Level 6.2 Care

EMS 2.0 is taking off in an amazing whirlwind around the medic blogospheres. It's amazing how a simple idea is going above and beyond. I have loved reading about this great idea and about how we as EMT's plan to change health care for the better.

The CEO of my hospital sends out many e-mails, most of which I don't read. I must have been exceptionally bored or in a go-getter mood because I read one of them today that talked about level 5 care in a hospital setting. All I could think about was 'what on earth is level 5 care supposed to mean?' and 'I thought we were a level 1 trauma center- is level 5 care good or bad!?' So I did some research in and around all the hospitals in my state. The scale is 1-5, the lower your score the worse you are. Aiming for level 5 is aiming for the highest. This got me thinking.

During nurses week we had a comment on our poster that said 'thanks for the level 5 care.' Another scribbled message said 'enough of this level 5 crap- I got level 6.2 care here!'
That poster is still sitting in the hallway, staring us down, reminding us why we do what we do. I have no idea what level 6.2 means, but it's much better than level 5!

So folks, I am issuing another challenge to us all. Let's all give level 6.2 care.

The standards that all the hospitals I looked up had in common were:

1. Compassion: As stated in yesterdays post, I am the first to admit that sometimes I am not as compassionate as I need or want to be. Let's all try to genuinely listen to our patients, knowing that everyone lies, but acting towards them as if this rule never existed. Synonyms of the word compassion are; sympathy, empathy, heartfelt and caring. All traits we should work on.

2.Responsibility: Being on the bottom of the food chain is easy. Being at the top is hard. Either way we are loaded with responsibilities for another human life, and sometimes its a life we aren't fond of. It's easy to love your child and care for them, but it is very hard to have a psych patient and keep calm around them. Stepping up is the hardest, biggest thing any of us in a hospital can do, and its a rare occurrence when anyone does it. I personally am vowing to always do my glucometer checks, fridge checks and take the equipment out of the rooms on Friday nights, even though that's not my job to do.

3.Diversity: Everywhere I go there is little to no diversity. I live in a VERY white state, and I am not just talking about snow and minerals here, I mean to tell you that in my high school there were roughly 2500 students. 300 were Hispanic and 5 were African American. That leaves 2295 white kids. Diversity comes in many different packages, in skin color, in religion, in political beliefs and so many other ways. It wasn't until I got my second job that I got to dealing with different kinds of people. Until then I had never met anyone who spoke Somalian, Iranian, dialects of Chinese and heaven only knows how many other languages. I had never seen anyone wear a turban in real life and thought that I would see so many different forms of religion through clothing choices. Each day I see and learn more and more about the world I live in, but I cannot become a better health care professional if I don't try to learn. Let's all try to talk to our patients about their lives, their beliefs and themselves, which will not only lead to better care, but more comfortable relationships with their caregivers.

4.Quality: When we play the alphabet game we always look for this word, and are always so sadly disappointed when it becomes a hard word to find. It's a hard word to find because its a rare thing for anyone to have or to give. Quality. We work in a devastating field. People who should live, die. Children get incurable diseases. Families are torn apart. We see this happening right before our eyes, so who am I to ask you to give more quality of care? I know I'm asking for alot. But the patients deserve it.
Whether it be giving a patient an extra can of soda, or taking five minutes to help them apply some lotion to their back, the little things are the things that our patients like the most. I am vowing to take 5 minutes of free time on shift to spend with each patient, talking with them, fetching them odds and ends, even straightening up their rooms for them. I am vowing to hold more hands, pass more tissues, sit at more bedsides and to listen to more stories. If I was a patient that person would be a quality aide, and that is who I want to become.

5.Trust: We work with them from anywhere between 4-16 hours. We may or may not see them again the next shift we have. There is no consistency in the hospital, but we can still gain trust with a patient. Trust is an incredibly hard thing to gain, the world is full of mean, horrible people and whats worse, the media makes doctors, nurses, even aides out to be the bad guys. In television shows the nurses are the mean grumpy ones, the aides are ditzy and worthless. We need to fight barriers to gain a patients trust. I have no idea, no advice and no words of wisdom as to how to accomplish this, I just hope that as level 6.2. care givers we can.

I am taking a vow to be a better caregiver and to do a better job. To focus more on my patients and to see what we can do to not only save a life, but to change a life.

If you're with me, leave me a comment and set yourself a goal as well. We may be thousands of miles apart, but that doesn't mean that we can make a difference inside the hospital while these Paramedics are making a difference on the streets.