When nurses become patients, do they tend to evaluate the care they receive as they are receiving it? Maybe say to themselves, “I could’ve done that better,” or, “I would’ve done that differently?”
I have been a hospital patient a few times since beginning my nursing career. Several years have passed since my last admission but I don’t recall keeping a mental checklist, rating the professional performance of my caregivers. I take that to mean, since it is usually the less than ideal experiences that stick with us, that I was not unhappy with the quality of my care. Foremost, I remember just enjoying the R&R—having an ironclad excuse to put family, home and career responsibilities on hold for a little while.
Soon, I will once again be a hospital patient. This time I plan to pay more attention to the little things going on around me. Not with a critical purpose, but more like research. I recently wondered, in a blog entry here, if nurses would be offended by a patient’s questioning whether the nurse had washed his or her hands before performing any kind of a procedure on the patient. I plan to see firsthand. I’m going to ask that question and take notice of the reactions to it.
Ever the interviewer, always the conversation aficionado, I expect that I’ll be asking lots of questions, personal and professional, of my nurses. I don’t have a specific line of questioning in mind. I’m counting on situations, facets of which will inspire a good chat, presenting themselves in great numbers. We shall see how it all plays out and I will share my new insights (there are sure to be some) here in this space.
Friday, January 4, 2008
When the Nurses are the Patients
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2 comments:
One of my children likened a hurtful experience in a hosptial stay like this:
"It's like many different people, whose names you don't remember and may never see again, sprinkled soft flower petals over you and then along comes someone you will never forget who threw a rock at you and got you good. Best to remember the flower petals and forget the rock"
I loved that story and one of my greatest goals is to always sprinkle flower petals. Sometimes I feel the emotional weight of a rock in my hand and wonder how the behavior of the patient made me respond like that...what was the trigger? I drop the emotional stone. Learning never ends. We all have triggers and I am learning to be as kind and gentle with myself as I would like to be to others.
As you know it is always interesting to have a nurse or doctor as a patient because as a caretaker you know they are taking notes!
Occasionally I scroll back through my older blog posts to see if, quite a while after the posting, someone might've written a comment that I've missed seeing. That is the case here (from Jan. to June to November). I do like this story very much and you have a wise child. It is a mental picture that would be helpful to carry in our cranial wallets, to remind us not to throw rocks. Rose petals would be a much better approach. Thanks for this!
G. Murdock
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