Hitting The Right Notes

12th November (Wednesday) - It seems that we've been taking things for granted. From the last few weeks, our ward had became one of them most busiest ward instead of the other side with its double-bedded rooms. Because most of our cases are critical and children, annoyingly, children. People always tell me, rich, fussiest or snobbiest patients are the worst, but if you ask me, I say children are the worst type of patients. Although snobby, rich, fussy patients are a pain, they are able to cooperate with you when you hit the right notes, as I had done with one patient, I'll go into that one later. Children, they will never really listen to you, and they really, really hate pain. Even if you hold a needle in your hand, it will forever be engraved into their memory, and then they get a mindset that nurses are all evil. A single medicine takes up to 30 minutes if the child is the kind that hates medicines, and mistrusts the nurses. Children tends to spit everything out they dislike, so in order to make sure treatment is met, you have to see with your own eyes that the child swallowed it down before you leave.
Okay, about my fussy patient, she's a teacher. I mentioned about her briefly in one of my posts. She dislikes being called an 'auntie' and she expects you to call her "Ms." And whenever you do something, you have to tell her. I always update my patients' IO chart, and she;s no exception. Having taken care of her for three days, I more or less know how to handle her. I just explained to her that no, nothing is wrong with her, I just need to record my IO as part of my job, and for documenting purposes. All my patients need IO monitoring, so she gave me her intake and output. She even trusted me enough to ask me questions about her surgery and the outcomes. This part, I can only give her my honest answer, "Sorry, I cannot give you a straight answer for this. As a nurse, I can only see what's on the outside, if you need further details about what's going to happen to you after the operation and its complications, only the professor can answer you. Because he will be the one doing the surgery and he knows better. We are only in the ward, so we can't tell you that you'll be alright hundred percent."She then ask me if there is any way to catch the prof before he runs off in a hurry. I gave her the only answer I know: Write down all your questions beforehand on a piece of paper, and hand it over to him. He'll answer them. She then answered, "You are a good nurse. Thank you very much for answering me as truthfully as possible. I'm very grateful." Wow, for me, getting praise from a patient is really tough, since most people like to call me dumb, stupid or a chicken. It may be a small compliment, but I'm also happy to be able to answer her questions, even if they are not straight forward answers. No wonder why people always say, sometimes the worst patient can be the best patient because in the end, they appreciate you for what you done.
On and off, I do follow the professors around. Some I'm okay with, but whenever I'm with him, I always end up getting yelled. I don't know how to cope with him, I really don't. Most of the other profs, although they shout at me, I won't feel so bad because they want me to improve, but him... I just can't cope with him. He's always rushing and you can never tell what is on his mind. TwT
But least to say, I'm able to do off drain, off CBDs, bladder washouts, assist in blood taking, simple dressing and to a lesser extent, skin grafting dressing. I'm going to have to master all skills eventually, and fast, because no one is going to come and save you if you fall. Human Nature, quote, unquote.
I walked into a patient's room to fix a patient's TV, and oh my sweet Lord, I found a Gary plushie, Ohhhh, it's so cute. I want one, but... the patient is such a snob, argh. I can't ask him. Garyyyyy.