Everyone has
their own forte and for some, providing emotional support to others in times of
crisis can be difficult. The situation can become uncomfortable, weird, scary,
and it could be the situation they always wanted to avoid.
Some of the
best nursing practices can be provided to the patient during these
moments. Whenever people become emotional in front of you, try normalizing
the situation to make it better. The fact is that you cannot take the pain out
of a patient's terminal cancer, you cannot heal the anger in their family's
heart, and you really can’t eliminate the pain through words. But what you can
do is comfort them emotionally and psychologically.
For performing
a better practice, do not expect that you can fix a massive tragedy with words.
They are not sitting there to hear your words, in fact, what they all need is
support and that you can just feel it with them.
The first step
for this is to just let go of the natural yearning to fix the situation. Take a
deep breath and let it go as you cannot fix the situation.
Related: International Nurses Association - What's Your Superpower? T-shirt
Related: International Nurses Association - What's Your Superpower? T-shirt
The things you can do to make it better are:
Allowing Silence
Maintaining
silence, not rushing the one who is suffering, and just being with someone who is
hurt could be great support. Most of the times, what these family members think
is not to burden others with their crying and sensitive emotions. In such
situations, just make them feel that their emotions are genuine and valid.
During their hard times, the only thing they need is support. Make them
understand that you can feel their pain and you are a caring and supportive
nurse.
Acknowledge The Situation
Sometimes,
people just need to hear that they are suffering from a tough situation. It can
confirm them if a nurse acknowledges how hard the situation is. This delivers
positive vibes in that whatever they feel, either sad or angry, are natural and
genuine emotions.
There are a few effective words you can use:
"I am glad that you told me, do not worry I
am here to help you!"
"I am so sorry this is happening"
place your hand on their shoulder or hug them; this will undoubtedly make them
feel relaxed.
Take really good care of the patient and
their loved ones
If the family
of the patient really trusts you, your kindness and love will dispose of
stressors. With extra love and care, not necessarily giving them the full rundown
of their lab values, or precision behind meds, but is more related to giving
extra time while combing their hair, trying to connect with them, and cracking
a joke to best support their recovery. This basic stuff could really mean the
world to someone. If they trust that their loved one is in the right custody of
care, will support the feeling that they have brought their loved one to the
right place.
Related: Licensed Practical Nurses(LPNS)
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