Nursing…..what a wonderful, wonderful occupation! In what other career can you touch a life in so many different ways? So often we witness life and death, and everything in between, often times on a daily basis. Even the most pompous and egotistical person in the world is brought to his/her knees when they are facing illness, and it is a nurse that treats, councils, teaches, and comforts.
There is the power of medicine, the power of fluids, the power of imparted knowledge, and the power of respective treatments that serve to make the patient well, but I believe quite often (and even most often) it is the power of touch that is the catalyst to making our patients heal. The simple act of a hand on the shoulder, holding a hand, making eye contact, and even giving a backrub (even though often times we don’t have time to do this) is the subconscious spark given to the patient which says….”we care.” It is a true act of love when given with sincere intent. It is the message given to the patient, and their family, that they are not fighting their fight alone, and it is the act or emotion that says “we are in this together and I am not going to leave you.” It says, “I am responsible for you and I am taking charge.”
Quite often nurses get caught up in the tasks of the job such as giving the treatments, administering meds, bathing, repositioning, taking for a test, doing oral care, and I can go on and on. When you have multiple patients, it’s hard not to get caught up with the tasks and, low staffing numbers certainly do nothing to help improve the nurse’s situation. However, we as nurses still need to communicate that we care. Remember, we work in the most significant job where we “touch” a life during a patient’s time of need and oftentimes at their end of time, and we somehow need to impart sincere “touch” in spite of the tasks we are faced with.
What I have found to be most significant in communicating the gentle care of a nurse and the quality of care our patients expect is the simple “touch” of the pillow flip. That’s right….. flip your patient’s pillow. How often do you treat your patient and do everything right, only to have him/her lying in bed on the same hot poorly situated pillow. Think about it. What is one of the most comforting feelings you have when you are lying in bed? You’re tossing and turning trying to get settled, but things are just not right until you flip your pillow and find the “cool spot.” How satisfying is that? Try it frequently on your patient and witness the subtle satisfaction on their face. Note the subtle unspoken calm of their family members, especially if their loved one is unconscious. (Keep in mind, I am talking about more than just the every two hour prop-and-turn pillow flip). It costs you nothing, and really takes up no more of your time, but “oh” what a strong message it sends. Patients feel it, families sense it, and in their eyes you are the best thing since sliced bread. It’s all about the detail of caring.
Just a simple touch and flip to show you care. So…..remember the flip.
Wow! Who knew that there was so much to learn about starting an IV! You presented the material in such a clear, informative, and personalized way! I love your book.
Laura Gasparis-Vonfrolio PhD, RN
National Nursing Conference Speaker and Author
Owner of Education Enterprises
www.greatnurses.com
Bob – your book. Loved It!. Your recommendations and suggestions have helped me achieve a 99% success rate – many of the sticks done in a moving ambulance. true to your words, I am now the “go to” person for paramedics having IV placement issues. Many thanks.
Matthew Hart NRP
Flight Paramedic at Bismarck Air Medical
Bismarck, ND
What is the single most important intervention you can give your patient to help make them well? Is it giving them their oral meds or monitoring their blood pressure? Is it bathing them? How about teaching them about their meds and illness, or flipping their pillow, or getting them out of bed and up moving? How about in an emergent situation? What will you do? All of these are important in their own right, but not one of them will truly be as beneficial as initiating a good patent intravenous line (IV).
Let’s face it, when patients are admitted to the hospital they are most often having pain, are hypotensive, are septic, are having heart problems or having a stroke, are going for surgery, etc, etc. The only way to effectively treat these patients is to establish a patent IV. These patients without a doubt need fluid, IV antibiotics, vasoactive IV medications, blood, electrolytes, and even IV narcotics to control their pain rapidly. I believe that the single most important skill a nurse or paramedic needs to have in their practice is to be proficient in starting an IV. Without this skill you are effectively handicapped in the treatment of your patient and at the very least, if someone else needs to start the IV, sometimes necessary treatment can and will be delayed.
Learn the fine art of this technique by going to www.theartoftheivstart.com. There is a way to do this and become confident as a nurse or medic. You have to know how to look and what to look for. You need to know the little tricks that most people will never tell you. It is more than sticking a rubber mannequin’s arm and feeling good about yourself. It takes belief, and confidence in knowing that you are better than you think you are. IV initiation looks easy but it’s not. You may experience success as we all do, but how truly proficient are you. It takes finesse.
If you read my book as a student you will gain insight into your patient’s most important treatment that you will not learn in school or on the job. You will also place yourself ahead of the curve. Once you are in your position as a nurse or medic, now you can go back to “The ART of the IV Start” for review and hone your skills to become truly great at what you do. I assure you, you will succeed and your patients will thank you for saving them multiple sticks
You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
So let’s talk. This is my way of helping to improve the system to improve patient care and increase the confidence level of nurses and medics alike.
HI. Just so everyone knows I am new to blogging, so I hope you will all bear with me. This is my first entry and I would like to talk to you and find out about you and some of your IV experiences, and maybe we can learn from each other. My new book, The Art of the IV Start, is designed to help you understand the little details needed to be successful at starting IVs. I am very passionate about this subject because as you may well know by now….
Welcome. My name is Bob Rynecki MS, RN, CCRN-CMC, author of The Art of the IV Start. I’m so happy to have you as a visitor to my blog about my new book. This project is very special to me, and I hope to share some of that excitement with you here.
I’ll be using this blog to interact with you about The Art of the IV Start, expanding on some of the topics in it and blogging on some of the ideas related to my book.
