Judging People

so....there are many hard things about getting report from the previous shift. you can have somebody that is a Long Pointless Talker, a Storyteller, a Shrifter (person who pawns off their work on you), or an everloving variety of Incompetants. The sneakiest kind, however, is the Prejudiced Preconception Report.

the kind where whatever judgements the previous nurse has made kinda sorta get passed along to you, so that when you walk into the room, there is no clean slate, but the somebody else's baggage in there with you.

report;

facts- heavyset lady, history of cancer that had metastasized (medi-speech for spread) from one area to another. for some reason, she had abruptly stopped taking a med on friday that should have been tapered off S-L-O-W-L-Y. it was a med for swelling due to this malignant spreading cancer currently in her brain. the abrupt stopping of this med had caused this patient to display some stroke-like symptoms, because, oh yeah, her brain swelled.

see, if you get a boo-boo on your knee or your arm, the tissues swell. when you have a boo-boo in your brain, the tissues swell, too, but unlike your arm or knee, the swelling has no where to go. the swelling pushing in on your brain, and........bad news for you.

impressions;

this lady (heavy, in medi-speech, this means 'obese') and her family are clueless. for cancer this bad and in this spot.......
(from the day nurse) 'i don't think this guy gets it, i overheard him on the phone talking to someone about-'well, they think she might have had a stroke'- man, she didn't have a stroke, she's gone man, gone.'
the impression that i got from him, Mr Daynurse, was that these people -didn't have a clue.

my expectations;

stoopid family, can't let go, come'on, this lady has lived her life.........

outcome;

family walks in. husband. blue collar. mechanic's shirt, still covered in the evidences of an honest days work. tall. thin. back straight, head slightly stooped. more evidence of a hard fought life, earned The Right Way. reminded me of my Old Man.

daughter. best be described as 'homely' but, a smart kid. involved in the drama-choir circle. attending Local Well-Respected Religious University. asks me, without fear or hesitation, about DNR packet. totally with it, facing facts, and preparing herself for what may come, for what Mr Daynurse feels has already happened.

friends. many, loving and speaking about Dear Patient in such glowing terms......

the husband, upon deciding to that it was time to go, takes his wife by the hand, speaks to her. (it is very difficult for me to write this, i am tearing up thinking about it now, because this Man reminds me so much of my father, he speaks in such a loving tone, i feel dirty hearing him address his wife, his friend, his partner, his Mate, even now....weeks later, the tears come easily) 'sweety pie, i love you so much, i have to go now, i have to work tomorrow.....

i leave i can't stand it i feel like i am intruding in someone's life, so personal, like i am standing in their bedroom.

turns out, it was never explained to them that the med that they had so abruptly stopped needed to be slowly tapered. the doctor had mentioned something about stopping it, but they had never been properly told how........so when the perscription ran out.....

good, solid blue-collar folks, a mechanic and a schoolteacher, trusting in the Medical Community some Doctor Fellow....and somewhere along the way, someone had failed them, patients who wrote everything down, tried hard to understand, asked great questions, were COMPLETELY compliant.....

even though the mistake was not mine, i felt as if i had let them down. made me want to track down this Doctor Fellow, show him his Betrayal of this family's trust. SCREAM!!

the patient was not alert and oriented. would not track to one side. would not obey commands. had one-sided weakness. would try and tear her clothes off. had to be restrained (medi-speech for 'tied-down')

at the beginning of my shift.

the neurologist came. evaluated the patient. increased the dose of the anti-inflammatory med.

guess what happened at 2 in the AM?

patient woke up. alert and oriented. could tell me her name, birthdate and the name of her child and husband. left our floor the next day.

miracle.

hey, nurse j, maybe next time, try not to be such an asshole and believe EVERYTHING you hear.