Saturday, October 23, 2010

Relationships and Caring for People

A co-worked and I talked about how long it takes to develop a relationship with your co-workers and the doctors who are regularly on our unit. Taking care of critically ill people is a game not played alone. When the fecal material hits the rotary machine, it is ALL about the team. None of us could do our job without our co-workers and that includes, our fellow RN's, the MD's and our respiratory therapists.

But these relationship-this trust- takes time to develop. I have been on this unit for 2.5 yrs now and love my co-workers and my MD's. There is one MD I have worked long and hard to develop a relationship with and a few weeks ago, I gave a run down of a patient's condition when he came to assess. Of course, the patient would not do any of the things I said he did for me because I had just given the patient sedation (timing!!). When I went to pause the sedation he said, "That's OK, don't worry, I trust you."
Wow, such powerful words.
It only took 2.5yrs.

We each are responsible for our patient's well being and yet all of us are responsible together. It just takes so much time to know how your fellow teammates work, think and act, especially under pressure. Having worked with one set of MD's longer, I know exactly how each of these docs work. I know what I can do and what I have to call about. That took time, but time I happily invested.

Working in the hospital is not like other jobs, people die, and your actions can and often do improve or make worse a person's situation. It is a huge responsibility, not just the liability; but for the truly vested, it is about your conscience. We really do care.

I still make mistakes every day, I learn and go on, because dwelling on them only leads to more errors. But I know my team believes in me and supports me, just as I do them.
I relationship I gladly nurture.

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