Shelley Henry, RN, CPHRM, CHPN的动态

Transcript

Hey, y'all Shelly here with another tip for Hospice nurses. So I think the number one question that I get asked by new nurses and I know the number one thing that I was concerned about whenever I first became a Hospice nurse is how to know when somebody's dying. Like I think we all know like right there at the end of life, but how do are there seeing things that we can look for? The that are leading up to that and what I call the pre transitional phase or kind of the wind down phase and I will tell you that this is what my preceptor taught me When I first became a Hospice nurse I had the best preceptor in the world and she taught me about the patients earlobes. Whenever somebody, probably the week or so before somebody dies, when they're starting in the pre transitional or the wind down phase, their earlobes will become very. I don't know if this is the right word. They kind of, they're lacks. They lay back against their skin when you feel them. There's no, they don't have any bulk to them at all. They just feel very thin and kind of floppy. And it sounds kind of weird, but I've seen it called ear pinning or ear laying. I don't really, I've never really seen an actual technical term for it, but it's where the earlobes were really just they're so flat that they flatten back against the head when the person is laying down against their neck. And theory is that. This is due to dehydration that naturally occurs as somebody starts to wind down and they're not eating or drinking as much. So I always, you know, I talk in a lot of videos about touching your patience to make that connection with them, to help build rapport and trust with them. And so one of the things when I'm early on with the patient, because I'm always touching my patient during the assessment, is I do touch their earlobes so I know what they feel like. And as that starts to change early on, I will start to know early on. Now I may or may not say something. The caregiver and the patient at this time, every situation is different, but in my mind at least, I know, hey, I'm going to start up in my visits. I'm going to be watching more closely. I'm going to probably let the office know that we might be in the pre transitional phase and just to get a little heads up so we can start planning for it and getting more support in there for the patient and the caregiver as as indicated and as they need. So I hope this tip was helpful. If you have any tips that would be helpful for Hospice nurses, please let me know. And remember together we can change our world and I did. That wrong. Together we can change our world and you guys also want to say the Hospice nurse, your opinion matters surveyed the 3rd annual is going to be opening October 1st. We had 837 responses last year and I'm hoping for 1500 this year because it really is starting to make a difference and I'm I'm excited to be out there sharing the results. So you guys have a great day.