Mr. N. was a character. From the moment the referral nurses talked about him, they weren't really sure if he'd even make it to the Hotel. He was old. He was sick. He was unconscious. He was deaf as a post without his hearing aids. He was as we say, "day to day."
He lived and for a while, Mr. N. inhabited a bright sunny room, where he had a good view of the construction going on nearby. Once he got his hearing aids, he talked. He was very opinionated, having worked for one utility, he had a pretty good idea what was going on outside his window.
In a way, Mr. N. reminded me of my father. He had the same ethnic look and the same blue eyes. He also had a gravelly voice of a man who smoked a few Chesterfields in his day. We talked about a number of things once we connected. I could always ask if it was really true what the guys said about his battle (the "no purple hearts" part).
Mr. N. even introduced me to his children. I got to meet all of them, including the bossy daughter ("she runs everything" he said). They were nice. They were amazed that their dad did as well as he did.
One day, Mr. N. came to see me, looking for change to get a soda. I didn't have any so I checked his chart.I realized he was not diabetic, so I offered him the soda Bubba made me take to work, in case I got snowed in.
His eyes brightened when he saw it. "Ooh!" he said. "The good stuff. Sierra Mist." He thanked me and rolled away down the hall for a cup of ice.
Mr. N. came by to see me when it was time to discharge. He said, "I hope to see you again. Thanks for everything." and winked. He left the next day to go to the nursing home.
We were told the other day that Mr. N's "bossy" daughter called. He had passed away in his sleep that day. His weak heart finally gave out. This week, with more than 500 others each day, he joined history.
And I am thankful I have one more story about World War II to cherish, told by a man who made history in the Battle of the Bulge.
Showing posts with label opinions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label opinions. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Friday, April 24, 2009
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Everybody's got one...
My dad, who was prone to colorful language for some reason or another, used to have a saying, "Opinions are like a*&holes, everybody's got one." I'm realizing as a rehab nurse that it's not just opinions that everyone has...it's the nosy patient.
You know him/her if you're in a situation where you care for patients for a longer term than your regular acute hospital stay. He/she's the patient who's always wanting to know the "dirt" on the unit and will ask everybody stuff about everyone else.
This patient, if mobile, likes to hang out where the nurses congregate, especially at the nurses' station. Said patient will listen to your every word and then repeat it all over the place. This same patient will also look at your computer screen and printouts whenever he/she gets the chance. Last night, our guy--let's call him Nosy-- was watching everything. He was watching me write notes (I spent a lot of time minimizing my screen) and on my break, he kept trying to read my e-mail. What joy!
So how do you deal with this kind of patient? Our guy Nosy isn't really mean, but he is extremely bored. First, get him something to do. If he's busy, he's not going to have time to talk to you. Our Nosy likes to visit other patients in their rooms and talk, so we let him do it, if the patients agree and it doesn't interfere with any other regularly scheduled business. Nosy always wants to know why people are with us, so we tell Nosy, "Ask him/her. If they want to tell you, they'll tell you." This is one instance where I like HIPAA...it can be used to keep the nosy patients out of your hair sometimes.
Second, if keeping him busy isn't enough, tell Nosy the truth. Here's what we do a lot: "Nosy, I think you're great, but I have work to do here with Nurse X. We have to talk about our work and we can't share that with you. If you go and come back in about xx minutes, we'll be happy to chat with you later."
Finally, if that doesn't work, take your chat with Nurse X elsewhere. We have a staff lounge that is off-limits to patients, so when all else fails, we have to go there. Excuse yourself and disappear.
You know him/her if you're in a situation where you care for patients for a longer term than your regular acute hospital stay. He/she's the patient who's always wanting to know the "dirt" on the unit and will ask everybody stuff about everyone else.
This patient, if mobile, likes to hang out where the nurses congregate, especially at the nurses' station. Said patient will listen to your every word and then repeat it all over the place. This same patient will also look at your computer screen and printouts whenever he/she gets the chance. Last night, our guy--let's call him Nosy-- was watching everything. He was watching me write notes (I spent a lot of time minimizing my screen) and on my break, he kept trying to read my e-mail. What joy!
So how do you deal with this kind of patient? Our guy Nosy isn't really mean, but he is extremely bored. First, get him something to do. If he's busy, he's not going to have time to talk to you. Our Nosy likes to visit other patients in their rooms and talk, so we let him do it, if the patients agree and it doesn't interfere with any other regularly scheduled business. Nosy always wants to know why people are with us, so we tell Nosy, "Ask him/her. If they want to tell you, they'll tell you." This is one instance where I like HIPAA...it can be used to keep the nosy patients out of your hair sometimes.
Second, if keeping him busy isn't enough, tell Nosy the truth. Here's what we do a lot: "Nosy, I think you're great, but I have work to do here with Nurse X. We have to talk about our work and we can't share that with you. If you go and come back in about xx minutes, we'll be happy to chat with you later."
Finally, if that doesn't work, take your chat with Nurse X elsewhere. We have a staff lounge that is off-limits to patients, so when all else fails, we have to go there. Excuse yourself and disappear.
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