Do You Hear What I Hear?

Did you know nurses talk alot? Well, just in case you have never been a patient in a hospital or a family member of a patient in the hospital, let me enlighten you.

During the day it is feels normal to hear papers shuffling, doctors and nurses talking in the hallway or nurses station, visitors in the hallways, carts, that despirately need their wheels lubed, moving up and down the hall, TV's from the patient room next door, who obviously has someone in there who is next to deaf, the beeping of pump alarms, bed alarms, and any other alarm that may or may not be necessary and then there is the ever so loud announcements over the intercom.

All of those sounds (noises) seem very appropriate or "normal" during the day. However night time is OH SO different. Sitting in an ICU room with a sick patient, I have heard, very loud nurses at the nurses station. I could tell you what they are doing for vacation, whose child is acting up, who is dating whom, and which doctor and patient they like the best. I actually think they have forgotten they have patients trying desperately to get some rest before the respiratory therapist, physical therapist, speech therapist, occupational therapist, doctor, or nurse actually come in and wake them up for another treatment, exercise, meal, or medication. Patients no longer come to the hospital for exhaustion. They actually leave the hospital after an acute illness and go with a diagnosis of exhaustion.

Patients are often times woke in the middle of the night to check their vitals every 4 hours and sometimes depending on why they are there, more often than that. They are woke to check their pain level and give medications, they are woke BY THE NOISE!!!

I am so suprised at what I have heard. I promise I will be ever aware of my own personal noise level from here on out! Not that I think I am a loud person, but it is something I will certainly pay attention to.

Patients need rest!! I understand they need assessed, they need meds they need therapy and all those things, but the body needs rest too. We need to be more aware of caring for the WHOLE patient and not just the illness. Florence Nightengale was really on to something with the whole patient care role she introduced. We should follow her example and see if our patients happier and recover a little faster.

I will be a better nurse because of this.