If I could tell my nurse anything, I would say… A “To Tell the World” Project By Diana Jacobs

Project Steps  Finding an Idea  Getting approval  Designing the Cards  Giving out and Collecting the Cards  Reviewing the Responses

Finding an Idea  There was a story in Readers Digest magazine about a grade school teacher who gave her students a paper and asked them to write anything that they would tell her that they did not feel comfortable talking about. Some of the responses that she received were very touching, but many of them spoke of situations at home that were heart breaking. They spoke of hunger, poverty, broken families and even abusive situations.  What would my patients tell me if I asked them a similar question?

Getting Approval and Designing the Cards  After getting approval for the project I pitched the idea to my unit manager. We were both pretty excited about the possibilities of what our patients might tell us.  Designing the cards was fun! I printed them on card stock that had different designs in contrasting colors so that they wouldn’t be confused with any other hospital documents. I printed 25 cards.  The outside of the card said, “To Tell the World” and the inside said, “If I would tell my nurse anything I would say…”

Some Responses  4 of the responses spoke about their hospital experience. One said the it was too noisy, one said that her roommate talked all the time and two others had issues with the doctors.  1 person appeared to have copied word for word from the hospital brochure that is included with the welcome packet. This one made me smile, the irony of wanting to write something to fulfill the assignment but resorting to plagiarism (oh my!)  1 response told a story about going to an all-girls school near Philadelphia, PA. It was a touching remembrance and obviously painstakingly written, reminding me to spend more time listening to my patients than talking to them.

More Responses  2 responses said that they did not want to go to a nursing home to die.  One person wrote about awaiting test results and expressed stark fear that the choices they had made in life would impact the results. There was regret and remorse expressed and I hope that the writing of their distress was in some small way helpful to them.  2 folks wrote about wanting to go home. At least one of them was speaking metaphorically, unless they really do live in a big, white mansion up in the clouds!

The One That Broke My Heart i wish i was dead

I was shocked. This was written on the inside of the envelope and the card was blank. I have no way of knowing who wrote this but none of the patients that I spoke with appeared to be so very depressed or desperate enough to have written this. I have considered that it could have been written by a family member, visitor or any number of people who had an opportunity to express themselves and took it. The lesson that I learned from this assignment is that we spend so very much time treating the medical issues while a patient is hospitalized that I fear we may be overlooking the emotional wellbeing of not only our patients but also others around us. Holistic health and wholeness are not just buzz-words. The connection between physical and emotional health is real and must remain at the forefront of medical practice and also our personal lives, now more than ever.