I was contacted recently by a writer for Reader's Digest who was putting together one of their famous "50 things" lists. She found me through a comment I posted to one of Head Nurse's blogs ( http://head-nurse.blogspot.com/2011/04/last-minute-request-for-minions.html ) back in April.
Apparently she liked my quip, "I may not decide whether or not you need an injection, but I do decide the gauge of the needle involved..." and decided to ask for some more ideas for the project.
I won't share any of them here, of course. That would ruin the article.
But the request got me thinking. It was actually really hard to come up with good "sound bites" within the topic, because, as a nurse, I live for telling my patients things.
Nurses are educators and advocates, and one of the keys to our job is keeping our patients well-informed. Communication skills are right up there with "how to take vital signs" in the list of important things we need to do.
So I answered the topic more along the lines of "Things Your Nurse Wishes You Knew" or "Things Your Nurse Wishes She Could Tell You" with a bit of a twist in the wording.
I'm very curious to see how the article comes out.
Also curious what my readers (all 4 of you lol) would write for this topic? Anything you really wish your patients knew? Or that you'd never tell them?
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Hope they have a digital version of the article that you can post on your blog - I'm looking forward to seeing it (but am not a subscriber to Reader's Digest... mostly because I have a hard enough time keeping up with the nursing journals I get). :) Congrats on being asked to be a part of the article; that's awesome!
ReplyDeleteMost of all, I wish my patients knew the good doctors from the less than awesome doctors. I work in a procedural area, so each patient gets to pick their doc (unless they come in emergently having a heart attack). I hate seeing patients, especially those that I form a connection with in the few minutes we spend together, have a less than optimal experience with a doc.
I picked up a copy today - loved the article. I've done/said just about everything on their list. I was looking for a digital copy myself when I stumbled across your blog.
ReplyDeleteBut as an OB/GYN nurse, what would I want my patients to know? . . . I would put on my best Florence Nightingale face and studiously say, "Know and love your bodies as women", but what I would REALLY mean was, "Good GOD - wash that nasty thing OUT before you throw your feet in the stirrups and fog up my whole damn room. Who do you think cleans up in here after you're gone? You may dread coming in for your Pap once a year, but I do A DOZEN A DAY, EVERY DAY. So do a sister a solid and take a hose to your rose in the morning. I may see more cookies that the town baker, but if you come into the unit with your pocketbook in a state of disarray, I will remember yours. Not only that, but rest assured I will tell my friends about it in the nurse's station about it. Then we will watch you walk out, saying a silent prayer of mercy for any gentleman callers that might become unsuspecting victims."
Hence, I always prefer to say on the OB side of the street.
I personally wear red Chucks on the job.
I heard this came out - do you have a link to the article? I can't find it in Google. Thanks!!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rd.com/slideshows/50-secrets-your-nurse-wont-tell-you/
ReplyDeleteIt's here, It's here!
Thank you for the link. Some are funny but some I think is not good. What really caught my attention is the first one, when nurses can't say that their doctor is incompetent. I laugh and think about that. So sorry for patients who happens to deal with incompetent doctors.
ReplyDelete