Thanks from a Relative
Hospital can be a daunting place for individuals. They may have fears and anxieties from the reason of admission to being separated from their loved ones. Medical and Nursing Professionals do their very best to put them at ease and inform them of their planned care.
However, what happens to their relatives? The ones left behind. The ones with whom they depend on a day to day basis. These are the people that they want to see most, to share a smile and a reassuring hug. Visiting time can’t come fast enough. These people also have anxieties.
The ‘Must Do’ with me
Person-Centred Care is at the forefront of NHS Scotland 2020 Vision. As practitioners we continually aim to improve the patient care journey. Using supportive measures such as “The Must Do With Me” and “Getting To Know Me” booklet allows us to gain insight into a patient’s life and what is important to them. This allows us to deliver holistic care, focusing on the person not the disease.
In Crosshouse Intensive Care Unit, as with others, we strive to ensure that relatives are supported as much as the patient themselves.
This was reflected in a recent poem written by a mother of a patient in Intensive Care.
It captures clearly the journey of relatives from admission through to discharge.
A Relative’s View
You arrive with your life shattered and feelings of despair
How are you going to cope, who will be there to care?
Your senses are numbed, what are you going to do?
With close family by your side waiting on some news
~
You are falling apart inside and your heart may be breaking
Sitting down outside, worrying and shaking
How long will it be before I know the score?
Then, someone rushes through the door
You feel a bit ignored as no-one wants to stop
To tell you anything as you gaze at a watch or clock
The reason you don’t realise, is that they are trying to save a life
Your loved one, relative, child or wife!
~
All of the equipment that you have not yet seen
Is being placed and connected to your precious human being
It takes time to do, which you don’t appreciate
Don’t take it out on staff, Love them, Don’t Hate
~
They will show their faces and talk to you soon
To update on their progress and what it means to you
Please wait with patience; they’re trying their very best
To put your loved at ease while they are in distress
~
The waiting is then ended as someone comes to tell
With quietly spoken voices, the outcome of your hell
They tell you as it is, in a manner quietly spoken
With care and love, for they know your heart is broken
They warn you what you will see as you go in there
Pipes, tubes, equipment surrounding everywhere
It will be a shock the first time that you see
That person that you love as helpless as can be
~
You are treated at all times with dignity and respect
Reassurance given as you are told what to expect
They explain the equipment and what each bit does
What they are doing, without causing a fuss
~
With 12 hour shifts during day and night
An answer to our questions, they try to shed some light
Constantly monitoring and machines to record
What happens each hour at our bed on the ward
~
Whether your loved one stays for one day or two
Many weeks or months, they will see their job through
With so many faces changing each shift
You soon realise their work is a gift
These are the people who looked after my daughter
Treated us as a family and became part of our life
They work hard each shift, assigned to a bed
Giving answers to all that I questioned or said
~
All with good humour to match a serious side
A laugh and a joke, with whom you can confide
The angels and protectors around these verses
include, Doctors, Consultants, Registrars, and Nurses
~
Not enough words can express how we feel
About these people who helped us to heal
From Cleaners to Clerks, Nurses of all ranks
Doctors of many kind, we would like to say THANKS.
Who Matters to Us
If we flip the “Must Do With Me” core principles around and utilise them for staff, I think we would all say that patients and relatives are “Who Matters To Us”.
This week’s blog was written by @ninamcg77 (Nina McGinley) who is a staff nurse in the Intensive Care Unit, University Hospital Crosshouse- with Thanks to the writer of the poem.
What a touching peom from this relative…such praise for the dedicated staff in our wards.
By: Rebecca on October 15, 2014
at 09:39
It applies to all ward areas. I think it would make a good addition to our information booklets.
It certainly pulled at our heart strings.
By: Nina McGinley on October 15, 2014
at 11:29
Many thanks for sharing your story and the poem written so well by a Mum.
loved your flip of “Who matters to you”
By: Ruth Slessor on October 15, 2014
at 14:21
Thank you Ruth for your kind comment.
By: Nina McGinley on October 15, 2014
at 23:21
What a moving read of the patients journey through the eyes of a relative. Thanks for sharing this Nina
By: stephanie frearson on October 15, 2014
at 23:40
Thanks Stephanie.
By: Nina McGinley on October 16, 2014
at 10:50