The site I have chosen for my reflection is the public health depa.docx
Mkennedyweek2assignment
1. Bringing Compassion and Empathy
Retrieved from http://orientation.national.edu/Student/NursingOrientation/NursingEducation.aspx
Back to the nursing profession
2. What is a Nurse?
What do they do?
How long did they
go to school for?
Were do they work?
Who Do They Help?
Retrieved from http://www.homecarephoenixnow.com/2011/04/at-home-personal-care-of-phoenix-celebrates-nurse-appreciation-week/
3. This is not a good reason
to become a nurse.....
Retrieved from http://iwritearticle.com/money-matters/
It is also not a good reason
to stay one either...
4. Self-Reflection or
Self-Evaluation
Retrieved from http://fasttrack.nu/
Why are you in healthcare?
5. ping is the reason we are he
Retrieved from http://www.australianursing.net/australia-nursing/nursing-job-sponsorships-in-australia-why-they-are-so-popular
6. Take a step back from your
own life for a moment,
http://www.sciencephoto.com/media/276240/enlarge
and see what impact your
actions have on others.
7. arning about your patient..
Retrieved from http://www.123rf.com/photo_7136654_nurse-talking-with-elderly-people-and-making-notes-during-examination-at-home-smiling.html
The basics.
8. arning about your patient..
http://www.hospitalnews.com/edmonton-nursing-attendants-fill-health-care-gap/
And going out of your way.
9. arning about your patient..
Retrieved from http://www.123rf.com/photo_7013606_young-nurse-talking-to-wheelchair-patient.html
And taking extra time
to learn about them...
10. HUMOR
Retrieved from http://thefw.com/worst-oscar-nominated-movies/
Is contagious....
11. Procedures
Retrieved from http://www.mastersinnursing.com/guide/msn-employment-guide-career-resources/
Going by the book...
12. Politics
Retrieved from http://www.hyphenmagazine.com/magazine/issue-24-survival/medical-malpractice
In the nursing profession
13. Empathy
Retrieved from http://shirgie-story.blogspot.com/2011/02/quality-of-professional-nurse.html
yourself in there shoes
14. Compassion...
Retrieved from http://www.sodahead.com/fun/whats-the-coolest-job-in-the-world/question-2284671/?page=3&link=ibaf&q=nursing
compassion&imgurl=www.degreedriven.com/images/programs/nursing.jpg#nurse%20with%20patient
Sincerity, not pity
15. Be observant...
Retrieved from http://www.spruancegroup.com/blog/bid/56461/Listening-to-customers-is-worthless-observing-their-behavior-is-priceless
You may notice the
problem first.
16. Building a rapport
http://www.sciencephoto.com/media/298802/enlarge
Getting your patients
to trust you.
17. Talk about yourself too
Retrieved from http://www.pqcnc.org/?q=node/133
are your feelings and ide
18. Active listening
Retrieved from http://healthcarecommunication.wordpress.com/
Show them you care
19. It is earned...
Retrieved from http://www.sodahead.com/entertainment/charlie-sheen-gives-75k-gift-to-cancer-patient-is-he-generous-or-does-he-just-want-good-press/question-3385637/?
page=4&link=ibaf&q=patient+respect&imgurl=www.wesleyjsmith.com/blog/uploaded_images/respect-720772.gif
Not given...
20. tting it into actio
Retrieved from http://www.toadn.org/
emember the golden rule.
Editor's Notes
Bringing compassion and empathy back to the nursing profession. (Intro) My name is Matthew Kennedy and I have been a certified nurses assistant or CNA for over ten years. Yes, thats right I am a male nurse (laugh) I know probably most of you are thinking or making a Ben Stiller comparison from the movie “Meet the Parents”..Why do you want to be a nurse Focker?!? Now most people when I tell them this they always give me a look or the comment like, “I could never do that job” or “I don’t know how you do it”. A simple response is “most people can’t do this job.”
Now this is a very generalized question, it could literally take days for me to tell you all the differences between Registered Nurses, Lpn’s, Nurse Practitioners so for the time we are given, lets keep this presentation about a nurses in general, the ones that spend most of their time performing patient care and interacting with residents and patients. Because this is were we can truly change the profession from politics to patient care.
Now when most people hear that you are a nurse the usually think it is because of the money. If you are already a nurse you know this is NOT the reason and if you are thinking about becoming a nurse please understand the salary is not bad but you will have to earn it. Nursing is not only physically demanding, but emotionally and mentally as well.
If you are a nurse, take a moment and really think why are you a nurse? Why did you want to become one? What are some of the reasons that are keeping you in this profession? These are all good questions, but finding out the answers may help you become that nurse that your whole workplace is bragging about.
If you said ‘ TO HELP’ for that last question you are correct..(joke) Tell them what they have won Johnny... Healthcare is aimed at helping people not only physically but emotionally as well. I think we forget this a lot during our day to day routine, like it is a job instead of as a profession or career or even in our humanity.
We are all guilty of this myself included, we can be so wrapped up in our own lives we forget about everyone else's. This is where we need to step back and re-evaluated how this impacts our residents and patients. For example, have you ever been to the emergency room and had to wait for hours and all the while you heard the nurses laughing, giggling, and having a grand old time; while your in pain?
