Steve Smith
December 2014
Steve
Smith
,
BSN
General Medicine
Oregon Health and Science University
Portland
,
OR
United States
... Steve was nominated by his manager who shared a self reflection Steve completed as part of his annual review process.
A care story about "George": George was a patient and often called and asked the staff to do many basic things. I noticed that movements he was making in bed led me to believe that some of the things he would demand help with were likely things he could do for himself and I wanted to work on getting him focused on regaining his independence. I noticed he had no visitors or much personal effects, except some old hunting magazines with him. Being an outdoor and hunting enthusiast myself, I had a stack of old magazines just sitting around my house that were similar to the ones I'd noticed on George's bedside stand during our first night together. So I decided to come in to work a little early the next day and bring George some of those magazines.
When I went into George's room I mentioned that I'd be his nurse again tonight and that I had noticed he liked outdoor magazines so I had brought in some of mine that I was getting ready to recycle. George didn't say a word so I left the magazines and told him I'd be back after I got report. When I went back to see George later he still wasn't saying much so I decided to share a little bit about my outdoor passions. After just a few minutes George became a little more talkative and told me that he liked to hunt elk but went on to say that he couldn't hunt anymore now. From that point on the floodgates opened.
George began to share his fears about being alone since the passing of his wife, aging, and that he felt like his current illness would end with him completely losing his independence and spending the rest of his life in a SNF. As our time continued together (I cared for him on and off over several weeks) I focused on helping George recognize that he still could be independent and helped him set small goals for himself (e.g turn yourself for the bedpan). As always seems to be the case, spending enough time with George was always a challenge so after we established a solid trusting relationship I began to focus George on working with other team members like PT/OT. Getting George to accept PT as part of his care plan in conjunction with setting daily goals for himself was a huge benefit.
By the time George was ready for discharge he was walking with a front wheel walker and participating in all of his own care. He had also made contact with an old hunting partner and while he didn't have plans to hunt yet, he had reengaged with this hunting partner and was looking forward to doing some target shooting. He also had seen so much progress in his own abilities that he viewed his upcoming time in a SNF as just another step in his recovery.
Epilogue: On his last day in 7C George wrote the following note and left it for me. "I just want to say I had a lot of hard mental issues. Steve was awesome! He helped me with each and every one of them, which made me feel comfortable. I consider him as a friend and I look forward for him to come on shift."
A care story about "George": George was a patient and often called and asked the staff to do many basic things. I noticed that movements he was making in bed led me to believe that some of the things he would demand help with were likely things he could do for himself and I wanted to work on getting him focused on regaining his independence. I noticed he had no visitors or much personal effects, except some old hunting magazines with him. Being an outdoor and hunting enthusiast myself, I had a stack of old magazines just sitting around my house that were similar to the ones I'd noticed on George's bedside stand during our first night together. So I decided to come in to work a little early the next day and bring George some of those magazines.
When I went into George's room I mentioned that I'd be his nurse again tonight and that I had noticed he liked outdoor magazines so I had brought in some of mine that I was getting ready to recycle. George didn't say a word so I left the magazines and told him I'd be back after I got report. When I went back to see George later he still wasn't saying much so I decided to share a little bit about my outdoor passions. After just a few minutes George became a little more talkative and told me that he liked to hunt elk but went on to say that he couldn't hunt anymore now. From that point on the floodgates opened.
George began to share his fears about being alone since the passing of his wife, aging, and that he felt like his current illness would end with him completely losing his independence and spending the rest of his life in a SNF. As our time continued together (I cared for him on and off over several weeks) I focused on helping George recognize that he still could be independent and helped him set small goals for himself (e.g turn yourself for the bedpan). As always seems to be the case, spending enough time with George was always a challenge so after we established a solid trusting relationship I began to focus George on working with other team members like PT/OT. Getting George to accept PT as part of his care plan in conjunction with setting daily goals for himself was a huge benefit.
By the time George was ready for discharge he was walking with a front wheel walker and participating in all of his own care. He had also made contact with an old hunting partner and while he didn't have plans to hunt yet, he had reengaged with this hunting partner and was looking forward to doing some target shooting. He also had seen so much progress in his own abilities that he viewed his upcoming time in a SNF as just another step in his recovery.
Epilogue: On his last day in 7C George wrote the following note and left it for me. "I just want to say I had a lot of hard mental issues. Steve was awesome! He helped me with each and every one of them, which made me feel comfortable. I consider him as a friend and I look forward for him to come on shift."