Ortho floor nurse here. Was in the grocery store this afternoon looking like a zombie after three nights and this woman stops me and says my first name. I had no idea who she was. Turns out I had her for four nights after her hip replacement like a year and a half ago. She was terrified to get up and I spent forever with her that first time walking to the bathroom.
She told me she walks two miles every morning now. Showed me pictures of her and her grandson at the lake. I stood there holding a box of cheerios trying not to cry in front of the produce guy.
We almost never find out what happens after discharge. Anybody else ever run into a patient out in the wild? Good or awkward, I want to hear it.
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Post replyThis is what actually keeps people at the bedside, and admin thinks pizza in the break room covers it. Last week I had six patients and couldn't spend five minutes with any of them, let alone forever on a first walk. Glad you got your moment. A lot of us are running too fast to earn one now.
Did she bring up that first walk to the bathroom? I always wonder which parts stick with them, because it's never the part we think was the big deal.
Love this for you, but I do the opposite. I never acknowledge a patient first in public. I'm L&D and not every outcome was a happy one, and some people don't want their kid or their coworker asking how they know me. If they come up to me, great. Otherwise I keep walking.
Holding the cheerios trying not to cry. That's exactly it. We almost never get to see the ending.
Been there, except mine was awkward. I'd had a guy in detox who spent most of a night shift trying to pull his IV and calling me every name in the book. Two years later he's coaching my son's soccer team. He recognized me at the first practice, walked straight over, and said thank you for not giving up on him that night. I still don't know how to act at games.