simple art of caring

8/8/2019 Simple Art of Caring

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SIMPLE ART OF CARING

By MARILES A. RALLOS, BSN, RNPlant Nurse, Pepsi Cola Products Philippines, Inc

University of Cebu Alumni, 2007

Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art,It requires an exclusive devotion

as hard a preparation, as any painters or sculptors work;for what is the having to do with dead canvas or dead marble,compared with having to do with the living body, the temple of Gods spirit?It is one of the Fine Arts: I had almost said, the finest of Fine Arts.-Florence Nightingale, poem Nursing is an art.

One hot summer of 2006, I find myself sitting on a cozy arm chair. Somehow, I felt

so lonely and empty within. It seemed like I was just observing the clamorous

crowd in the 5th floor lobby yet people sitting next to me noticed that I was

thinking of the oceans. Hey! a gloomy, dreadful voice was heard over my ears.

Whats wrong with you? I then realized that one of my group mates asked. Im

good. I just remembered her. I felt satiable warmth when everyone gave me a bighug. I slowly closed the window of my soul and vividly recalled the memories I had

with one of my patients during our enhancement duty that passed away few days

back.

It was 9thof May, I was preparing myself and went on afternoon shift. My clinicalinstructor assigned me to monitor a female patient in Room 706. Uponendorsement and studying the patients thick chart, I find out that we were of thesame age, and been admitted in the hospital for three days. Patient X wassuffering from a life threatening condition called Stevens - Johnson syndrome.Stevens-Johnson syndrome is a serious systemic (bodywide) allergic reaction witha characteristic rash involving the skin and mucous membranes, including the

buccal mucosa (inside of the mouth). The disease is due to a hypersensitive(allergic) reaction to one of a number of immunologic stimuli including drugs andinfectious agents. SJS is a rare condition, with a reported incidence of around 2.6to 6.1 cases per million people per year. In the United States, there are about 300new diagnoses per year. The condition is more common in adults than in children.Women are affected more often than men, with cases occurring at a three to twosex ratio. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StevensJohnson_syndrome). According to the history of her present illness , her conditionwas caused by hypersensitivity to drug when she was under Chloramphenicoltreatment, the drug of choice to treat Typhoid fever and was first confined in theirprovincial hospital 2 weeks prior to admission. At first, I was trying to rememberwhat her condition really was. I approached my C.I. for confirmation. Perhaps Irecalled that one of our lecturers had included this topic in our Medical-Surgicalsubject. She even claimed that she hasnt actually cared for a patient with thisrare kind of illness.

Together with the staff nurses, our clinical instructor, and some of my group

mates, I entered patient Xs room during the nurses rounds. We first greeted her

and introduced ourselves. Identified our patient, assessed her intravenous fluid

level and site, verified the amount of oxygen that shes receiving and checked on

her in general. After the rounds, I was left inside the room and started to interact

with patient x and to her significant others. She was lying on bed, awake, coherent
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/


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and oriented to time and place. I obtained her vital signs, with temperature of 40

C, heart rate of 98 beats/min and respiratory rate of 25 cycles /min. She had pale

and dry skin, from the scalp down to her lower extremities, and arms were filled

with small lesions. Her lips and gums were slightly bleeding which causes mild

pain when she opens her mouth, like in talking and eating.

After that 20-minute interaction, I started to formulate my nursing care plan.

Since she had a high fever, I utilized this realistic plan on top of three nursing

priorities that I identified that could be done in my eight-hour duty. Part ofbedside care, I gave her a tepid sponge bath and after two hours, her temperature

lowered down from 40 C down to 38 C. That was amazing! Her mother claimed.

Everyone from that 4-corner room was filled with glee and they were all smiling

at me. At the back of my mind, I definitely said, Wow! What I did was just an

ordinary thing yet for them it was so amazing. For a couple of hours that I was on

her side, it built an extraordinary kind of friendship. Her sister Sheryl said, that she

havent seen her sister so happy and even its a bit painful for her to smile

because of her chopped and bleeding lips, she could now stand the pain and

afforded to show a wonderful smile. When I was about to end my shift, I went back

to my patients room to bid goodbye. She held my hands, tight and firm, spoke ina soft and low-tone of voice saying, Thank you nurse. Youre welcome, I

replied. Her eyes were teary and had shown the best smile that Id seen in my

whole life. I went out from her room, knowing that another shift on that week was

over but the story never ended there yet.

The next day, I went to the same hospital and submitted our OR gowns for

autoclaving in preparation for our OR exposure the following week. I and two of

my group mates decided to dropped by patient Xs room. We saw her side-lying

on her bed and I noticed that a working ventilator was on her bed side. Hi, how

are you? I asked her. Shes not smiling but she kept on staring at me, trying to say

something. I think you wanted to say something. Can you tell me more about it?Then she replied, Im tired. Please pray for me. My heart was torn into pieces

and I didnt know what to say. I just held her hand, I was silent for 5 seconds and

replied, Sure, I will. Actually, I and my friends would visit the Holy sacrament later

this afternoon. Do you want to come with us? Finally, she smiled and held my

hand with earnest desire to come over. On the other hand, her mother and sister

Sheryl were at my back. They said that she was under code blue that early

morning and they were hopeless about her condition. They were sad and I

understood what they went through. After that quick visit, I went to Basilica del

Sto. Nino with my friends, Johanna Marie and Maria Richelle. When I arrived

home, I took a nap in my bed. I suddenly dreamt of her, she was smiling back atme and was totally well. I was abruptly awakened by a telephone call from her

sister Sheryl, crying out loud and informed me that her sister passed away couple

of minutes ago. Heavy goose bumps ruled over me and couldnt really believe it.

That was the first time that my assigned patient passed away. Since they were not

from Cebu, her sister asked me to drop by the hospital before they went back to

their province the next day. I met her family and they were so grateful about the

support and care that I contributed to them. Her big brother attempted to gave

me cold cash but I impetuously refused.


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I got a reality check from this experience. Caring cant only be acquired inside the

classroom. Patient care is part of a nurse's role since we have to assist them in

their needs which they were not capable in doing. However, the simple art of

caring is much appreciated when experienced and shared. It means that we are

giving our time and best effort to alleviate our patients suffering, not only to our

patients, but most of the time those who are in need of our help. It might be our

own families, relatives, friends and neighbors.

Should someone choose nursing as a profession? "Yes!" Working so intimatelywith ill people and experiencing the pain of others directly affects how we nursesview life.

Nursing lets me go home with a good feeling in my heart. Every day I hear "Thank

you" or "I'm glad you are here." Knowing I have made a difference makes the long

hours and late lunches worth the effort. For me, the career has been nursing, and

for every nurses, mastering the art of caring is a lifelong mission. God Bless!

Patient with Stevens - Johnson syndrome

simple art of caring

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