#93 Leeches

365 Blog Challenge: Post #93

As previously mentioned, coming back from the cruise, work hit me like a sack of bricks.  I must have built up my stress tolerance over the months, and being so relaxed from the cruise made me vulnerable to the stressful realities of nursing.  Either that, or our floor has been especially annoying lately.

I don't like to complain about patients (though doing so usually makes me feel better).  They are sick people, and they need our care.  It's probably the overwhelming aspects of the job that make it harder to put up with people's "idiosyncrasies".  I just find it very difficult to want to care for someone who acts more needy than they really are, which some people do while in the hospital. I understand it's scary and miserable to be sick, it's uncomfortable to be away from home.  However, in addition to the medical and physiological things we nurses need to keep in mind, it's a constant psych game.  Perhaps people regress a bit in the hospital, or maybe they feel neglected when their families aren't there very often.  But sometimes I feel like certain (definitely not all) patients are emotional leeches.  They drain everything out of you due to their psychological neediness.

Being a people-pleaser in these cases is difficult.  And not all the nurses on my floor put up with it.  But I am not one to get nasty with patients, and while I try to set limits, I sometimes get pulled under.  Leeches make you appreciate the patients who are self-sufficient, or who, for medical reasons, actually do need your help as much as they insist.

So please, the next time you or a loved one is in the hospital, take the time to be kind to the nurse, especially if she is being patient and compassionate to your loved one (as he/she should be doing!)  We need your appreciation just as much as you or your loved one needs our care.