Learning about your patient, it sounds simpler than it actually is. I sure everyone of you has some kind of close friend. You probably have had some long talks and connected with them on different levels, your residents and patients are no different. Before they came to your facility they had lives, friend, and hobbies of their own too. Find out about them!
it’s the little things you can do to really connect with your residents. For example, I took care of this elderly man; let’s call him Mr. G. Well Mr. G, has been a smoker for nearly 20 years. He was one of those residents, always very rude, cruel demeaning to make a long story short we will use the word difficult. When Mr. G was admitted his doctor wrote in his physician orders, that Mr. G was allowed to smoke whenever he wanted. There was one catch Mr. G was confined to a wheelchair making it near impossible for him to get outside to the designated smoking area. After hearing this I connected with him in a completely different way, at the end of my shift, I usually had around 15minutes left before I needed to clock out for the day. I went to Mr. G’s room and asked if he would like me to help him outside so he could have a cigarette, for the first time since he arrived; he smiled. For the rest of that time I worked at that facility Mr. G was no longer difficult for me and we started to bond as friends.
Now before I explain this I already know what some of you may be thinking...WHAT EXTRA TIME?!? I have worked, in the past ten years, for understaffed and overworked facilities here in Maine. I understand there is not always time everyday, but there is some spare time somedays. For example, if your making a residents bed an they are sitting their chair, ask questions like What did you used to do for work? What is your family like? Do you have any pets? What do you like to do for fun? You might surprise yourself and have more to talk about than you originally thought.
Humor is as contagious as smiling or yawning. I’m sure I can say we are all aware when someone we know is in a bad mood, it is no different with our patients. We can change they way the feel by changing the way we feel before we walk into that room. Forget your problems and walk in with a smile, sometimes that can easier said than done.
Procedures are a very big obstacle in the nursing profession. With so much to do a so little time to do it in. If you are anything like me, I believe some rules are meant to be broken. When I was working in a private facility in Maine, I took care of a resident with a DNR or do not resuscitate order, however, one day this man was chocking on his food we performed CPR until paramedics arrived and unfortunately he passed away. Around 2 days later I was informedI could be in very big trouble because I performed CPR on a DNR resident. Thankfully his son also came to the hearing and spoke on my behalf and assured me I did the right thing. Which this advice needs to be taken on a case by case basis.
Politics run our profession from hand washing protocol to what you can talk about in front of patients. When dealing with issues like this remember one thing, how will it affect your patient. As a healthcare worker we have all took an oath to do no harm, and question wrongful orders and procedures; and sometimes even politics.
Empathy is understanding. No one wants to be in a nursing home, no one. As workers and caregivers sometimes we don’t even want to be there, but this is how we can understand our patients. We all have to make the best of it while we are there, and try to understand how our residents feel. By connecting with them, this will make your job better, it will make you feel better, and it will improve the quality of life for the individuals you take care of.
Compassion is a term used by a lot of facilities but hardly ever used. Most people think of it as having pity for someone rather than what it truly is; being sincere and knowing you have done everything you could to make there last few days enjoyable. Now I’m sure you remember me telling you I can be a rule breaker at times, now this one time I was taking care of an elderly woman when all of a sudden she started going through cardiac arrest. Now for all of you that has never seen something like this it is a scary sight. It was nearing the end of my day at that point, and all of my work was finished. This resident looked at me and asked if I could stay with her until the paramedics arrived, and of course I agreed. Well not 3 minutes went by and my boss came in with such an attitude, that is this poor woman hadn’t gone into cardiac arrest she would of after hearing my boss. So I politely exited the room to speak with my boss in the hallway, I closed the door and then had a very firm talk with my employer. I told her what had happened and that I had promised this woman I would stay with her until the paramedics arrived. Of course my boss exploded that I was not allowed to do so, so I respectfully replied that this woman needed me; she was scared and alone and if anything was to happen to her before the paramedics showed up I would never forgive myself for her dying alone because of politics or procedures.
As a healthcare professional you are on the front lines of patient care. For example, you walk into Mrs. Jones room like you do everyday and she is sluggish and non-compliant, when normally she is upbeat. Which means you see the problem first, you NEED to report it. Depression is one of the major issues in the elderly and we see it first, we need to always note changes and document differences in our patients.
building rapport is a very hard thing to do. It can take months even years to get someone to trust you. You need to have the ability to ‘chum’ around with your patients, you are not a babysitter you are a healthcare worker. Your bedside manner and your personality is what makes residents see what type of person you are and wether or not they can trust you.
Talk about yourself too, this may seem a little unorthodox but by opening up to your residents the will in turn open up to you. Tell them stories, fun times, about your kids...I have yet to find an elderly person who doesn’t like hearing stories of my kids.
Listening and reiterating what a resident says to you, not only shows you care about them but for them too. It is easy for us during a conversation to keep nodding our head and saying yep, nut it does little to engage the people we take care of. Ask question and give insight, show them that you care about what they have to say.
We all want the respect of others and seldom do we find, or get it. The residents you are taking care of have lives, careers, hobbies, and a family. We sometimes forget this, but try to understand what your specific resident likes or dislikes.
Putting it into action, putting each of these simple yet effective steps into action will not only make you job more enjoyable. It will also make residents look at you in a different light. You will earn invaluable relationships and friendships with yourself, your co-workers, and most of all your patients.
