my workshop for nurses

I'm not a nurse, but in the last 2 years I've had to deal with so many of them (as a patient) that I think they could learn a lot from a patient's perspective. My workshop for nurses in the field and nurses-in-training would be an overview of these lessons:

If you hate your job, your co-workers, your hospital, the doctors and the patients annoy you, please, please find another line of work. Or at the very least, keep your attitude in check and out of your patient's room. Don't argue with other nurses in the presence of the patient or bring your disgruntled-ness into a patient's room. Believe it or not, your mood does affect the patient's experience, it affects the way you do your job, the way you interpret data, the way you communicate with the other staff about the patient and his/her needs. Get a grip. It matters.

Don't assume that every patient believes like you do. Don't assume that every woman wants an epidural. Don't assume that every woman is comfortable with a c-section. Instead of saying..."are you going to try to attempt a vaginal delivery," how about asking, what are your plans for delivery? I make it a point to answer the former question with, "No, I'm not going to "try to attempt," I'm going to do it!" Sure would be nice to get encouragement instead of doubt, from the very people who are trained to help you.

Use encouraging words and an encouraging tone. Skip the horror stories of what happened to other patients. Skip the scare tactics to garner compliance. A positive and supportive attitude goes a loooong way in garnering trust and mutual respect. Just 'cause you have on scrubs doesn't mean I automatically trust you and am going to cooperate.

Nursing is supposed to be a calling. Try to remember you're there for the patient and you're not just there "doing your job." This should be more than just a paycheck. What you're doing is providing a service, a ministry, it's more than a job. The minute you start thinking otherwise, then please take some deep breaths, go to a spa, take your vacation. You're doing more harm than good by spilling your bad vibes on your patients.

Remember than practicing medicine is more than just a clinical thing. Your patients have moods, feelings, anxieties that affect their physical well-being and stress level. Talk to your patients. Don't rely primarily on machines and gadgets to evaluate the situations.

And one note for dealing with pregnant women. It's not really useful (for the woman) if you say things like, "Are you sure you've felt the baby move recently?" or some other question based on the fact that your equipment is not working... I know it's all a ploy to make the woman fearful and at the mercy of the medical establishment, but c'mon. The next question inevitably is, "hmmmm, why is your blood pressure so high." Can you put yourself in the pregnant woman's shoes for 10 minutes?

One of the worst things that happened during the drama of our first pregnancy was overhearing a doctor and a resident's conversation:
Doctor: "She needs an ultrasound every day."
Resident: "I don't really remember how to do them."
Doctor: "Okay, honestly, you just need to make sure that the baby is alive."

Then, during the same ordeal, there was a team of residents in my room, discussing my "case" in front of me as if I were invisible.

What's just another case to you is real life to your patients.
If you don't remember anything else, remember that.

a dose of epidural is not an ounce of prevention

My new motto is, "There's nothing wrong, until there's something wrong."
My OB would like me to believe that an epidural is the way to prepare for an emergency situation like an emergency c-section (ignoring that that very epidural could throw things off course and lead to an emergency c-section).
Funny how all of this so-called "prevention" is planned for the day of delivery, but in the 8 months that I've been pregnant, I've never been asked:

• how are you feeling?
• are you taking your vitamins?
• are you stressed out?
• how's your diet?
• are you resting?
  

So, now, is when we're going to try to prepare and avoid complications? Interesting. Glad I have a midwife who is concerned about me getting to term in good health so I can avoid preventable complications. Dealing with "the medical establishment" stresses me out to no end.

hospital drama, part 1

I hope to never have to write a part 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 to this blog post, but somehow I don't think that's possible.

Yesterday, I went to my routine OB appointment and he asked me to start the Non-stress Tests TWICE a week (in addition to seeing him weekly). I went ahead and did the first one right after I left his office.

I had to go do it in the triage area of labor and delivery and get strapped down with 2 fetal monitors, a contraction monitor, etc. I got a great nurse, thank God, that didn't freak out that I was having contractions (which I couldn't feel). Then the ultrasound lady, which didn't seem so confident about what she was doing, said the fluid around the babies was borderline low. I coulda kicked myself for not making an extra effort to hydrate....but then again, I didn't know I would be doing this procedure.



So after the doctor saw all my info, he wanted me to wait around 'cause he wanted to see me. I was like "No!!!! I'm going home. Tell him to call me. I am not in labor." The nurse went back and forth with my doctor. He finally told her if she would examine me and confirm that my cervix was not dilating, that I could go home. She did. I wasn't. I went home.

The nurse I had, Jennifer, was great. She talked to me about the chances of my delivering without an epidural (next to none). She asked me about my first experience at that hospital giving birth to Maxton and I told her that I had some really horrible nurses that I had to ask to leave my room. She went to do some investigating and find out who the nurses were and hopefully not have them again. I'm hoping she'll be around for my delivery.

Anyway, she told me some other things that I didn't know. She explained that with twins, I will end up delivering in an operating room just for everyone to be prepared for an emergency c-section. She told me the devastating news that even if I come it dilated 10 centimeters, they'll still insist on an epidural (as a precaution).

Last night, I went to bed asking God, "So, how are you gonna work this out?"

34 weeks

Originally uploaded by Malie

Me in an extra large maternity shirt---it's still pulling and stretching. Not going shopping for maternity clothes any more though.