I Dare You to Drink the Vinegar

Life is fluid. Change is an inevitable in health care because of multiple factors including development of new technology (Atter, 2008), clinical practice changes (Callaly, & Minas, 2005; Piat, Sabetti, & Bloom, 2010), changing client demographics (Atter, 2008), scarce financial resources (Erwin, 2009), staff shortages, and many others. Mental health nursing in the hospital setting is a prominent area of change because of the shift from the custodial care model prevalent in the early and mid part of the 20th century, to a client-centered recovery-oriented approach that gained popularity in the latter part of the century.  This shift required a drastic paradigm shift from caring for to caring with patients and their families.  Compounded by the additional workplace stress of de-institutionalization, the result was fewer inpatient mental health beds and shorter lengths of stay (Lloyd, et al, 2009).  Unfortunately, change can be a major cause of workplace stress (O...

“. . . For the secret of the care of the patient is in caring for the patient.”  (Peabody, 1925) Is caring a secret? It isn't a secret to nurses. I attended an interesting education session facilitated by a Spiritual Care practitioner. It was fantastic. The take-home message was, treating people like human beings is the most central feature of any health care relationship. How do you effectively build rapport? Intuitively we know this, it's the Golden Rule, treat others the way that you want to be treated. I learned this rule early in life, perhaps because I attended Catholic school. Sometimes turns in the pit of my stomach when I witness a situation of a health care provider forgets this. As nurses, I believe that caring, that being a human being, is central to our profession.  Peace, Michelle D. 

Yesterday I went to work and noticed that there were flyers up for a memorial service for a client. I later learned from a co-worker that this client died earlier in the week. I found out that this client had broken some bones in an accident and made the decision to not seek medical treatment. I was unclear about what exactly led to their death but I assume it was related to the fractures and complications related to their compromised health status. This is the first client that I have personally known, in my almost 5 years in nursing, that has died. Working in mental health and addictions I know that there are definitely clients that I have cared for who have died.  When I worked as a care-aide during the first part of my nursing undergrad degree I witnessed people's deaths; I participated in the process of wrapping the body. But this experience was different, this was the first person that I actually had a health care professional-client relationship with, someone I knew, who die...