The post-it reads “Being recognized is hard.”
I didn’t add anything else to the post-it so I can only guess at the meaning.
Being recognized when you aren’t prepared for it is hard. It is paralyzing.
Years ago a patient approached me at the bookstore. I remembered them as being a patient several weeks back. They asked me if I was a nurse. I said that I am. They asked if I was their nurse.
This is where it is paralyzing. At least for this OR nurse.
Most of our patients are asleep. Even if I do the pre-op check-in and check-list with them I am not expecting to be remembered. There is a reason that the only Daisy nominations for the OR people are us recognizing our own.
I remember this patient. I remember that the outcome was not necessarily positive. But I couldn’t come out and say that.
Instead, I said, “Yes. I remember you. How are you doing?”
Taking the pressure off of me as an OR nurse and them as a patient. And recognizing them in return was a good thing. Perhaps they didn’t feel alone after their surgery and especially during. They had a hand to hold and a calming voice as they went to sleep and as they woke up.
I don’t think all OR people are awkward. But enough of us are. I definitely count myself in that number.
Because being recognized out of context can be weird. And paralyzing.
I hope that the patient is continuing to do well. I haven’t seen them in the bookstore in a while.
Dispatches from the Evening Shift 