Starting tomorrow, May 6th, it's nurses week. I would like to take this chance to thank all nurses. Especially that special breed, we all know as emergency nurses. We may not always see eye to eye, but we do understand each other. Thank you for quickly taking that belligerent drunk from me the other night. Thank you for treating that old lady nicely after I built such a great relationship with her. Also, thanks for the soda and cookies. We aren't so different you and I, and I would like to say Thank You. Have a great Nurses Week.
2 comments:
When I wrote What is a Nursing Dose? it was not as a criticism of nurses, but in part as a recognition of how nurses will put their careers on the line to act as advocates for the patients.
We too often argue with nurses, not because either of us are trying to be jerks, but because we seem to prefer to interpret things in the most derogatory manner possible, rather than try to find out what was intended. Better communication might make everyone happier.
I understood your intent. The nurse in your story was thinking of the patient while the physician was thinking of... well, whatever the opposite of patient advocates think of.
I think you are right, since I have become friends with many of the nurses I offload my patients to, outside of work, our relationship at work has improved dramatically. "What were you thinking" comes much easier from a nurse you consider a friend than from someone you barely know. Communication is huge.
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