Judgements and ASSumptions

Today is my younger brother's 16Th birthday! Happy Birthday Walker! (I'm 15 yrs older then him and 20 yrs older then my youngest bro, Zak....I feel old.)

*********


I was thinking the other day about writing a post about the judgements nurses and doctors make with patients. I wasn't sure how to lay it all out and coincidentally came across Third Degree Nurse's post about a similar subject.

I've heard a lot of comments in the past about what patients do to put themselves in the hospital.

"Why do these people drink themselves to death"

"He has COPD but thinks it's OK to keep smoking"

"A 40 yr smoker...what did she think would happen?"

"He has Diabetes but he won't follow the diet"

"She weighs 500 lbs, maybe she should've exercised"

"He's been hospitalized 4 times this year detoxing, he doesn't learn"

Even as I watched a liver patient lay there unresponsive and dying I heard an experienced 20 yr nurse say "If he had only stopped drinking..." in front of him.

Maybe it's my personal and family background in addictions that keeps me from even thinking these things. I just don't. When I hear patient diagnoses it doesn't occur to me to think what caused them....just how to care for them.

It's natural for anyone to look for blame....it's human. If we look for a reason it prevents us from doing the same to ourselves. We can tell ourselves that it won't happen to us. Prevention is important.

However, it doesn't always apply.
When I tell people that Mike died of Oral Cancer, the first question asked is always "did he dip?" (use chewing tobacco). He didn't. Diagnosed at the age of 21....there's not much one could do to cause it....it just happened.

I've met widows of victims of lung cancer who didn't smoke.
I know people who are overweight because of their thyroid gland and not because of their eating habits.
I've met a few Liver disease patients who never drank.
Sometimes it just happens.

On the other hand, there's those who drink because they've had a really hard life. They smoke because it's the only way they know how to cope. They eat too much because they are really sad and depressed.

In Nursing you have to check your assumptions and judgements at the door. A nurse is there to take care of the patients needs now and hopefully teach and encourage the patient to not damage their bodies further....if that is the case.

The trick is to remain compassionate, empathetic, and caring despite what caused the patient to walk in your door. Don't avoid the patient because "he deserves what he caused". And bite your tongue.....I guarantee the patient knows why they are there.

It helps me to remember to never judge a person unless you've walked a mile in their shoes.

Stressing the body

I'm making myself post at least once a week.

It's hard to come up with a topic because I either lack an interesting experience or I'm too overwhelmed with experiences to pick just one to write about. (and remember clearly)

I worked only 3 days this week because Ari is suffering big time from a nasty sinus infection and Pharyngitis thanks to the ugly Cedar monster that has enveloped this area of Texas. My friend, Student Nurse Jack has eloquently written a funny post about that.

My paychecks suffer when Ari's sick or when I get cancelled. Cancelled is what we call it when we are overstaffed with nurses and someone gets called at 0430 in the morning to be told to stay home for the day. We take turns and it's been happening to everyone at least twice a month. I'm annoyed by it later but at 0430 I'm always happy to hear I can fall back asleep under the covers all snugly.

++++++++

I'm stressed out.
Stress does funny things to me. I feel it in my bones and joints. I don't sleep well at all and I get headaches. I get heartburn at night. I have a skin thing called Pompholyx a.k.a. Dyshidrotic Dermatitis on my hands. That flares up pretty bad when I'm stressed. (Yes I realize the dangers of having this at work...especially on my unit....I wash my hands a lot...keep them dry....and cover any of the blisters with Tegaderm when I need to)

Am I stressed right now? I don't know. Mentally I feel fine but all these little body alerts are telling me I am.

So I take benadryl to sleep and for the itchy hands.
Tums for the heartburn, Aleve for the headaches and joint aches. I medicate.
medicate. medicate.

What am I stressed about you ask?
Beats me. I would say every thing's going OK. Sure the job is tough right now but getting easier for me to handle...I'm adapting. And I still love it.
My daughter is healthy and happy.
I have a roof over my head and the rent is paid and the bills are slowly but surely getting paid. I have great friends and people who love me.
Still....Yet..... here I am at 1 am blogging with itchy hands, heartburn, and my hips and ankles are killing me right now.
And I can't really think of anything else to write about.

The Med Room

I've had a rough week in nursing. It actually seems like I have a lot of rough weeks in Nursing. The bad outweigh the good anyway.
Is it possible to burn out after just 7 months?

Maybe it's just the time of year, the holidays and such. I'll hang in there because I still like the job....I still love the career.

I just know some of my co-workers feel the same way.

It seems the Med room on my unit is the the dumping ground for frustrations. We nurses don't get too much time to chat with one another if we are really working our tails off.

Although there are some units who have Nurse's stations for that. Ours is pretty open with lots of people hanging out there. Interns, Residents, Physical therapists, patients even. Some one can overhear the venting and take offense.

We Nurses, We run into each other in the Med room getting our Narcotics, Insulin, Saline bags, IV supplies, and etc.

While we are in that tiny, hot, and somehow soundproof room it seems we have the perfect opportunity to vent to each other about our frustrations of the day or vent about the one or two nurses or aides who aren't pulling their weight.

The door has a code lock and a thick window....you can see and hear people coming in.

I have on many occasions heard and uttered the phrases "Is your patient load as bad as mine?"; "What is WITH these people today?" and "Why are all these sick people here?!"
That last phrase is my favorite sarcastic one.

The Med room is a safe place to utter and hear these phrases. It won't be overheard by someone who will take offense....the only people who hear are the other nurses who understand.

I like our med room, it's quiet there. You can hide in there if only for a few moments and collect yourself.

I need that in a particularly crazy shift.