Context: When I had downtime during a shift, I would write about the patients I had met. Here is a collection of entries:
March 3, 2022
"Pleasant conversation. The man was probably in his eighties and at first had trouble breathing but that issue was resolved. He passed all the questions and CAUTI both times. We had a conversation about his home - North Dakota. He had 11 brothers and sisters, 2 of which are still alive. He says he has a friend coming to pick him up. I felt kind of sad for him because he had no family here and probably won't go to North Dakota again because of his first condition. He was really excited to go back home and get back into his normal routine but is that possible? He wore bright yellow socks and was bed-ridden. It kind of reminds me of the world right now. People seem to want everything to go back to before the pandemic but can we? The coronavirus isn't going away. Just like [patient's name]'s condition won't (as far as I know). How do people still have hope for such a reality? Is it out of desperation or ignorance? Anyway, I wish the best for him. Sweetest man I've met so far."
March 3, 2022
"This man REALLY wanted his breakfast. I came in and he begged for breakfast so I went out and got it for him. Well actually, I just made sure it got ordered. I went back and he asked for breakfast again. Eventually, I asked him the PXA questions. Everything was fine. His breakfast finally came so despite not knowing what to do, I stayed and talked to him. He's from Oak Harbor and that's near Whidbey Island. He really liked his scrambled eggs and peaches. One thing I learned was that it's difficult to figure out when someone needs help especially when they don't speak much. I did not want to be taking away from patient autonomy but I also didn't want to wait for him and watch him struggle to open his peaches. I ended up just opening them for him. I couldn't tell if he wanted me there so eventually I just left, but it was not a bad interaction!"
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