learning that this is going to be hard is an understatement. I now know going in ,it will be a very hard career. But thanks to all of you with your GIGANTIC hearts I know no matter what the love for people doesn't diminish.
All of the things that you all do like painting toenails and shaving people....wow I was in tears. This is why I want to be a nurse. Not for the money or the benefits , but the pure love for others. It isn't the nurse in you all that makes you do those things, its love. I am 28 and have been hospitalized 2 time in my life. There were nurses that gave the the meds. Then there was the angel that covered up the IV with tape because I couldn't bear to see it. There was the nurse who took blood, and there was the angel who went to mcdonalds to get me a shake after work cause I hadn't eaten in 3 days. These are the things that set you apart. Please know none of you who do such wonderful things will ever be forgotten by your patients. It may seem like a simple thing to you but to the sick, scared 28 year old girl it isn't so simple. I only hope as a nurse I am able to give as much as you guys do. God gave us nurses to help and angels to love!!!! You guys rock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow! What wonderful nurses all of you are. I am still new to all of this, but tonight I am so very impressed. I have read so many posts about stressed out days and rude patients, Mean co-workers and unfair working conditions. I have thought so often is this really what I want to do with my life. I am a student with a while left to go ,and have been unsure of my choice to be a nurse, after some of the stuff I have been reading. You guys handle so much in the span of 12 hours or so. I am constantly amazed as to how it is possible to put up with so much. Learning that this is going to be hard is an understatement. I now know going in ,it will be a very hard career. But thanks to all of you with your GIGANTIC hearts I know no matter what the love for people doesn't diminish.
All of the things that you all do like painting toenails and shaving people....wow I was in tears. This is why I want to be a nurse. Not for the money or the benefits , but the pure love for others. It isn't the nurse in you all that makes you do those things, its love. I am 28 and have been hospitalized 2 time in my life. There were nurses that gave the the meds. Then there was the angel that covered up the IV with tape because I couldn't bear to see it. There was the nurse who took blood, and there was the angel who went to mcdonalds to get me a shake after work cause I hadn't eaten in 3 days. These are the things that set you apart. Please know none of you who do such wonderful things will ever be forgotten by your patients. It may seem like a simple thing to you but to the sick, scared 28 year old girl it isn't so simple. I only hope as a nurse I am able to give as much as you guys do. God gave us nurses to help and angels to love!!!! You guys rock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hidi74 Future RNangel:kiss
You're exactly right, hidi--healing and health are far more than a matter of popping a couple of pills. Knowing you're loved, needed, knowing that someone really CARES for you.... it's humbling and it's awesome all at the same time. That's why nursing is an art as well as a science, and experienced nurses will "know" just what action to do for a patient to make that patient feel special and loved. They know because they took the time to try different techniques with different patients.
This is what the suits just don't understand. They can't put that on a time clock. The particular care that will help a patient believe that they're loved and needed, can be so varied. The connection between nurse and patient is so unique, that it's very difficult to define, but it takes time to learn and experience it.
The suits think of nursing as a set of physical tasks in response to patient condition. They rarely understand that it takes time and energy to generate--even exude-- "sympatico," an aura of caring and compassion for the patient.
As I explained to my daughter the other day, healing is a process that takes place best in certain conditions. Harried, stressed-out nurses who hardly have a moment to nurture that healing environment, is what's wrong with nursing. Just as the patient needs to have that special one-on-one care, nurses need to give it.
So every now and then you just have to put your foot down, and stop time, and do some real nursing.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
I LISTEN, really LISTEN to them....ask them all about their lives, families, dreams, hopes, aspirations. It is amazing the things I have learned and how it eases pain and anxiety for a patient to be able to chat w/you. I really do pull up a chair and just LISTEN to them! Yes, it takes time. Yes, my coworkers occasionally wonder if I fell into a "black hole"....but it is a favorite part of my job.
I LOVE bringing people out of their shells, and the tougher they are, the more I love to try. But it sure creates a special bond w/them and reduces their perception of pain in a very therapeutic way. And, at the same time, it is also enjoyable for me!
Specializes in Geriatrics/Oncology/Psych/College Health.
Tom, you're a real humanitarian lol :).
We actually had a doc recently write an order for a pt with really bad pancreatitis r/t alcohol abuse - "clear liquids - no alcohol." This was his diet order while *in* the hospital, as tho we have a tap available for the chem dependency patients lmao.
:chuckle 
:kiss 
tcolleen
15 Posts
You all sound like you are not only great nurses, but great people. Our unit is usually so busy that there isn't much time for the "extras" (how sad that good nursing care should seem like a luxury), but I do like to rub lotion on my patients' backs when it is time to turn them. I must be a frustrated hairdresser, too, because I also like to give hair care. After all these years, though, I can't bring myself to do any more than the most basic foot care. I literally get nauseated if the person has really gnarly toes. Even after a year on a diabetic unit (lots of foot care), I still haven't gotten past it. Thank heavens for the nursing assistants who know this and take pity on me!