As a nurse, compassion is important, although some nurses do not feel that way. To be compassionate, you must feel some sort of sympathy for your patients. Whenever I get a difficult patient, I always think of what the patient is experiencing. I try to put myself in their shoes and always think of how to make them feel better.
For example, for a patient who asks for pain medication around the clock, I automatically assess their pain tolerance, which is probably very low. I try to imagine myself in horrible pain all the time and not getting any relief from the pain medications. If I am unable to increase their dosage, I will offer an ice pack or heat pack.
Another example is the stubborn patient who wants to do things on their own. These patients are typically the people who are used to taking care of themselves, and are embarrassed to allow someone to help clean them up. I try to put myself in their place by imagining myself as a person who is usually very independent, but all of a sudden, I am unable to go to the bathroom alone or clean myself.
Patients who are withdrawn or mean usually do not have a good family life. Or, they do not have any family at all and have become depressed. Sometimes, they are mean to their family so their family decided to abandon them. Other times, they are mean because they could just be a bad person. Kevin Kelly said: “Don’t treat people as bad as they are. Treat them as good as you are.”
Then there are the very needy patients. These are the patients who press their call light ten times in one hour. Every time you go into the room, the patient needs something. It might be “Turn the TV on”, or “can you make a phone call for me”, or “I dropped my water.”. There is never an “I pressed the button by accident” in the 10+ times they called in that one hour. In these circumstances, it’s good to remind the patient how busy you are and ask if they need anything while you are in the room. Place them on an hourly or bihourly timeframe of when you will visit them.
Tip: Before you respond to the patient, put yourself in their shoes. Wonder how they feel when you are assisting them. Try not to be offended by their response to their situation.
