When the patient or member of the family is a nurse

We’ve all been there… getting a report concerning the end of an upcoming shift and whispering to you that a patient’s member of the family is a nurse. How do you are feeling? What is your first response? Are you changing your approach to the patient? To the family?

I used to be all the time a bit of nervous when a patient or a member of the family was a health care skilled, especially after I was a brand new nurse. Would he be watching my every move, able to attack if I hesitated or did not have a solution to a matter? Or would you be helpful by providing information and advocating for yourself or your beloved?

I used to be caring for one particular patient* when the situation of a member of the family who was a nurse was particularly difficult. I do not remember the small print concerning the patient, only that he was transferred to different hospitals several times as a weaned patient, meaning he had difficulty coming off the ventilator. His sister, a nurse, was his proxy and was very involved in his care. The problem was that the patient appeared to be in severe pain from contractures and pressure sores. When he arrived at our hospital, he was unable to speak, but during nursing care, he experienced significant changes in his vital signs, sweating, and muscle tightening. His sister asked that no painkillers or sedatives be given in order to not interfere together with his weaning from the ventilator.

The team caring for this patient was perplexed. We didn’t feel comfortable not treating his pain, but we were also influenced by the needs of the patient’s sister. Our hospital’s ethics committee was consulted and careful balancing was performed to appropriately relieve his pain while allowing him to be alert enough to come back off the ventilator.

Taking care of him was a challenge. His sister checked his medication doses and monitored the intervals between doses. It was a stressful time for the staff as all of us worked together to supply the most effective patient care while being closely monitored.

Of course, this is only one example. More often than not, health care staff who occur to “transition” into the role of patient or member of the family leave their coat or lab coat on the door. In the subsequent post, I’ll share my experience of being on the opposite side of the stethoscope.

*Any identifying features are completely coincidental.