According to the article, "life neutral, or biopassive, mode of being with another occurs when one is detached from the true center of the other and when there is no effect on the energy ot life of the other. This lack of response, interest, and affect derives from inattentiveness or insensitivity to the other. It refers to the lack of a positive or caring approach rather than the presence of something destructive. Although it has no real effect on the life in the other, it sometimes creates a feeling of loneliness, because there is no mutual acknowledgement of personhood, no person-to-person contact. Furthermore, many seem to experience this apathetic inattention not only as lack of care but as non caring or uncaring."
Have you ever arrived at work and felt so drained by your last shift, or what is going on at home or your horrible drive that you just didn't feel in the mood to be caring and sincere? That feeling of being 'tapped out' can really break a day. The difficult thing to realize is the effect it has on our patients. When we are not present, when we are just attending to the 'patient' and not the 'person' this can negatively affect our patient's outcome as well as their perception of their situation. It is hard to think that we can never have a bad day and unfair to think that is possible. It is just important to realize the effect our attitude and our sincerity has on our patients.
Jean Watson says, "a nurse can make the patient's world larger or smaller, brighter or drab" we have to choose what kind of world we want to give to our patients.
Today I am floating to a different unit. I have such a place in my heart for oncology patients and their struggles and the turmoil their families go through, I have become somewhat desensitized to the smaller yet in some ways, equally frightening illnesses that effect other kids. Today I am taking care of a child with Strep, no cancer, no previous health history...just plain strep. At first it was a little bit of a stretch for me to find the deep empathy and compassion that usually comes so easy for me on 7 west. However I was aware of my own attitude and did my best to stay connected to this family, their fears and worries. I had to remember that while their child does not have cancer, to them, strep may as well be. They are sleep deprived and deeply worried about this child who is the center of their world. Nursing isn't a job it is a practice, it is something that is constantly evolving and something we can continually improve. Even on the most mundane and slow days we can grow and cultivate our own practice.
