I did this really long ride by myself on Saturday. It wasn’t a great big deal - I posted it on Facebook primarily to complain about dropping my brand new sunglasses and scratching them up, and at the end I forgot my helmet by the side of my jeep and I accidentally drove over it. Jordan’s mom, Kay, said I need Jordan to accompany me so I won’t do stupid stuff - like in the office; Jordan said the only way she’d go is if I pull her behind. *sigh* I think I just need to be more aware.
I jumped to the conclusion that it was my incredibly advanced age that I was forgetting things and stupid stuff - but, in all honesty, I’ve been doing stupid stuff like this all my life. It’s about being aware and awake and thinking before jumping. I wrote a couple of weeks ago about being prepared for all potentials. This is impossible because we obviously can’t plan for everything - however, we can anticipate a lot of what might happen.
In orientation, I go over our Standards of Behaviors with all the new employees. At the end is the statement - all staff respond to call lights. I go on about how I’m not going to go in and do things for the patient that I’m not trained to do - like deal with their beeping IV or take them to the bathroom - but I’ll let them know I’m going to go get the nursing staff to come and help them. Why? Because we round on our patients hourly AND we ask the questions regarding pain, potty, position, and possessions - about 95% of the reason why a patient would use their call light. So we anticipate and take care of the issues before they are a problem.
So I tell myself “Steve, anticipate and deal with potential issues before they become mistakes”. Because at the end of a 72 mile bike ride, I’m exhausted and I will forget stuff. But if I had a list of what to do (like check my pockets - I’ve washed my earbuds many, many times) and be more aware, the ride can happen without trauma, drama, or stupid stuff (or at least … less).
