|
The shortage of nurses and its effect on staffing ratios,
as well as increasingly higher acuity in inpatient settings,
have influenced the evolution of the nurse-patient relationship.
Providing holistic nursing care becomes more of a challenge
as physical needs and matching technical skills are
continually forced to the top of the need hierarchy.
Nurses find themselves having to become more creative
to develop ways to maintain a connection with their
patients, as well as a quality nurse-patient relationship.
In the midst of these circumstances, my nursing peers
had the occasion to demonstrate the kind of commitment
and passion to provide an excellent example of the necessary
vigilance to meet this type of challenge.
Our staff came to know Mr. and Mrs. L. during an extended
hospital stay in which Mr. L. had extensive surgery
for esophageal cancer and remained under our care for
his subsequent recovery. Luck was not on Mr. L.'s side:
After being told his cancer surgery was a success, he
developed a rare bleeding complication with little documentation
of prior occurrence or effective treatment.
For several weeks, Mr. and Mrs. L. rode a roller coaster
of hopes and disappointments, and many times the staff
and his physicians were along for the ride.
Several efforts to keep up his spirits by staff members
provided usual and unusual activities. Mr. and Mrs.
L. shared the holiday season with us and, for Christmas,
we decorated his room. Although we couldn't give him
the first wish on his list, we did give him laughs.
We presented him with unique gifts, such as a staff-autographed
urinal and silly ornaments that were the subject of
conversation for days.
And although time was marked with what seemed like
one setback after another, one staff member called in
some favors and members of the university basketball
team dropped by to visit Mr. L., who was one of their
biggest fans. He proudly displayed the pictures taken
of their visit and quickly pointed out these souvenirs
to everyone who entered his room.
This was not the end to the efforts of the staff. Just
when Mr. and Mrs. L. were hearing things about his illness
like "We are researching any further options,"
a visit was arranged by members of the cheerleading
squad.
As more days passed, Mr. L. made mention of not being
aware of what winter was like this year because he was
limited to being indoors. Another creative staff member
made him a miniature snowman. Mr. L. watched the snowman
slowly melt away, much like Mother Nature was doing
in the actual outdoors.
There were also smaller interventions, such as providing
shoulders to lean on and compiling information to keep
Mr. and Mrs. L. educated in order to help them make
some of the difficult decisions they found themselves
faced with. Mr. and Mrs. L. often said that the things
we had done showed that there was no doubt we cared
and demonstrated genuine concern. They said our "upbeat
attitude was contagious."
To provide a happy ending to our story, Mr. and Mrs.
L. were able to leave us on Valentine's Day after receiving
a singing valentine complete with long-stemmed roses,
arranged by yet another staff member. We reminded them
once again how they had become permanent fixtures in
our hearts.
Our staff would agree that each of us gained so much
from this experience. We were able to demonstrate that
patients are not just lab values or problems to be solved.
We plunged enthusiastically forward, continually inventing
creative strategies and demonstrating sincere empathy
as we cared for Mr. L.
Allowing staff to use their talents or skills beyond
their technical abilities made this experience meaningful
and allowed us to feel we had made a contribution to
patient care beyond meeting physical care needs. We
left our work feeling personally fulfilled, ready and
willing to meet the care needs of the next patient.
|
