After three days in the Short Stay Unit, I had yet to experience what I would describe as compassionate care. That all changed when Bev became my nurse. She asked me what my goals for the day were, and I had four:
Understand my overall plan for care, have some reassurance that my doctors (i.e., hospitalist, urologist, neurologist) were actually talking with each other, and confirm that I was being referred to a rehab hospital.Get out of the Short Stay Unit-the rooms are too small and there are no windows. After a couple of days of that, it affects one's sense of emotional well-being.Get control of my considerable pain while minimizing the side effects of pain medicine.End my narcotics-induced constipation.
By the end of her shift, Bev had seen to it that I achieved all four goals. It required her to be with me a lot (educating me about pain management as well as options for managing constipation, checking on me in general, and giving me updates), being my advocate when it came to goals 1 & 2.
She turned the experience around for me, and I don't even want to think about what would have happened without her care and advocacy.