Some mornings I wake up and the last thing I want to do is go into work. I’m exhausted, both mentally and physically, and I can barely drag myself into the shower to take care of myself let alone take care of other people who are in critical condition.
But, I do it. And do does everyone else in healthcare. The difference is how the attitude changes when we walk into the hospital. I try my best to put on a smile as I walk into the break room to get my patient assignment- I say hi to my coworkers (which is better than the dreary, early morning silence), and I go out to get report from the night shift nurse. I then walk into my patient’s room and great them with a “Good morning, my name is Amy and I’m going to be your nurse today. How are you feeling? Are you ready for some breakfast?” All with a positive outlook. I really think that our patients can sense our moods within the first 30 seconds of the day. If you come in with a less than positive attitude, they’re going to feed off of that for the next 12 hours. Not good.
We often have patients after open heart surgery who complain about having to get out of bed, or having to use their incentive spirometer (breathing exerciser which reduces risk of pneumonia post-op), etc. These patients can drain the heck out of you- it’s hard to be a cheerleader for a cranky patient, especially when you’re not in the best mood yourself. I have gotten into the habit of making it into a joke for myself, while using the humor to (hopefully) encourage the patient. As we’re getting the cranky patient out of the bed, I joke around by asking him if he can describe the truck that hit him. If I can get even a little bit of a smile, the patients seem to cheer up and it makes my day a little less #fail.
Bottom line: Put on a happy face. It will help you be in a better mood yourself, and your patients will thank you for it (even if they’re too crankpants to actually say it out loud).
After acting as “cheerleader” last summer to help my Father recover from a 5-way bypass I feel for you. I only had to do it about 7 days but each day I was exhausted when we went home. My wife and I likened it to our college days in the theater, except we were on stage for hours at a time.
He had respiratory issues that kept him in ICU for 4 weeks. We were determined to move him forward in his recovery while we were there for 2 weeks and were very proud that we succeeded. He moved to rehab the next week.
Your mention of the incentive spirometer really struck. He hated that. He was already an ornery Ohio farmer and things like that just made him ornerier.
Thanks for a great post. Please know that non-medical folks like myself appreciate people like you.
Douglas
The incentive spirometer seems to inspire a lot of hatred in many patients, especially after open heart surgery. Of course, it brings a lot of pain to the sternal incision and it also seems to bring a feeling of inadequacy in our strong-willed male patients. Before surgery, they were able to get the marker all the way to the top, and then after surgery they’re only doing about one tenth of that. So, on top of barely being able to get in and out of bed and needing someone to help them with their glass of water, they now can’t even breathe as well anymore. It’s a very measurable outcome that they feel that they are not meeting.
Hope your dad is doing well and thanks for your words- I really do appreciate it.