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BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
Paula Watkins, RN, CNOR
Be Patient With Your Patients
You'll appreciate kindness and compassion when you're one of them.
e make assumptions
about patients
before we even
meet them. We read their consents, check out their H&Ps
and boom, we think we know
everything. But we can be surprised.
W
"Oh, wow, I bet she fell over
one of her 13 cats."
"Wonder if she's still in her
right mind."
STITCH IN TIME 26 staples and a Jackson"She's overweight, and on
Pratt drain were in my left elbow for 3 weeks.
metformin, metoprolol and
an atorvastatin."
"Well there you go, hyperglycemia, hypertension, hyperlipidemia.
Probably non-compliant, too."
"Look, she's still working."
"Really? What's she do?"
"Uh ... she's a nurse."
"You're kidding me." (An uncomfortable pause.) "How old did you
say she was?"
When I actually meet the patient, I introduce myself, check her
bracelet and ask about the procedure she's here for, but I'm thinking,
"Wow, she doesn't look all that old or fat." Before I know it, I've
already compared her to myself. Why do we do this? Just because we
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O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | J U N E 2013
