6 North

For 80 days, the 6 North team cared for a very challenging patient who chose to be verbally and emotionally abusive toward everyone he encountered... sometimes to an extreme. This story is not about how the patient chose to act...this is about the strength and perseverance of a team to push through. The 6 North bedside team, physicians, as well as the support departments (Case Management, Physical Therapy, Respiratory Therapy, Security, etc.) all did their very best to try and stay focused on the fact that this patient was someone who was in need of our care. Just as the bible teaches us in Matthew 5:39 ..."if someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." This is what the team tried to do; to humble ourselves for God's purpose and to push past this patient's behavior to try and fulfill his care needs. There were times he could be heard yelling and cursing all the way on the other side of the unit but the bedside caregivers kept on keeping on; shift after shift the team took turns caring for him to the best of their ability. There were times of great frustration and even tears but we would pick each other up, dust each other off, and back to it we went.

Unfortunately, dealing with inappropriate behavior from patients and visitors is more and more common. Everyone processes the pain and emotional burden differently. Some will carry emotional scars from the trauma of these encounters for a lifetime. In healthcare, we say, "it is just a part of the job" and "it is what it is" ...and while that is true, it doesn't make it any less damaging. We are also not the best at accepting help or even praise but the administration recognized the duress that the 6 North team was enduring. There were regular sincere check-ins and brainstorming and in the end, once the patient was discharged, the administration supported us by closing that particular room for several days to allow the team time to decompress.