Your outlook in life is your compass. Often the results you get depend on how you project it to go. When I worked in surgery I started with patients in the holding area before their surgery and frequently took care of them in recovery. Through the years, I observed that when they declared their surgery would go well, it did. Those patients that were more fearful or worried about pain or being sick in the recovery room, sure enough those patients woke up sick and in a lot of pain.
Through my years of being a nurse, I found it fascinating to observe how often this played out. It was surprising to me how often their intentions were followed by their experience. It wasn’t always easy to try to ease a patient’s mind before surgery, but it was a big part of my job then. I felt the more calm I could help them be, the better their experience would be in the recovery room. When I focused on educating them and easing their worries as much as possible, I then found smoother results in the recovery room. I also noticed that I gave less pain medication in turn as well. We were very lucky in those years of having successful turnouts and very few emergencies.
In my position at a surgery center, I had the opportunity to be involved in their entire process. It started out that I would call the patient at home to schedule their surgery and answer their questions about taking care of them before and after their surgery. At the end of the process I called them at home to check on them. I got to experience their full circle of their outpatient surgery. I also did quality and assurance reports that helped me verify my observations. I had a really awesome privilege of working with some of the best nurses, technicians, and office staff out there. I believe it led to the patients doing so well.
I also had the opportunity to work in hospitals that weren’t so well-oiled. I was pulled to many floors working with crews that I wasn’t used to and in less operative conditions. Even though these environments had many differences in how things worked, I was still able to conclude many similarities. At one particular hospital, I floated and was assigned to a variety of floors/departments. A few floors were “known” to be very difficult floors because of the severity of illnesses in those patients and often a less smooth running system. In my attempts to balance out these situations, one advantage I used was knowing that if I could assist my patients in their outlook, I could survive my shift and take care of them better.
At one hospital, I often observed many of my co-workers starting the day with a big list of orders and being forced to “hit the floor running,” so to speak. I noticed that they struggled to keep up with their charting (mandatory legal documents that recorded all their actions ). When I worked these floors/situations, I was able to use my experience of my observations to assist me many times. I tried a different path to help navigate my experience with these challenging situations. For example, rather than jump right into my list of duties and responsibilities (as I noticed many nurses do), I took about ten extra minutes with each patient on my initial rounds to practice my skills of communication and calmness. When I felt they knew my intentions I headed towards my orders.
At first glance, it looked like I was way behind the other nurses on our duties, but i found it to be an investment of time that rewarded me greatly later on in the shift/day. I only did a few simple things that paved a smoother day. I took the time to sit down, look the patient in the eyes, and simply explained my intentions for the shift. I wanted them to feel secure that I was there for them and would do my best to address their pain, illness, and needs during my shift. It sounds so superficial, but made a great impact later in the day when I had time to sit down and chart while I observed many co-workers struggling to keep up. They seemed to have many patients calling out at the same time and they couldn’t find time to sit down, eat, chart, or even visit the restroom.
I’m also not saying we didn’t have our emergencies from time to time and everything was always smooth sailing… I did work in a hospital, but I am convinced that if it were not for that extra little time to assist in my patient’s outlook, I would have also been struggling so much more to keep up with my responsibilites and neglecting what in my heart I felt was a good job. I certainly wasn’t the best nurse working on that floor. Nor am I comparing my capabilities to my co-workers. I’ve worked with so many amazing people. I just wanted to point out that I was able to use what I learned to benefit me in difficult situations.
I found when my patients felt safe and secure, they needed me less. They were less sick and in less pain. I felt I gave much less medication when the patients felt some confidence over fear. When you can meet patients’ emotional needs, you address the bigger ones easier. When someone is sick, in the hospital or facing a procedure, you don’t always understand the stress and fear happening on their inside. If you can assist with this aspect, the care and outcome can be more optimal. Patients tend to do better when they are less stressed. I’ve learned half the battle is in the communication and their outlook. A positive report and outlook you can establish with people seems to in turn greatly affect the experience.
Just as I had opportunities with the outlooks to help my patients, your outlook in whatever you do in life can help you leverage your experiences. To steer it better can depend on your outlook. We can often get in the habit of starting our day running and busy without intention. To help you have a better day, you have an opportunity in how you choose your outlook. We often get exactly what we expect. In my experience I can definitely say it’s worth the extra time to focus on your outlook daily. It’s like preparing the way for your day to be smoother.