How Nurses Can Help Their Patients

When I was hospitalized for over a week back in May of 2015, one of my wonderful nurses asked me to write a blog post about how nurses can help their patients better.  I wrote this idea down in my book of notes I keep for this blog but have had such a hard time coming up with ideas.  Honestly most of my experiences with nurses in 37 years of being in and out of hospitals have been amazing.  But I have had a few occasions that were not so pleasant.  Some of the aspects I am going to write about in this post pertain to people with hydrocephalus solely and other aspects can pertain to anyone.

During the hospital stay that I just referenced to, I had a nurse treat me like I was dealing with a migraine and not a shunt malfunction.  She refused to let me have visitors, I couldn't listen to music, or watch TV and she turned off all the lights in my room.  Some people with hydrocephalus do suffer from migraines  but I am not one of those people. Besides that a shunt malfunction is not like a migraine.  You don't typically have a sensitivity to light and sound.  So if I tell you that I am not dealing with a migraine please believe me.

During a hospital stay I had in October of 2014, a nurse in ICU would not let me get out of bed at all.  I had to use the facilities at bedside.  I pleaded with her to just let me get up and walk to the bathroom which was literally a few feet from my bed to see if I even could walk because I just had a brain bleed during surgery.  I knew my doctor would not let me go home unless he knew I could walk.  The nurse kept telling me that the patient in the room across from mine got anxiety every time she came to check on me so she didn't have time to get me out of bed.  Luckily my surgeon came to my rescue and demanded that she let me walk the halls or else I wouldn't be able to go home.  Kids can't visit patients in ICU so the sooner I was out of there the better.

I don't think what that nurse told me was very professional.  She should have asked for additional assistance because she knew that the criteria for going home after a shunt revision is being able to use the restroom, keep food down, and being able to walk.

One thing I really like is when a nurse seems very caring and will ask me personal questions about my life when he or she can tell that I am feeling overwhelmed.  I find that it just shows so much compassion when they really take an interest in what you are going through.  For instance, when I had my latest shunt revision on January 22nd, I had many of the same nurses in the pre-op area.  Every single one of them remembered me, told me that they had been thinking about me and could even remember what my favorite band is.  I thought that was incredibly sweet and kind of amazing considering all the people that they treat day in and day out.

Basically I think patients just desire to be treated like a human beings and not just a number.  At least I do.  Being in the hospital is terrifying and painful, and well, sad.  It helps knowing that your health care professionals truly care about you.

Keep asking us what you can do to make our stay more pleasant, have patience with us, take our concerns seriously, be our personal cheerleaders by encourage us to get out of that bed, and please don't detour visitors from coming if they are allowed.  Sometimes nothing brightens a patients' day more than a visit from that special someone.

To all you hardworking nurses out there-please know that you are very much appreciated!  Thank you for your exceptional care throughout the years!  I can only imagine how difficult your job is and I have the utmost respect for you all.