Because She is Somebody's Mom

Today I had my first day of clinicals for nursing school. When I went to pre-planning yesterday and was assigned a patient I felt so overwhelmed and unprepared. I still felt that way arriving at the hospital this morning before beginning to care for my patient. I didn't think I knew enough to be of any help to the patients on my floor or to my peers.

I first found the RN that I would be working with for the day and was so pleasantly suprised when she automatically started teaching me things and taking me in to meet her other patients. She was so patient with me and let me follow her everywhere she went. I couldn't have asked for a better RN on my first day. When I first met my patient I was awkward and didn't really know how to communicate with him or provide him with care. However, I quickly learned that just speaking with the patient as if he were a friend was the best way to get him to feel comfortable with me enough to open up and express his personal concerns.

I got an easy first assignment because my patient was young and was able to provide a lot of his own care. We were instructed to check on our patients every 10 minutes because things can change so quickly. When I had down time I tried to get into as many other rooms as possible and witness different procedures.

There was one room in particular that really struck a chord in my heart and solidified my need to be in the nursing field. A women frantically came up to the nurse's station and stated that her mother seemed to be having a seizure. I rushed back with my instructor and one other student to see what was going on. When we got into the room a feeble old woman lay on the bed looking a bit disoriented and worried. My heart was racing because it was my first real nursing experience with a real patient having a real medical issue. I looked at my patient and then I glanced back at her daughter and I will never forget her face. Her eyes were welling with tears and with her hands over her mouth she had a terrified look. The patient looked at her daughter with confusion and concern. Her daughter, in her 50s, began to sob right there by the bedside. It took everything in me not to begin to cry myself as I laid my hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. She said, "I've just never seen my mother this way."

We asked if she had any family to support her and she stated that she was one of six children, 5 boys and herself. As soon as the words "6 children" came out of her mouth my mind wandered. I began to visualize the patient as a young woman in her teens. I pictured her as a young beautiful bride. I pictured her as a new mother welcoming a baby into the world. I pictured her as a mother cooking Thanksgiving dinner. I pictured her as a grandmother. I thought to myself, "this isn't just an old sick woman; this is somebody's mom."

I know it seems like a simple thought and it seems like it should be obvious. Of course she is somebody's mom, sister, cousin, aunt, daughter, etc. For some reason, that hadn't quite clicked until the moment I watched her daughter weeping. I was picturing these people as patients. They are more than that. They are somebody's loved one. They are somebody's entire life. THEY ARE SOMEBODY'S MOM.

These people did not choose to come into the hospital. They did not choose to be ill. They did not choose to have accidents on their bed. They did not choose to need assistance in everything they do. This is where they are and it is our job to care for their needs. I will try to remember every time I get frustrated or annoyed or impatient that this patient is somebody's everything.