Hello I am currently a nurse working across the High Dependency/Intensive Care Units in the North East and am very interested in the concept of Compassion in every dimension of healthcare.
Do any of you have any ideas or feedback of how we could make the Units less hostile? I know the machines are hard to ignore... I'm thinking small touches that would make the difference?
Very interested in hearing your thoughts, Eleanor
One thing that made a big difference to me was when the nurse would sit beside me and hold my hand (through rubber gloves) instead of sitting at the bottom of the bed. Four years later I still remember the comforting feeling of nurse Bruce holding my hand.
Couldn't agree more on the importance of compassion. When my husband was critical we were first 9 days in ICU in a smaller hospital. In those 9 days the nurses were so lovely and caring and we got to know everything about each others. Built relationships that we continue via text still. It was SO important. Then we are moved to auch larger more sophisticated teaching hospital and were another 7 weeks in ICU. In that time the nurses didn't learn my first name let along build a relationship - with one notable exception. This cut across nurses and doctors. One of the issues was that we barely ever got the same nurses twice, meaning every day I needed to start again with any relationship. I found this so hard. Even my husband who can barely remember anything of those 2 months can remember the different levels of compassion. The second hospital appeared to have a much greater divide between drs and nurses which made a more tense atmosphere which reflected on patients and carers.
From a spouse point of view I would say good compassion starts with knowing my name, a little bit about me and my spouse and taking a minute or 2 each day to talk about anything other than the patient and the condition. I understand that it must be really hard for ICU staff to get close to people given the high turn over rate and mortality rate but we remember when you do.
Find out a little about the patient, what they do/did as a job, their daily routine; did they shave or wash/style their hair every day, likes and dislikes, phobias. How they like to be addressed. Reassurance, orientation - not they same 'what day is it, year, who is the prime minister?'
Same applies to visitors; have they travelled far, eating/sleeping/drinking, how are they managing, do they have support. Information leaflets, manage expectations (tough one)
Ultimately Eleanor, good for you in considering the extra step x
Don't sit at the end of the bed, drinking your coffee when your patient has been nil by mouth for weeks. Don't do your "Tasks" before you even speak to your patient. Don't chat among yourselves ignoring your patient, especially don't make derogatory comments about your patient in their hearing ( no that wasn't my paranoia ). Do fill lots of rubber gloves with ice when your patient has a fever. Do take lots of time to try & make your patient comfortable, respond quickly to requests for pain relief. Make time especially at night to just sit with your patient. Understand the torture of long sleepless days & nights often in pain unable to speak,breathe,or move for yourself which lay the foundations for PTSD.
I could go on, but I think as a former nurse, as well as a former patient I can sum it up as empathy. If you can truly empathise, compassion will follow, as the saying goes "it ain't rocket science".
we know that as an intensive care nurse or doctor you are dealing with this every day but as a patient or relative it is a very strange and scary time so 'Just care and show it'..................the hospital that I was in did just that, not only for me as a patient but also for my very worried family, each and everyone in the department, we thought, just gave that little bit extra and thats all it took to enabled us to cope just that bit better.
I thought that this was how everyone was treated but looking on these posts i can see that this is not so
talk to both patients and families make them know that you care
Worried about my Dad leaving ICU
ICU to the ward transition
Coping strategies 
Dad is fighting ARDS, I'm so depressed
