How many times has a patient said “I feel funny” or “I don’t feel right” and then proceeded to code shortly thereafter? That happened to me twice.
How many times have you felt pulled in different directions – between call lights, alarms ringing, medications to be administered, dressings to be changed, patient education to be provided, etc.? For me the answer is TMTC (too many to count!)
How many times has a patient deteriorated quickly or coded without any warning signs? I’d say several.
I wonder if during any of those times a patient was trying to reach out to me to say “I feel funny” or “I don’t feel right” and the opportunity to intervene passed without my knowledge because I was busy with other tasks.
Just thinking…
I wish that we had enough time during our day to just pause and listen. Wouldn’t that be nice?
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