I roll my eyes as my ass barely hits my chair when the patient in 403 hits the call light. Again. For the millionth time this shift. I need to get my charting done!
I take a deep breath and let out a sigh. We're working without an LNA again this shift. I guess they figure things are "quiet" at night and we can manage without one. We can. Barely and sometimes poorly.
I step into 403 and say,
"Hey Steve, what can I do for you?"
And he answers,
"I just wanted to tell you what a great job you're doing! Sorry for being such a pain.."
Instantly I'm ashamed of myself. Being a patient totally sucks. Especially when you're as sick as Steve. He has no control over anything, except the call light. I get that he is lonely and wants someone to talk to.
I need to do my job, which yes, includes charting (oh, so MUCH charting), but mainly involves patient care.
Patient care isn't just pills and assessments. Patient care also means taking the time to tend to the emotional and mental well-being of the folks entrusted to us. It's a big responsibility. I need to focus on that more and on the minutiae of charting less.
It makes me a better nurse, and a better person. And all of my patients benefit.
2 comments:
Take another look at it, and then judge me if you see fit. I was an acute care bedside night shift RN for more than 2 decades, so this comes from my experiences, and my conclusions drawn from them.
Your patient is being both passive aggressive, and manipulative. He knows how much of a PITA he is being, so he calls one more time anticipating how you will judge calling for nothing, and then claims that the call is for YOUR benefit, to pull you away from your actual work to give you what he claims is a compliment , and therefore a thoughtful gift he GAVE you. I was always the nurse they really wanted to have, and sought to cover all their bases when called and/or when rounding. Being unnecessarily run like a yo-yo does not help. It steals from my other patients, and steals from my employer, and it steals from my practice when I STILL have to chart enough to be clear, to present a stand alone document of each patient's shift, so in a week, a month , or YEARS from now, if there arises ANY question, that question is answered by a simple reading of MY charting.
If anyone has a REAL compliment to pay, they should put it in writing , and address it to my Nursing Unit Manager,The CEO, etc. so it can be seen as something other than straight up manipulative passive-aggression. Heck, the COMPLAINANTS always take time to write!
You're good people. Thanks for hanging in there Christina!
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