As part of National Nurses Week, we wanted to share some stories with you about how nurses have changed lives and gone beyond what some people stereotypically think: that nurses just take temperatures, clean bedpans, and give shots.
Nothing could be further from the truth…
Healing Touch
“Healing Touch is an energy healing therapy used by trained nurses to balance the patient’s mind, body, and spirit, which assists the patient in self-healing. Healing touch was very successful on a patient who was screaming in fear and could not fall asleep. The nurse asked me to help the patient. Not only did the patient need sleep, but other patients in close proximity to his room would benefit too. After five minutes of healing touch, the patient was resting comfortably. Within 30 minutes, the patient was sleeping. No shot was needed.”
—Alissa Perrigo, RN, MSN, Largo Medical Center
A Different Perspective
“One of the best ways to connect with an infant is to get down on all fours yourself and see the world from your little one’s perspective. This empathetic response helps connect a young mom to a child’s early developmental processes, especially visual development. Even physically, when you’re on the floor yourself, it is much easier to imagine the strength that is needed for an infant to hold his head up, turn over, or begin to crawl and pull up.”
—Adelmis Granoderoro, RN, Visiting Nurses Service of New York, who helps first-time Suffolk County moms plan for and navigate the first year of their babies lives
Going Above and Beyond
“I recently began working with a nurse who partners with my office through our Accountable Care Organizations (ACO). She was working diligently to arrange home care services for our patient. The patient was discharged from a sub-acute facility and is currently living with her sister in a room. When visiting the patient at her home, the nurse noticed that the patient was unable to clean herself and her sister was unable to assist. The nurse asked if she could assist the patient, but the patient refused. The nurse knew the patient may develop skin breakdown and pleaded with the patient to let her help. The patient still refused.
“The nurse continued to work to arrange for home services for the patient. Each day, the nurse asked if she could come to help the patient until the services began. Finally, the patient agreed. The nurse, along with a colleague, went to the patient’s home to clean the patient. Upon arriving to the apartment, the patient was found lying in her waste. While maintaining the patient’s dignity, the nurse worked for an hour and a half cleaning the patient, as well as changing the linen and the patient’s clothes. Unfortunately, the patient had skin breakdown on several areas of her body. During the visit, the nurse spoke kindly to the patient educating her on what she can do to prevent further skin breakdown. Eventually, the patient received home care.
‘Christine’ went above and beyond the call of duty for our patient, during her critical transition from sub-acute to home care.”
—Melissa Richardson, DNP, RN, FNP-BD, nurse practitioner/nurse manager at Somerset Family Practice, part of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and clinical site supervisor at Monmouth University
- A Day in the Life: Spinal Cord/Multi Trauma Unit Nurse - April 1, 2024
- Nurse’s Side Gig: TruCare Foot Health - March 14, 2024
- A Day in the Life: Psychiatric Nurse - February 5, 2024