Characteristics Of Caring For Patients

Examples of this include giving a patient an injection of heparin after breaking a hip or asking a co-worker to put a gown on in an isolation room. It is crucial that a nurse be competent and caring enough to explain the purpose of what we do in a respectful manner. Antecedents and Consequences Antecedents According to Brilowski & Wendler (2005), the main antecedent of caring was the amount of time a nurse has to care. High patient to staff ratios make it hard to a nurse to care for a patient in a way that provides holistic healing. Consequently, dissatisfaction occurs for the patient and they may perceive this lack of attention as a lack of caring from the nurse. Consequences Consequences to caring are generally positive. The main consequence is increased health and healing for the patient (Brilowski & Wendler, 2005). Another positive consequence is a feeling of power and autonomy for patients. Finally, the patient’s perception of the nurse is positively influenced as they are now viewed as compassionate, competent, and respectful (Brilowski & Wendler, 2005). Cases Model Case #1 Mr. Smith, a 72 year old man has been admitted to an orthopedic floor following the surgical repair of a fractured femur. Ann, his nurse, knows that Mr. Smith is a type II diabetic, has a history of hypertension, DVT, a-fib, and two cardiac stents. At 9 a.m., Ann enters Mr. Smith’s room with his medications. These include lovenox, Norvasc, and novolog insulin. Mr.