November 2025
Joseph
Burns
,
RN
6E
Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital
Royal Oak
,
MI
United States
By incorporating culturally competent care, Joe was able to ease his patient's anxiety, improve his comfort, and facilitate his recovery.
We admitted a patient from the Cath lab who came in for an elective Cardiac Cath; he ended up having to be intubated due to respiratory distress. When the wife came to see her husband for the first time, she looked at him and said, “This is the last thing he needed; this is really going to set him back.”
It should be noted that the patient was also diagnosed with early onset Dementia. The patient ended up being on a ventilator for a couple of days before he was safely extubated; however, as one can expect, someone who has dementia would be very confused and agitated about the situation. The patient spent the next couple of days screaming out nonstop, and he had to be started on a continuous infusion called Precedex to help keep him calm and allow for safe care to be provided; the patient also had to be restrained for his safety.
Despite being on Precedex and his wife, a familiar face, being at the bedside, the patient was still very agitated and would still scream out for no apparent reason. The patient was medically stable for transfer to a higher level of care; however, patients cannot receive Precedex infusions in a non-ICU environment.
Being in the ICU can be very disorienting to patients; in fact, it is very common for patients in the ICU to develop what is called ICU delirium, so imagine what being in an ICU can do to someone who already has dementia. Therefore, we must move these patients out of the ICU as soon as it is medically appropriate.
Joe Burns was assigned this patient when we also happened to get our Nurses Week gift from corporate, and without a second thought, Joe used the Bluetooth speaker he got to play Macedonian folk music, the patient's native/cultural music. Within seconds, the patient calmed and began interacting with Joe, allowing the sedation to be safely discontinued. In fact, the patient started calling Joe ‘Wolfman’.
After some Googling, we found out he was referring to ‘Wolfman Jack’, an American disc jockey with a 3-decade-long career. By incorporating culturally competent care, Joe was able to ease his patient's anxiety, improve his comfort, and facilitate his recovery. The patient went from screaming his head off to bobbing his head to the music, then eventually fell asleep. The restraints were also discontinued shortly after. This simple gesture not only met his clinical needs but also honored his heritage, demonstrating the profound impact of personalized nursing care.
It should be noted that the patient was also diagnosed with early onset Dementia. The patient ended up being on a ventilator for a couple of days before he was safely extubated; however, as one can expect, someone who has dementia would be very confused and agitated about the situation. The patient spent the next couple of days screaming out nonstop, and he had to be started on a continuous infusion called Precedex to help keep him calm and allow for safe care to be provided; the patient also had to be restrained for his safety.
Despite being on Precedex and his wife, a familiar face, being at the bedside, the patient was still very agitated and would still scream out for no apparent reason. The patient was medically stable for transfer to a higher level of care; however, patients cannot receive Precedex infusions in a non-ICU environment.
Being in the ICU can be very disorienting to patients; in fact, it is very common for patients in the ICU to develop what is called ICU delirium, so imagine what being in an ICU can do to someone who already has dementia. Therefore, we must move these patients out of the ICU as soon as it is medically appropriate.
Joe Burns was assigned this patient when we also happened to get our Nurses Week gift from corporate, and without a second thought, Joe used the Bluetooth speaker he got to play Macedonian folk music, the patient's native/cultural music. Within seconds, the patient calmed and began interacting with Joe, allowing the sedation to be safely discontinued. In fact, the patient started calling Joe ‘Wolfman’.
After some Googling, we found out he was referring to ‘Wolfman Jack’, an American disc jockey with a 3-decade-long career. By incorporating culturally competent care, Joe was able to ease his patient's anxiety, improve his comfort, and facilitate his recovery. The patient went from screaming his head off to bobbing his head to the music, then eventually fell asleep. The restraints were also discontinued shortly after. This simple gesture not only met his clinical needs but also honored his heritage, demonstrating the profound impact of personalized nursing care.