Tami - Honoring the Spirit of the Patient

Tami -







I’m a pre-admission testing nurse. I help patients get everything organized prior to their surgeries. I either visit with them face-to-face or on the phone and review everything they will experience from preparation the night before surgery through expectations after their return home. I be sure to show them where there power is over what’s happening, because many feel powerless when they find themselves needing surgery. I love my job because I can give patients options by educating them about the choices they have in their care. Knowledge is freedom. When the patient is empowered, they feel better about their procedure.

Recently, I had some health problems and almost died. My experience in the hospital was an eye opener. It was a really bad experience and has changed the way I function as a nurse. It taught me to be more humble; more appreciative. I now want to be more attentive to the people I care for. When my patients leave the hospital I want them to say, “Hey, she was pretty cool and she did a good job.”

Because of my horrible hospital experience I am adamant that we, as a staff, do better. I want nurses to be accountable for what we do. I wasn’t looking to be treated special when I was in the hospital just because I was a nurse. But I did want to be cared for in a nurturing way. I had earlier experiences in hospitals where I was treated awesome. But this last experience told me it was time to verbalize the problem and be part of the solution.

Some veteran nurses have become calloused. They don’t have emotions. They don’t focus on patient care, just on the technical aspects of the job. Nurses need to become humane again.“Doctors heal the patient’s condition; nurses heal the patient.” Be healers and teachers. Focus on making patients and their families more comfortable. We need to find the root of the nursing profession again; compassionate patient care, showing emotion and empathy and all those things that make people connect spiritually. Even if you don’t believe in religion, you still have a spirit inside of you. Take two minutes, sit down and let your spirit connect with somebody else’s spirit.

Sometimes the patients I talk to on the phone are elderly and don’t have many people to talk to. They’ll say, “Oh, I’m keeping you.” I always tell them, “You are not keeping me, this is my job. I want you to tell me what you’re thinking.” I’ll take the time that is needed to be on the phone with a patient so they get their questions answered and their fears allayed. Sometimes it takes a long time, but it takes as long as it takes. And, the patients remember my name, they call me when they have a crisis, and at least they know they have a person who is going to listen.

Nurses still have to think with their heads for the things that need to be dealt with intellectually. For example, if somebody comes in bleeding, the first thing I’m going to do is stop the bleeding. But then I remember that is not just a wound I’m attending to, it’s also a person who is hurting.

I am not a doctor. Doctors heal the patient’s condition. Nurses heal the patient. I look at the patient and think how I would treat the patient if it were my mom or dad or anyone else I really cared about. Would I slap something on the wound and walk away? No! It literally takes just a few minutes to ask, “How did this happen? Are you okay? Can I get you something?” We are not so busy that we have to skip that personal contact.

The insurance companies may think economically it’s better to fix the immediate problem and shove people out the door. I believe if we get to the basis of what’s going on with the patient, we’ll actually save money. If we simply slap a Band-Aid on the wound, that patient will be back over and over again and we end up spending more money because they are repeat customers. If we take the time to get the patient’s history and deal with everything that is going on, we may solve the underlying problems and not see the patient back for quite some time.

Once a patient came into emergency with an injury – he had been stabbed or something, I don’t recall. The anesthesiologist walked up to him and asked, “What kind of drugs do you do?” The man told him, “I don’t do drugs.” I then sat next to the man and asked, “What have you been doing today? Did you do some cocaine? I’m only asking because the drugs you have in your system may affect your anesthesia. It could affect your recovery or even your life. You could die if you’ve taken something and you don’t tell us.” I didn’t approach him gruffly or judgmentally. I simply treated him as a human being and presented the facts. My spirit was asking him to tell me so I could help him. He then listed about ten medications he’d gotten off the street. The end result was better, less expensive care for him. And the process it took me was not time consuming.

It doesn’t matter if a patient is homeless or the richest person in the world, they will get the same care from me. My calling is to heal the patients’ spirits, their very beings. I want to show up and be part of their process. They may not remember me ten years down the road, but they will remember they had really good care.

Power Strategies: Spirit, Purpose, Connection
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