I am back to work. I was early and able to manage to clean my black-painted finger nails before the endorsement. I had the nicest staff nurse as the bedside nurse, the jolliest one as the charge nurse and the most industrious orderly. It was also the second day of the nurse orientee. This day was one of the lightest duties I have had although the entire toxicity rate of the ward I am in was really nothing compared to that I have had at the Lung Center of the Philippines.
We had our usual cheerful and welcoming rounds. If I were a patient, I would feel really welcome and relaxed when entertained by this pack of nurses.
One thing that I have learned from my mentors is to build rapport with the patient. You need to interact with them during rounds and when wheeling them to and from the laboratories. In almost a month of being in that ward, I should say that I was at 95% compliance.
Since I felt so recharged, I was extra nice to the patient. In my second and last part of rounds for vital signs taking, I complemented an elderly patient for her pleasant and relaxed appearance. I did not know that she was due for discharging that day. After an hour, I just saw her being wheeled out of her room by her caregiver while the trolley was being pushed by her son. I then took the wheelchair from the caregiver’s hand and wheeled them to the lobby. I still managed to carry out a pleasant conversation with them. While waiting for their ride, the patient asked me who will wheel the trolley and wheelchair back to the ward, I said I will. She kept on thanking me until their car arrived and she grabbed my hand and stuffed money in my palm. I politely declined but she insisted.
Yeah, it must be nothing to them but it meant a lot to me. I know by the look their eyes that they were satisfied with our service. Too bad, I learned from my charge nurse that she forgot to ask the patient to fill out the patient satisfaction survey. To me, it is way important to see a well-filled out survey form than to get monetary reward.
Funny thing is, this is a kind of business where you could not say, hope to see you again!
Way to go!