Who are you caring for?
62M here for elevated liver enzymes secondary to occluded bile duct. His bilirubin and lipase are also elevated. He has a 20G in the right arm with normal saline going at 200ml/hr. Plan is for ERCP later today. PMH HTN on losartan. VSS throughout night. Wife is at bedside.
This is very likely similar to the report my father's nurse received on Tuesday. Nurses likely gave similar reports throughout the hospital on many patients whose care was transferred from one nurse to another. Undoubtedly, the 62M was referred to as the "belly pain in 872" or a version of that throughout the day.
However, if you go solely off that report, you have no idea who the person is lying in that bed.
Did you know:
Last night was the first time he has ever been "inpatient" and stayed overnight. He is afraid.
Other than some minor injuries, he has never really been a "patient." He's not sure what all is going on right now. He is afraid.
He fiercely loves his family.
He is one of the most generous men you could meet and gives to others without asking anything in return.
Although he doesn't understand all your medical jargon, those who know him see him as an incredibly smart man. He can fix and build anything.
He and his wife have been together for over 40 years and will celebrate their 39th anniversary in a few days.
He is known as "Dad" to his two sons, who see him as their hero and who he is immensely proud of.
He is known as "Paw Paw" to a beautiful 11-year-old girl whom he adores.
His wife has been a nurse for decades, and one of his sons is a nurse. He heavily relies on them for medical information.
His favorite college sports team is FSU; no one really knows why.
This is a tiny part of the patient's life story whose care has been entrusted to you. I hope you can see he is more than his diagnosis; he is more than his care plan. Remember, our patients come to us with a life story. They come to us with their own likes, dislikes, joys, fears. Things that are inextricably woven into the fabric of who they are. Question: who are you caring for? How do you see them? Do you know them? If you are defining your patient by their disease or diagnosis, then with all due respect...how dare you. Patients don't lose their humanity the moment they cross the threshold into our organization. How dare we in healthcare seek to define our patients by their disease or diagnosis. These patients come to us with a story, their life story. As caregivers, we have the opportunity to have our name inked onto the pages of another person's life story. What an incredible privilege. Question: If inked onto the pages of your patient's life story, what will the page with your name say? Will it speak of your compassion, safe care, quality care, concern, explanations, and kindness? Or, will it tell of your lack of compassion, your unsafe care, your lack of quality, your unkindness? What will it say? Please never forget that our patients are people, not a room number and not a diagnosis.
Remember to infuse humanity into your patient report:
Use their name
Include something about them you can’t find in their medical record
