Hopefully dialysis staff will read this and there will be an 'awakening' inside their body. They will know who they are, hopefully. We can only hope that our efforts to improve care will help. Every little bit helps.

please write to advocates4ptcare@aol.com with comments, or if you would like to write an article.

 

Do Unto Me As You Would Want Done To You

The Dialysis Patient Speaks To All Staff

I am at your mercy,

I must learn to trust you,

I put my life in your hands,

I have never seen you before,

I don’t know who you are,

I don’t know how much experience you have,

THIS SCARES ME.

Will you give me the same care you would want your loved one to have?

I want you to understand what I am going through - physically and emotionally,

I want you to be there for me, if I need you,

I want you to be sincere when providing care,

I want you to understand I have questions,

I want you to understand that I will question what you are doing to me,

I want you to know that it is my body,

I have a right to know exactly what is happening, AND what you are doing,

I want you to know that I hope, and pray, you have the training and education needed to provide my care,

I hope you don’t rely solely on this machine, but that you assess and monitor me,

I want you to do what you can to prevent complications and not just reset buttons,

I want you to know I will call you if I need you,

I want you to know that I am a human with real feelings, just as you are.

What is attached to this machine?

A human, that’s who, a human,

Please remember -------------I am at the end of the machine,

Remember, please when you frequently pay visits to the machine, I am the human

 

 

 

 

You can’t hide from your feelings,

Your eyes tell it all,

If you really care, I will know,

And, should you not care, I will also know,

For your eyes tell it all,

If you were in my shoes,

Would the care you give me be enough?

Would you want more care?

Would you need more than what you are giving?

Think about it – Is this what you would want?

You know, deep in your heart – What is good care.

You know, deep in your heart, what is safe care.

Please remember, it could be your loved one in this chair.

If you were in my shoes,

What would you want?

Is it possible for you to put yourself in my shoes?

Maybe, for just a day?

Then, you can feel what I feel,

If you were in my shoes.

Could you sit in a chair, one arm tied?

Not able to move.

How would you feel? Vulnerable? Scared? Frightened? At the staff’s mercy?

How would you feel?

Could you live with knowing, if you did not have dialysis,

You would die?

Could you put yourself, in my shoes for just a day?

Can you understand there are emotional changes I am experiencing?

Can you understand this is not easy for me? Afterall,

Would this be easy for you? Probably not.

Do you really understand what this is all about?

I can tell if you are sincere, when you talk to me,

Your eyes tell it all,

Can you remember that I rely on you,

My well-being is in your hands.

I trust you won’t use shortcuts when giving me care,

I hope you realize shortcuts can kill.

This is serious business,

Can you understand?

There is a human attached to that machine,

Please remember who is on the other end of the machine.

A human with feelings.

Put yourself in my shoes.

Please help me to not get an infections.

Remember, I am at risk.

Know what you need to do.

Preventing infections is top priority.

Infections kill.

This is serious business you are in.

You can prevent the spread of infection.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

I beg you to use good technique

Don’t dangle those fingers under the water.

Make sure there is soap on — and —

RUB RUB RUB

PLEASE Please PLEASE

I need your help.

I am ‘your’ patient.

(Written by Roberta Mikles BA RN, patient advocate)