I was diagnosed with surgery planned on Wednesday by my doctor. As a registered nurse myself, I have always known how important it is to have an advocate with a patient in the hospital. I have never let a family member be in the hospital alone. I have sat with my grandson, my sister, and my father during hospitalizations. The depth of my worry when I heard that, because of the COVID pandemic, my beloved husband and advocate of 25 years would not be able to be with me when hospitalized, can't be overstated.
Blessings the day of surgery included a top-notch team in pre-op and intraoperatively. I did my best to control my nerves, but my blood pressure told the story, hovering around 150/100 preop. Prayer helped. To say I was scared about being in the hospital alone is an understatement. I was terrified. The greatest blessing during my postop course in the hospital was Patricia Guhr, RN. She was my nurse the night of my surgery. Patricia gave me the gift of peace that first night after surgery. At the beginning of her shift, when she greeted me, she said something I will never forget. She said, "Thank you for allowing me the privilege of caring for you." And throughout the night, she demonstrated her sincerity of that statement over and over. She kept my pain under excellent control, reliably changed my IV Infusion before it ever beeped, and game my anti-nausea medicines dependably. Patricia had me demonstrate my spirometer throughout the night, reminding and watching me use it. When I wanted to get up and walk, it was Pat who took the time out of her busy night to personally walk me twice around the unit. She brought me apple juice to help counteract the constipation effects of my narcotics. Pat made sure my SCDs were in place and working correctly throughout the night.
As you read this, you may be thinking, "well, that's what all nurses should do and do daily." That was what I thought as well until I was the patient, scared, lonely and in pain after major surgery. During that long night, when comfortable sleep wasn't on the agenda, she just stopped in frequently, not to take vital signs, or perform the many items to check off during her shift, but just to show up and care. We talked about the impending EPIC downtime. She described that it would begin around 0500 and hopefully be up in a couple of hours. Pat described, at my request, her process for getting documentation up to date prior to the downtime, the written documentation that would occur during the downtime, and the process for adding those notes and documentation back into EPIC when the system was back up. She talked about the things that she knew I'd appreciated and understand as a Registered Nurse myself. Most of all, it took my mind off me and gave me something else to think about. Somehow she knew, she just knew...
Pat came back for duties, for caring, for support, for presence throughout the night. She took out my urinary catheter, flawlessly, around 0530. After the catheter was out, and throughout my stay, I needed to get up about every 90 minutes to urinate. Any pressure on my abdomen from a full bladder was excruciating. I knew her shift change was about 0630-0700, so I did my best not to call for help to get to the bathroom during that time. At about 0730 I really had to go! Imagine my surprise when Pat quickly answered my call light and took me to the bathroom. I thought she would be busy finishing her documentation and putting it back into EPIC and completing the handoff to the day shift. At my inquiry, she reported that the system was back up, she had finished her documentation and had given report. Yet, after a long night, and when her shift was over, she SHOWED UP again! There was numerous other staff who could have answered that light, responded to my need, but there she was. After she wished me well, and I knew I wouldn't see her again, she again said, "Thank you for the privilege of caring for you." She meant it. I felt it throughout the night. Who does that?? Sincerely, with real caring, back up by expertise and skill. Pat did!
Patricia's caring, advocacy, and skill make her a true DAISY Nurse.