For those of you who missed the original post-
http://medicdani.blogspot.com/2009/10/level-62-care.html
If you took the challenge feel free to step up and brag- I would love to hear about everyone and what has come easily and what hasn't. Here is my report card:
This week I focused on the little details with my patient care. Generally speaking the hospitals are all about saving money, so when the patient is admitted, the less you give them the better for the hospital. Instead of just giving them the incenstive spirometer, big yellow bin, kidney basin, mug and tissues- I added lotion, comb, toothbrush and toothpaste, an extra pair of socks and deoderant. This not only helped the patients want to do nightly and moring cares, but they felt better about themselves and their care.
Another trick I tried was focusing on snacks. Usually my patients are all regualr diets and can eat anything they desire, so I made sure they got dinner and a snack of their choice. One patient even disliked his supper, so we let him have food ordered in.
One thing I have noticed is that rules sometimes just dont exsist. Like overnight guests. I thought it was against the rules, til I asked. Now that I know better I actually take a cot from the pre-op and recovery area, make it up like a bed and bring it into the patients room. This makes both patient and visitor more comfortable.
However I still need to work on being compassionate about everything. I still sigh when the patient who has peed twice and hour every hour rings her bell. I still treat her kindly, but I need to stop the whining in the hallway.
1 comment:
I took it up, and enjoyed it!
5) Trust, I have a patient who has refused, flat out, to eat, I went in, and talked to him for a little while, by the end of a ten minute period, he was willing to eat and he ate the entire lunch! After that, he refuses to eat for anyone else, I asked him why and he said, "the same reason I only let my wife sleep in my bed, because I trust you to look after me whilst I eat."
4) Quality. I normally try and bathe all the men on my bays in about an hour, there's seven men, and six women and I try as best I can to get it done quick, then make the beds, and have all their breakfast trays removed within the next hour or two. Today I spent some time bathing them, asking them if they preferred hot or warm water, if they would like to do it themselves, if they would like me to get them a can of deodorant, or if they would like a pink, blue or white towel, I asked them if they wanted their sheets folded over, or tucked in. I asked them if they enjoyed their breakfast, if not, why not?
3) Diversity: I've gotta say, i'm good with diversity, my coure requires we take a "diversity and equality" class, so I'm pretty educated in it, and we live in a very very very multi cultural town, with all religions, all races, just today, I had a patient who didnt speak a word of English, but another patients visitor was passing by as she said "I cant speak English" in arabic, and he popped his head in and said "nurse" I said "yeah?" and he said "she's saying she can't speak English," he then turned to her and said something in Arabic, they spoke for a few seconds, I was completely baffled, and then he said "she just wants you to plait her hair, and she says can she please have some jam for her bread?" It was completely bizarre, but rather cute! I thanked him, plaited her hair, she was humming, and she kept smiling at me, and we had total respect for other person, neither of us was a better race, neither was a better person. I spent about ten minutes plaiting her hair, because she had realised I understood when she twisted her fingers together she wanted it tighter, and when she twisted them apart it meant less tight, so that we could get it just perfect.
2) responsibility: I'm always having to take on extra responsibility. our hospital is major understaffed, so there is not as many nurses as they should be, I'm not meant to do most the jobs I do, yet I do them, and I try my best to smile. I'm not technically a nurse, yet every time a patient shouts "nurse" I will go, because at the end of the day, we are all trying to do the same thing. And I know what you mean about psych patients, I got threatened today, as I was walking away from a patient, I took a breath, and tried to calm him down, because I have found a lot of the time, my patients are just lonely.
1)Again, I agree with the pee comment, I am constantly hating bed pans, urine bottles and elderly people who can't walk suddenly demanding to go to the toilet, rather than having a commode brought to their bedside. but still, I did it, every time someone needed one. We also have a patient who constantly shouts for nurses, when she doesn't need us, however, I did go to her, most of the time, (like everyone, im not perfect, and there were times I was too busy) and eventually, she stopped calling nurse, because she knew she wasn't being ignored now.
So, I've tried my best, i'm not perfect, but i'm improving the best I can do!
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