Nursestories

Posted on August 12 , 2011

When We Become Patients rss

Lately I’ve been going to my gynecologist for a minor irritating problem. Although it wasn’t a big thing, I still had to see him for frequent follow ups. How odd is it to find yourself being a patient instead of the health care provider. Very odd.

I was giving myself the task of acting knowledgeable and responsible about my problem, without interfering with the doctor’s plans and instructions. He knows I’m a nurse and I don’t want to look dumb in front of him. I start doing research on the origin of my main complaint, the different symptoms and treatments. I try different products and medication that will, hopefully, help subside my symptoms. I want my doctor to be proud of me for taking care of myself and for listening to his recommendations. I feel that he will expect more from me because of my profession, instead of Miss X, who I assume, only has basic knowledge about the matter. Unfortunately, I did what I shouldn’t have done. I used the 3-antibiotic polysporin cream for a yeast infection. Everyone knows that one of the causes of candida albican is antibiotic, which increases the vaginal Ph to create a more suitable environment for fungi infection. But I did it anyway. Why, I don’t know. I guess I was so fed up of the itchiness and the vaginal tears that I was ready to try anything. I was honest about my actions when my doctor asked me what solutions I had tried at home. Ultimately, I was rewarded with the disappointing look I was dreading, and the official: ‘‘Oh no, why did you that. You’re a nurse, you should know better!’’ came right after.

OK, I deserved it. But it also made me feel like a loser and an idiot. Mostly, it made me realize that I sometimes act the same way towards my patients. Giving them the ‘‘Are you stupid?’’ look. In reality, my job is not to punish, to moralize or to preach. My functions are to inform, educate and care. Not everyone has the same knowledge, the same means of getting the information and the same understanding of that information. We all come from different backgrounds, different cultures and different beliefs. It is up to me to detect the obstacles that prevent a patient to get the appropriate treatment, and to supply this person with the right resources.

Sometimes we need to be in someone’s shoes to understand what he or she is going through, so that we don’t do to others what we don’t want done to us.

Posted by: RN13 0 comments