Oh Honey Please

That's what I heard over & over my last two shifts at work from my patient....oh honey please....oh honey please....oh honey please. Sometimes it feels weird telling someone much older than me what they can or cannot do. Like this patient for instance....she was 90 yrs old, very unsteady on her feet & what did she want to do...get out of bed & go for a walk. It took two nurses just to help her to the bedside commode that was like 2 inches from her bed, so I knew there was no way I'd be able to take her for a walk. It didn't stop her from asking though...at least a 100 times.

She kept telling me her mother was waiting for her & that her grandmother would be mad if she didn't show up. New nurses might try to reorient 90 yr olds that talk like this. Me, however, I do not. I jump into their world & remind her that her mother & grandmother are fine...that they understand she needs to stay in bed & rest. I'm not about to tell her she's 90 & her mother & grandmother are not around. For all I know...their spirits could be in the room or the hallway or somewhere & she hears them perfectly fine. It's not uncommon to see someone speaking to someone that isn't there. Just because we can't see them, doesn't mean they don't exist, right?

I also did what I was taught a few years ago when you have a confused patient that is constantly trying to climb out of bed. You make the room a little more on the cooler side because then they are more apt to want to stay in bed & under the covers. I used to think that was so cruel when I was a new nurse. Now I totally get it. And it works a lot of the time.

I read an old post of mine from my first year in nursing. It cracked me up to see how naive I was. Now I'm old & jaded....kidding!!!!! But I do have experience on my side. It's weird now to be the experienced nurse on the floor with all the newbies. They all come to me with questions & amazingly, a lot of time I have the answers. It's still weird to me though because I don't feel like the "go to" person. I wonder if I ever will.

I have a co-worker who also happens to be a very good friend of mine. She tends to have a black cloud that follows her...meaning if there is a confused, combative patient...she usually ends up with them. She worked last Sunday & was telling me about this patient that was in restraints & got out of them & was threatening to kick her butt (to put it nicely) & she had to call security for help. Turns out I got him as a patient the next night. However, this patient couldn't have been any nicer. In fact, I had to take his restraints off twice to change his gown & bedding & he willingly let me put them back on. He thanked me for being so wonderful. I crack up because this is usually how it will go with my friend & I. If we are working the same night, she'll tell me about her outrageous patient...I'll walk in the room & the patient will have a nice, non-temperamental conversation with me. My friend stands there in awe. Thus, my nickname is "The Patient Whisperer." She wasn't a believer at first, but now she is...lol.

This is my last free weekend off. I have my brother & his kids over. We went to the mall to do a little shopping last night. I kept asking them "What do you want to do for fun?" One said "Red Lobster", the other said "Zaxby's." Ummm, that's your idea of fun? So as we were sitting down to dinner at Red Lobster, I brought the subject up again. I was throwing ideas out such as Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios, a movie, an Orlando Magic basketball game, a haunted house. It all got shot down. Apparently, their idea of fun is much different than mine.