Caring vs convenience

Nursing has obviously evolved into the technologically advanced, almost cure-all profession we know today.

If it were possible to pull back the blinds and see what our founders’ intentions were, how they practiced then, and how they practiced five decades ago.

As I referenced yesterday, chemical and physical solutions are sometimes necessary. However, the healthcare field has instituted changes in the last couple of decades that I’ve been practicing to understand that these measures aren’t always necessary and can lead to negative outcomes at times.

Yet, I still feel like a lot slips through the cracks.

Two worlds collide when a nurse shows up to work, and a patient surrenders to the hospital. Two different personalities, different moods, going through different or similar circumstances in life, shaped by life in completely different ways. Sometimes it’s one patient (misunderstood) at times versus a gang of different personalities (caregivers).

Sometimes, depending on the sum of personality, mood, and current life events of the caregiver(s) versus patient(s), this (“chemical”) reaction is undesirable/incompatible. The caregiver(s) and patient(s) just don’t see eye to eye or don’t understand each other. Situations like these sometimes escalate, and without healthy, stable-minded deescalators present, or if the culture of the setting that the patient is in doesn’t accommodate or tolerate the patient’s current state, it can lead to what I consider convenience measures, chemical or physical.

Thus, this most likely leads to negative patient outcomes and what most people don’t consider, negative caregiver outcomes. It perpetuates a culture, habits, and mentality of reacting only for convenience instead of stepping back and considering the long-term effects of short-fused decisions.

I feel like some institutions encourage these hasty reactions by not teaching their staff to look at the bigger picture and then wonder why they have a large number of negative incidents. Am I wrong? Am I delusional for thinking we could react in a more caring fashion and relearn the Art of Calm