Dignity And Pain
I took care of an elderly man recently. He’d been dealing with multiple medical problems for almost 30 years. Despite being in some very significant pain, he still made eye contact, still said “please” and “thank you.”
He wasn’t faking the pain. He was very stoic, but I could tell he was hurting. That tight-lipped grimace, the tachycardia, not moving a muscle unless it was absolutely necessary. Still, manners prevailed.
My colleagues and I went above and beyond for him and his family. There’s just something about being polite to others that makes those others want to help you and help you and help you some more.
I’m not saying that we don’t want to help those that aren’t overly polite. It was just nice to be treated, well, so nicely. I wouldn’t expect everyone in severe pain to maintain such decorum. Every once in awhile you just click with a patient and it makes being a nurse so enjoyable.
So! News #1. Another of my posts has made it into a book. It’s called “Lives in the Balance” and was edited by Tilda Shalof, who has written quite a number of books about ICU nursing. I have read some of those books, so when she personally asked for one of my posts to be included I was quite flattered!
I’ve read the whole book, which is full of very compelling stories written by nurses who work in ICU. I highly recommend giving it a read, and not just because one of my little posts made it in!
News #2 will only be news if you don’t follow me on Twitter or Facebook. I am just over 10 weeks pregnant! We are over the moon about this and can’t wait to meet him or her in late July.
And I guess the bonus news is that this blog is 7 years old this month 
*This blog post was originally published at code blog - tales of a nurse*
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