Free Essay About Creating A Sanctuary To Improve Patient Outcomes

I agree with what she wrote regarding the importance of “diagnosing the situation.” If the ER nurse had diagnosed the situation by actually assessing the patient’s wounds objectively, instead of diagnosing the patient as an alleged drug-seeker, she would have treated the patient’s injury instead of worsening the situation by increasing the patient’s pain and making the patient feel unwelcome and attacked. Another practice of relational leadership that could be of use in this situation is “creating a sanctuary.” Creating a sanctuary involves looking for confidantes, individuals in/outside of your workplace in whom you can confide and share your concerns and frustrations, as well as allies- co-workers who share your beliefs, principles, and concerns and with whom you can align yourself to better address issues or create a more supportive, positive work environment (Doane & Varcoe, 2015). Patients with chronic illness who visit the ER frequently, whether allegedly drug-seeking or not, often receive a different level of care or face discrimination or different attitudes by health care workers (Moss et. al, 2014, p. 2). According to Grover, “chronic narcotic use can make patients more sensitive to pain,” (2012) making it possible that a patient with a history of narcotic use due to ‘legitimate’ need or otherwise is presenting to the ER with genuine pain that they can’t manage with OTC measures. To create a sanctuary, the nurse could approach other nurses in the ER who have a better understanding and more empathy towards those with a history of narcotic use, and try to foster relationships with those nurses so that if, in the future, a similar situation were to arise, the nurse could collaborate with her “ally” nurses to ensure that this patient receives care that preserves the patient’s dignity and addresses the actual problem at hand so that the patient will have the best possible outcome (i.e., treating the injury that is clearly present, instead of responding based on personal feelings about the patient and their alleged substance abuse.)

References

Doane, G. & Varcoe, C. (2015). How to nurse: relational inquiry with individuals and
families in changing health and health care contexts. (1st Canadian ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & WilkinsHis
Grover, C. (9 Aug 2012). Quantifying Drug-Seeking Behaviors in the Emergency Department.
Physician’s Weekly. Retrieved from
http://www.physiciansweekly.com/drug-seeking-behaviors-emergency-department/Moss, C., Nelson, K., Connor, M., Wensley, C., McKinlay, E., & Boulton, A. (2014). Patient
experience in the emergency department: inconsistencies in the ethic and duty of care.