Kim Yablonski
March 2016
Kim
Yablonski
,
RN
5N - NICHE - Med/Surgical Unit
Orange Regional Medical Center
Middletown
,
NY
United States
On what was supposed to be my discharge day, I dislocated my artificial hip. This is one of the most painful experiences I've ever endured. My nurse that day was Kim Yablonski and I will be forever grateful to her.
She quickly called the doctor on call to get him to order some heavy hitting pain meds as I was completely out of my mind with pain. The pharmacy protested the dose that the doctor ordered and cut it in half. This was not at all adequate and did not touch my pain. Kim got back on the phone and got the dose bumped up. For the next 48 hours I got IV Dilaudid every two hours and Kim kept close watch to ensure that I remained alert.
Kim saw to it that I was taken in my bed down to X-ray because transferring to a stretcher would have been agonizing. She also made sure that I was adequately medicated before making the trip to X-ray.
Kim was compassionate and attentive. It seemed through that long day, that she never left my side, although I know she must have had other patients in addition to me.
Later on, I needed to urinate. Because I have a neurogenic bladder, I am unable to relieve myself from a lying down position and there was no way that I could sit up. The situation rapidly became a crisis. I was in so much pain due to the full bladder that I was crying. At first they told me that they could not cath me due to infection risk, but it became apparent that that was the only option. Kim got the necessary order and they put a Foley in….and the initial amount of urine in the bag was over 3,000 cc's.
Kim told me that I had been right about everything that day. My dislocation was confirmed by X-ray and it was also obvious that I needed to be cathed. She validated me and my needs and I think that throughout that span of time, prior to my surgery to repair the damaged hip, we began to really trust each other. Kim listened to me and did her best to provide what I needed.
Kim didn't really do anything earthshaking or miraculous. She simply did what she was trained to do with compassion and kindness. She listened to my needs and she did her very best to meet them. This is nursing at its finest. She treated me with respect and concern and I will always look back on those two traumatic days with gratitude that Kim was my nurse.
She quickly called the doctor on call to get him to order some heavy hitting pain meds as I was completely out of my mind with pain. The pharmacy protested the dose that the doctor ordered and cut it in half. This was not at all adequate and did not touch my pain. Kim got back on the phone and got the dose bumped up. For the next 48 hours I got IV Dilaudid every two hours and Kim kept close watch to ensure that I remained alert.
Kim saw to it that I was taken in my bed down to X-ray because transferring to a stretcher would have been agonizing. She also made sure that I was adequately medicated before making the trip to X-ray.
Kim was compassionate and attentive. It seemed through that long day, that she never left my side, although I know she must have had other patients in addition to me.
Later on, I needed to urinate. Because I have a neurogenic bladder, I am unable to relieve myself from a lying down position and there was no way that I could sit up. The situation rapidly became a crisis. I was in so much pain due to the full bladder that I was crying. At first they told me that they could not cath me due to infection risk, but it became apparent that that was the only option. Kim got the necessary order and they put a Foley in….and the initial amount of urine in the bag was over 3,000 cc's.
Kim told me that I had been right about everything that day. My dislocation was confirmed by X-ray and it was also obvious that I needed to be cathed. She validated me and my needs and I think that throughout that span of time, prior to my surgery to repair the damaged hip, we began to really trust each other. Kim listened to me and did her best to provide what I needed.
Kim didn't really do anything earthshaking or miraculous. She simply did what she was trained to do with compassion and kindness. She listened to my needs and she did her very best to meet them. This is nursing at its finest. She treated me with respect and concern and I will always look back on those two traumatic days with gratitude that Kim was my nurse.