Nurse Shares Touching Way She Goes Above And Beyond To Show Compassion For Patients

Nurses don’t get nearly enough recognition for all the work they do. Even those who are newer to the field, like nursing student Allison Mills, take on a ton of responsibilities from the start. There are parts of the job that requite a lot of medical knowledge, of course, but there’s also the human aspects, too. Holding onto compassion when working with others can be challenging for anyone to do, including nurses.

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This is especially true when a patient is refusing to cooperate. You can imagine, then, what it might be like to start your shift by finding out that one of your patients is “extremely combative” and “constantly screams.” That happened to Allison, who shared more of the report on this patient below.

This report could have led Allison to be closed off to her patient from the start. Instead, she kept an open mind and led with both compassion and empathy. As a result, she was able to make so much progress with the patient.

Within the first hour, Allison says she helped her use the bathroom, talked to her about her daughters, and ate chips with the patient as she had dinner, something she thinks helped her feel comfortable enough to eat the hospital food. She was also able to do a full linen change, get her new clothes, brush her hair and teeth, and give her lotion and Chapstick. All in an hour!

Needless to say, the report that Allison left at the end of her shift looked much different than the one she was given. In fact, she made sure future nurses knew that, to best help this patient, it’s important to check in on her frequently. And, if at all possible, to keep her company while she eats.

Allison summarizes it best in the caption of her post: “It just takes a little compassion.”

You can find the source of this story’s featured image here!