Amy - Genuine Care

Amy -







Perhaps my grandmother is the reason I went into the home health care field. She had nurses come to care for her in her home, and I remember as a young girl being in awe of them. I think I was admiring the compassion that they had for her, as well as the knowledge they seemed to have. They knew exactly how to treat the different ailments from which she suffered. But I also admired that these nurses recognized the importance of family. They always encouraged us kids to play around Grandma, and they never scolded us for anything. My grandmother passed away when I was thirteen, but I never forgot those nurses who had cared for her up to the end of her life.

Now I am one of those nurses. I feel like I am trying to convey to my patients and their families the same thing that I saw take place when my grandmother was ill. I want them to feel very comfortable around me, and able to ask me anything. I want them to feel comfortable with the care that I'm giving, and to realize that I know what I'm doing.

With home care, it's easy to develop a really close relationship with patients because it’s just them and their families. In a hospital or nursing home setting, it's harder for that kind of trust to form, because you're not with those patients all the time.“I don’t believe it takes a special kind of person to do home health care. I think anybody can do it if they really have the heart for it.” In my job, I am fortunate to have the time to build relationships, and often my patients let me know what a difference I have made in their lives. For instance, I had a client for about a year who was a paraplegic. He had wounds that I treated, and when they were finally healed, it was really sad for both of us because it meant I wouldn’t be coming out there anymore. To this day, we still keep in touch. He will send me birthday and holiday cards, and sometimes he calls me. He expressed his appreciation and let me know that I had done a good job. It’s not unusual for me to develop those kinds of close bonds with my clients.

I don’t believe it takes a special kind of person to do home health care. I think anybody can do it if they really have the heart for it. You have to care what the client feels like. You have to ask them, “How's your day going?” And you have to care about their answer. You have to be patient. You must be able to adapt well to their personality or to their surroundings. I have met other home health care workers who say they don’t want to go back into so-and-so's home because it's a mess, or they don't want to deal with so-and-so because they got yelled at last week. I’m not like that at all. Sure, I might have a couple of difficult patients, but after I've known them for a couple of months, we develop a relationship. They might have a bad day and yell at me, but I forgive them for it, and we act like nothing ever happened ...the same thing you do with your spouse and kids.

My style of nursing has always been one of genuine caring. Not just for the patient, but for his or her entire family. My first year out of nursing school I worked in a nursing home, and on the very first shift I worked by myself I had a patient who passed away. It was very shocking for me. I left the room to call the family and found when I returned that the aides had wrapped a towel very tightly around this lady’s neck. They said it was to prevent the neck from breaking when the funeral home people picked up the body. I was horrified, though, because the towel looked like a noose, and I knew the family was coming to see their loved one for the last time. I didn’t want them to see her like that, so I told the aides to remove the towel. For them it was no big deal, because they did this all the time. But for me it was unacceptable for this family to have to see that, and in the end I prevailed. The experience instilled in me a strong desire to care not only for the patients, but to extend my caring all the way to their families as well.

I am happy where I'm at right now in my career, and have no desire to go for any bigger title. Home care is the right fit for me, and I would be content to stay in this field until I retire. If you’re considering going into this profession, know that it's probably going to be the hardest job you’ll ever have. There are going to be times when you're going to feel very unappreciated. You’re going to work very hard and feel like you’re getting nothing in return. But for every one bad experience you have with a patient or a family member or a doctor, there will probably be five good experiences. So just bide your time with the bad stuff, because the good stuff is there, too. It’s been my experience that if you don't have the heart for nursing, you'll give it up pretty quick, because it's a tough field to stay in. Those of us who have the heart, we know we're there to help people. And we know that if a patient is really demanding, it’s probably because they need attention and they're not getting it. The nurses that care – we realize that. And we give them the attention they need.

Power Strategies: Pragmatism, Empathy, Wisdom
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