In week 3, we are looking at our role as nurses in making sure patients are comfortable and feel safe, managing their pain, controlling the spread of infections, as well as learning how to give a bed bath.

It is important to build a therapeutic relationship with patients as this can remove the discomfort when discussing intimate details that can be associated with bowel movements and urinary elimination. It is also essential that our patients feel safe and know that they are able to decline consent at any time, before and during, to an assessment.

The belief in patients that their pain is real can itself make all the difference. Therefore, we need to keep in mind that pain is subjective and that it is whatever the patient reports. One of the pain assessment tools we will be using to understand what the patient is feeling is using the acronym PQRSTU.

• Palliative factors: what makes the pain better or worse.
• Quality: describing the pain in their own words.
• Region/Radiation: where is it, does it radiate, does it occur anywhere else? Point to the area.
• Severity: rate their pain intensity using a pain-rating scale. Pain do you have at rest vs pain with movement/coughing/breathing?
• Time of onset/Duration: when did it begin, how long did/does it last?
• Understanding: patient’s understanding of the cause and what treatments they have tried.

In lab this week, we had the utmost pleasure of bathing our fellow student partners. This caused a lot of anxiety for everyone but it definitely helped us gain more understanding and empathy for the patient. I think no matter how many times they have been bathed by a stranger, it probably never gets easier.

This course has been really eye opening in making me realize all the day to day things I take for granted that I may lose the ability to do by myself as I grow older or due to severe accidents/injuries. It’s definitely making me feel more grateful.