My daughter-in-law, Kelly, is an ICU nurse. Most of the time she absolutely loves her job, her work, everything about it. However, every now and then, she tells stories that will either turn your stomach or pull at your heartstrings. And there have been a couple of times where she has come home exasperated with one of her patients.One time, there was a guy in her charge who was extremely difficult as a patient. He kept pulling all of his tubes out...ALL of his tubes. No matter how many times they put them back in, he’d pull them out. Finally, he had to be restrained so he wouldn’t impede his recovery any more.
I asked Kelly to generalize about difficult patients and compliant patients.
First of all, if a patient is in ICU, they’re sick. They need help. Among those patients, middle-agers are the most difficult--generally speaking. They complain and whine and just don’t want to do what it will take to get better. In the Cardiac ICU, it’s very important for the patients to get up and walk. Middle-agers don’t want to do that--generally speaking--because it hurts them to walk. I asked her what the nurses do with someone like that. She said they will get three or more nurses to go in together and get the patient up and walking.
Younger patients don’t like the needle pokes: blood draws, shots, etc. By far the most compliant patients are the seniors--folks 70 and over. They do what they’re supposed to do, generally speaking, and willingly engage in order to recover as quickly as possible.
It will be fascinating to hear some of your stories about the people you have been able to help, and maybe those you haven’t been able to help.
- Sheree Yasko Hill
