Staying Away, Reaching Out: Offering Parents Support During the Pandemic

The ‘circuit breaker.’

Image by Wokandapix from Pixabay

I brace myself as I look over the names printed on my patient list. Our developmental pediatric unit has started an initiative to call our more vulnerable families during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chan J. DOB: 12/10/2001. As I scan the electronic notes, I learn that mum is the main caregiver of not one but two boys with autism spectrum disorder who require a high level of support. They both usually attend special school, but the school is currently closed because of social distancing measures. We are in lockdown, or ‘circuit breaker’ as we call it in Singapore, and both children have been at home for the past three weeks. My heart sinks in anticipation as I punch in the numbers.

“Hello,” a voice hesitates at the other end.

“Good morning, Mrs. Chan,” I say, putting on a cheery tone. “My name is Jia Yi and I am a nurse from the child development unit. We are checking in with our families and I wonder if you have some time to speak with me?”

“What about?” This mother sounds tired.

“Oh, just checking in on how you are getting on and whether there is anything we can do to help.”

‘”It’s hard,” she […]

2020-10-01T10:18:14-04:00October 1st, 2020|Nursing, nursing stories|0 Comments
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The Challenge of Bearing Witness to Patient and Family Suffering

“How do I honor this pain so that it teaches and blesses and does not destroy?”

By Jacob Molyneux, AJN senior editor

Illustration by Neil Brennan. All rights reserved. Illustration by Neil Brennan. All rights reserved.

This month’s Reflections essay (“Why?“) is by a pediatric chaplain. As the title indicates, it’s about the questions we all ask in the face of suffering and loss. The precipitating event for the author is the baffled, enraged cry of a father who has lost a child, and her own struggles with the impossibility of giving an acceptable answer—to the child’s parents, or to herself as a daily witness of loss and suffering.

How does a chaplain, or for that matter a nurse, witness the pain of patients and their families time and again and keep from either shutting down or being overwhelmed by the stress and emotion? As we’re often reminded, self-care matters or there’s nothing to give the next time: yoga, gardening, humor, family, cooking, whatever works for a person. Is it enough? Yes, and no, says the author. Here’s an excerpt:  […]

2016-11-21T13:02:19-05:00July 8th, 2015|patient engagement, Patients|1 Comment
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Telling the Truth, Keeping a Patient’s Trust

“Am I going to be okay?” Ami gasps. Her breath hitches, her chest rising and falling in spasms. One of my hands holds a mask to her face; the other hand holds hers. Pain has made her strong—my fingers are almost as white as her pale face, radiant with fear.

Illustration by McClain Moore for AJN. Illustration by McClain Moore for AJN.

That’s the start of the Reflections essay in AJN‘s February issue, “Am I Going to Be Okay?” Nurses tell patients ‘it’s going to be okay’ because the words can keep them calm, because no one can tell the future, because it’s comforting to hear ritualized phrases from a caregiver—even when they’re not, strictly speaking, true.

But are there times when more honesty is desirable? The author of this short Reflections essay delves into one such situation where the patient needs, above all, to feel trust for her nurse. […]

2016-11-21T13:02:53-05:00March 9th, 2015|narratives, Nursing, nursing perspective, patient engagement, Patients|1 Comment
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Views expressed on the blog are solely those of the authors or persons quoted. They do not necessarily reflect AJN’s views or those of Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
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