I'd wish for nursing staffing levels to be at a point where they could care for patients like they feel they should.
This is just a small example, but recently my mother had her gallbladder out, and had to be in the hospital for a couple extra days. The first night after surgery I stayed with her in the hospital room. She had constant IV drip fluids, which meant she needed to regularly get up and use the restroom.
Each time she needed to get up, she had to page a nurse. The nurse would need to take off my mom's inflating boots (they help prevent blood clots), help my mom out of the bed, steady her as she walked to the restroom and moved her IV stand, and then help her back into bed and refasten the inflation boots. The whole process took possibly 10 minutes but my mom needed to relieve herself probably every hour and a half.
Long story short, they were not staffed well that night, and my mother's bathrooming needs were not high on the list of what needed to be attended to. After waiting for half an hour one time and watching my mother uncomfortably try to hold it, I had to take matters into my own hands and learn how to undo and redo the inflation boots so I could help her to the bathroom. I did this for her all night long. Had she been in the hospital for herself, I think she'd have been allowed to lie in bed and have an accident simply because they were short of staff.
What was really sad was how grateful the nurse was TO ME. Because I could be there to help my mom, she had one less patient to deal with.
So I want nurses to be able to be staffed at a level that allows them to be the responsive, smart, caregiving people they are paid to be. Our nurses should not be stressed people who are pushed to their limits who have to be grateful to a patient's family member for being able to take some duties off their charts.
And my wish for every patient is that they have a close friend or family member there to be their advocate, just like you were for your father, Michelle. When we are the patient, it's often hard to think clearly, and we're vulnerable, and we don't feel well enough to ask all the questions that should be asked or push for all the answers that we need. If there's a person in the room who's there just for us and us alone, all kinds of good things happen.
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I'd wish for nursing staffing levels to be at a point where they could care for patients like they feel they should.
This is just a small example, but recently my mother had her gallbladder out, and had to be in the hospital for a couple extra days. The first night after surgery I stayed with her in the hospital room. She had constant IV drip fluids, which meant she needed to regularly get up and use the restroom.
Each time she needed to get up, she had to page a nurse. The nurse would need to take off my mom's inflating boots (they help prevent blood clots), help my mom out of the bed, steady her as she walked to the restroom and moved her IV stand, and then help her back into bed and refasten the inflation boots. The whole process took possibly 10 minutes but my mom needed to relieve herself probably every hour and a half.
Long story short, they were not staffed well that night, and my mother's bathrooming needs were not high on the list of what needed to be attended to. After waiting for half an hour one time and watching my mother uncomfortably try to hold it, I had to take matters into my own hands and learn how to undo and redo the inflation boots so I could help her to the bathroom. I did this for her all night long. Had she been in the hospital for herself, I think she'd have been allowed to lie in bed and have an accident simply because they were short of staff.
What was really sad was how grateful the nurse was TO ME. Because I could be there to help my mom, she had one less patient to deal with.
So I want nurses to be able to be staffed at a level that allows them to be the responsive, smart, caregiving people they are paid to be. Our nurses should not be stressed people who are pushed to their limits who have to be grateful to a patient's family member for being able to take some duties off their charts.
And my wish for every patient is that they have a close friend or family member there to be their advocate, just like you were for your father, Michelle. When we are the patient, it's often hard to think clearly, and we're vulnerable, and we don't feel well enough to ask all the questions that should be asked or push for all the answers that we need. If there's a person in the room who's there just for us and us alone, all kinds of good things happen.
May 14, 2009 - 9:40amThis Comment
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