Miss Congeniality

Not all my patients like me. As something of a people pleaser, this is hard to come to terms with. Some just don’t seem to buy that I am capable and compassionate. There are the patients that don’t like anybody so I am working on not taking their disdain personally. On the other hand, sometimes it is personal. It is just ME they don’t like.

I had one patient this week that wasn’t a big fan of mine. I am quite certain she won’t be writing a letter about the remarkable care and service I provided during her stay at the hospital. She had back surgery a couple of months ago and returned to the hospital with complications. I have no doubt that she was in a lot of pain. Despite trying to meet her needs during the night, about halfway through she told me that I might as well go home since I wasn’t doing her any good. I thought she might be on to something. It was 2 a.m. and I was tired. I shared with my charge nurse the patient’s suggestion but she told me I had to stay. My other 4 patients hadn’t excused me and I was still stuck with #5 even if she didn’t want me around.

You can imagine her dismay when I was her nurse again the next night. I was hopeful. It was a new night. Maybe she would take to my sparkling personality. She and I….we were going to be friends – or at least friendly. Well, I thought we were until about 20 minutes later when she accused me of lying about giving her any pain medication. In addition to hostile, she seemed to be forgetful. It didn’t help that I had to take her lighter and matches away when I came into the room and realized she had been smoking. Ummm….they have rules about smoking in your hospital room. YOU CAN’T DO IT. I won’t bend on that one. I would prefer we didn’t start a fire considering at least half the patients are not very mobile. She told me she quit smoking the week before and was just seeing if her lighter still worked. Uh huh. It SMELLS like she quit smoking about 60 seconds ago. 

If you are looking for a really extra sweet nurse, I am probably not your girl. I may be a bit more no nonsense than some. Just ask my kids. If they have a runny nose I hand them a Kleenex and send them to school. If they want a Band-Aid, I make them show me the blood. I like to think I am compassionate and I try to advocate for my patients but I also think it is important that they continue to do the things that they are able to for themselves. Many of them are in bad shape and I know being in the hospital, with me, is not where they want to be. I TRY to make their experience as pleasant as possible. My patient this week, she wasn’t buying it.

This dislike is something that I am going to have to come to terms with. I am not going to be everyone’s favorite nurse. Heck, I hope that I am at least one person’s favorite some day. I think I am on my way to becoming a good nurse and I try to meet my patient’s needs but there will always be someone more considerate and more knowledgeable. Good thing I am not running for Miss America. I know I wouldn’t do well in the swimsuit competition but I would think in the interview portion or congeniality, I might do okay. After this week, I am not so sure.