When we hear those first 5 words.. “Row Row Row your boat..”, we can’t help but finish the nursery rhyme, “gently down the stream, merrily merrily merrily merrily, life is but a dream.” This is simply a commonality that humans share with one another. In nursing, in order to connect with people, it is important to find that common knowledge that we both share to develop a healthy rapport. And sometimes, we must be creative to motivate our patients to do things that would benefit them.
We had an elderly man with dementia and we were rolling him in the bed to change his sheets. He just started singing “Row Row Row your boat” as he was rolling, and of course we all sang along with him. It is those small moments of laughter that can brighten our day along with our patient’s day.
Another time, a nurse began dancing with her elderly patient, just to get him to get out of the chair. They both had a good time!
Some other creative patient encounters included:
- Bringing a patient to the main lobby to play the piano and sing
- Wheeling a patient around the unit in a wheelchair to get them out of their room
- Baptizing a patient in the chapel
- We have married multiple patients in the hospital room
- Sitting a patient at the nurses’ station because they didn’t want to be alone
- And so many more!
All it takes is just a moment to make a connection.
Until next shift,
Shania