How to Get the Best Treatment
The most foolproof way to ensure that you’ll get the best possible treatment during an extended stay in the hospital is to be nice to your nurse. After all, he or she will be the one to manage your care on an hourly basis and the first to treat you in an emergency situation. Just as important as the patient’s treatment of the nurse, though, is the way the patient’s family treats the nurse. A perfect example Laura cites is a recent case where a patient’s family member kept ringing the call button every twenty minutes for a can of soda for the patient. “There was a vending machine just down the hall,” Laura says. “It’s things like that that frustrate nurses. I wish patients and their families would be more considerate about knowing when to exercise the need for medical attention. Although I wouldn’t want my patients to know this, when they overuse their call button for non-emergency issues, we sometimes hide it or put it out of reach!” The last thing Laura wants patients to consider is that they should remember to call their nurse to take them to the bathroom before they go to the bathroom in their bed. “Happens every day,” she says.
Laura claims that nothing makes her and her fellow nurses happier than receiving acknowledgments of appreciation. “Although it doesn’t happen often, we love cards and notes. I keep every token of appreciation a patient has ever given me.”
The Ethical Issues
The toughest part of being a nurse—besides dealing with death, which Laura says “never gets easier”—is the ethical issues nurses face on a daily basis. “Doctors make misdiagnoses 24/7,” she says. “It’s hard to see the roller coaster of emotions families go through when this happens.” One patient of Laura’s is HIV-positive. He refuses to tell his wife and family about his diagnosis, and by law, Laura cannot inform them of his status. For patients and their families to realize how important it is to treat their nurses with respect, they need to develop a better understanding of these types of predicaments nurses deal with all the time.
“You never become immune to death, but you do get more accepting,” Laura says. “We have relationships with our patients, and it’s tough to say goodbye every single time. It makes you question why you do what you do.” So why does she do it? Without a moment’s pause, she answers, “The rewards outweigh everything. For every negative patient, there are five that truly appreciate the work we do.”
I know I, for one, am grateful for everything Laura and her fellow nurses do on a daily basis to keep us healthy, happy, and cared for.
