The Patient & Family
At first glance, having critical thinking skills when it comes to the patient and family might not seem like a big deal. But it is, and I will tell you why.
If you think about it, the patient is the whole reason you get to be a badass nurse. We are often taught all about assessing the patient’s physical body (lung sounds, etc, blah blah blah) but there is little emphasis on the importance of the relationship that develops between the patient (and family) and the nurse.
If you think about it, the patient is the whole reason you get to be a badass nurse. We are often taught all about assessing the patient’s physical body (lung sounds, etc, blah blah blah) but there is little emphasis on the importance of the relationship that develops between the patient (and family) and the nurse.
Having that relationship and trust there could mean very big things; things like:
Really the list goes on and on. |
It comes down to this: we are the patient’s advocate. How can we truly do that without having a relationship with them? How can we honor their wishes if we do not see the importance of the whole person in the bed before us? All the critical thinking in the world doesn’t matter if it ends up violating what the patient wants for themselves.
In the real world, our clinical actions are influenced by the ethical and moral context around those actions. Guess who sets the bar for that? It is the patient (and often times the family, too) who create that ethical and moral compass by which we set our course of action. And that is why we have to evolve our thinking to incorporate the patient and the family.
In the real world, our clinical actions are influenced by the ethical and moral context around those actions. Guess who sets the bar for that? It is the patient (and often times the family, too) who create that ethical and moral compass by which we set our course of action. And that is why we have to evolve our thinking to incorporate the patient and the family.
Under this category, we will talk about:
Comfort Measures
Building rapport
End of life decision making
Family
Comfort Measures
Building rapport
End of life decision making
Family