One of nursing’s dirty little secrets

One of the dirty little secrets of nursing is that we sometimes become babysitters — literally. It’s no one’s fault, it’s just reality. And no matter how much you want to place blame or get angry, you have to be vigilant in caring for your patient. Anger won’t get the job done.

You can’t blame the patients themselves, because for the most part, they have no control over their illness or the disease process. You can’t blame the family and/or caregiver — they’ve been “babysitting” for years, with no complaints. Oh, and they don’t get paid to do the job. You sure can’t blame the licensed provider; they’re trying to accomplish the same goals as you.

You can’t blame anyone. Period.

ICU nurses sometimes get the “unsafe” patients because we have the ability to increase observation. It’s a crude but true statement. Our ratio of patients is anywhere from 1-3 patients per nurse depending on the required level of care and just how darn sick the patients are.

And sometimes those lines get blurred when it comes to caring for the confused patient. You as the nurse have to figure out how to keep them safe while at the same time corralling their care, progressing their care and keeping things moving forward. All while caring for them and your other assigned patients. Yep — not enough time in the world.

Personal resolve becomes trying when you find yourself repeating the same phrase to the confused patient. Not a couple of times, but close to hundreds of times. Sorry, that’s not an exaggeration. I lost count how many times I repeated the phrase, “You have a catheter in your bladder” to a recent confused patient who adamantly desired to empty his bladder.

Resolve.

Tested.

Over and over again.

Running into the room too many times to count to stop him from falling out of the bed or chair.

Resolve.

Tested.

Over and over again.

Securing invasive lines and tubes to keep him functioning and not allowing your confused patient to remove those things he perceives as foreign.

Resolve.

Tested.

Over and over again.

Explaining to the confused patient that he really is in the hospital and not back home. Also losing count of how many times you repeat these conversations.

Resolve.

Tested.

Over and over.

*sigh*

And you wonder why we nurses proclaim not everyone can do our job.