Patience is a virtue!

#9

A few years back when my sister decided to become a nurse, everybody started asking me what I was going to do. Some advised me to become a nurse because they say I am very soft spoken and I have a lot of patience. At that time, I never really understood the relationship between a "nurse" and "patience." I remember thinking that patient's can not be so annoying or so demanding that you need to have a lot of patience. However, the relationship between a "nurse" and "patience” became clear to me this week at clinicals.

I had a patient on Thursday who had a right hip abscess, and suffered with a lot of pain when she moved. She could not walk, so used a bedside commode. But the problem was that she took 45 minutes just to sit up in bed. Nobody could pull her up because it would hurt her really bad. When I asked her to rate her pain while she was trying to get up at a scale of 0-10 she said 12. I knew she was having a lot of pain, yet she did not want to use attends and she was not able to use a bed pan because that hurt too. So I was there trying to help her as much as I could by holding her leg or positioning her. It took more than an hour just to get her up, and back down. She voided four times during my shift and I remember counting that 3 1/2 hours just to help her void. It was a little difficult for me and I knew how painful and frustrating it was for her too. But I understood her problem, and I wanted her to feel as independent as possible. I know it is difficult to lose all of your independence so suddenly and how emotionally and physically challenging it could be. In the end, before getting discharged she told me “thank you for being so patient with me, and I really appreciate it.”

Also, on Friday I had a patient with a left leg fracture. She could turn from side to side but could not get up. She was pretty independent and used a bedpan to void. However, I had to pull it out, and because she did not place it properly her attends as well as her sheet underneath used to get soiled. While I was there, she voided 5 times, and every time I had to change everything all over again. She felt bad for me and said that I would be happy when she was gone, but then I told her not to worry about it, and that I was there to take care of her to the best of my abilities and that is why I am there; she was so happy and appreciative.

These two incidents brought back the question I had in mind a few years back and I realized why it is so important for nurses to be patient and I am glad God has gifted me with this quality.