Hangin' with Dwayne

Dwayne is a respiratory therapist, and we hung out today. At first he thought I was 17 years old. Thanks Dwayne. Anyways... He showed me how to give vent patients their meds through the nebulizer, how to suction the secretions out of their throat, and how to clean the tracheostomy area. I loved being around the patients today in a new setting. At the LTAC facility where I'm working this week, there are tons of patients' charts to go through (20+ a day) and tube feedings to calculate and not a lot of time or "need" (b/c of TFs) for diet instructions, food preferences, and patient satisfaction surveys to talk to the patients about. So it's easy to see patients as just a name on a chart, which is sad and really makes me unhappy. But on my rounds with Dwayne today, I got to directly take care of patients again. In this one little lady's room (who was a bit unaware of her surroundings to say the least), there were pictures of her from around the 1950's, of her and her husband, and of her and her grandkids. Seeing her in an environment outside of the hospital, around people she loves, in her life pre-sickness and pre-hospital, just shifted my perspective. She deserves the best care that we can give her. Every single patient does. They are all someone's Memaw, or Pop, or Daddy, or Mama, or child. So we need to take our time and dedicate it to fully serving them. Thanks for the lesson, Dwayne.

Have a great 4th week ladies!