I smile to myself as I write this post for a number of reasons. It seems apt to write this while I can’t sleep because of my asthma and am sitting on the couch hunched over with a neb making it easier to breathe- I wish I could just relax back it would be so nice.
But I have the biggest smile because just about a year ago I was asked if I would be interested in writing an article for the British Medical Journal (BMJ). I agreed. It was for a patient series called “What your patient is thinking!”.
I obviously focused on asthma, but concentrated on one specific part of asthma and that was during an exacerbation which results in you ending up in Accident and Emergency. The piece was to be written as a learning tool for Dr’s to help them make the patient experience a better one. Sometimes patients may have a bad experience in hospital and it is not because of lack of care but sometimes they way they are spoken to, or they are not listened to etc. There can be a variety of little things that can really make a difference to the outcome for the patient.
I had three key points I wanted to share, and am pleased that so many people have commented on the piece saying they have felt the same but they thought they were the only ones who felt as they did. The points were:
let the patient be comfy- when struggling to breathe there is no comfy position but a patient will have a way they want to sit or find they get some respite. I like to sit bolt up right or brace myself against my knees leaning forward a bit.
Please don’t say “just relax and concentrate on your breathing”- it seems like a very kind an innocent thing to say but it gets really wearing on a patient when everyone they see in A&E tells them this but in reality you can’t relax and the more you concentrate on your breathing the more you focus on how hard and terrifying the situation is and therefore end up making the whole thing worse by adding panic into the mix of an asthma attack. Often as medical practitioners we don’t think how the patient may feel hen we try to say things of comfort like this. It is my pet peeve in hospital and grates on me when someone says that!
Lastly was to give the patient time to talk, it may look difficult and hard work but if the patient is wanting to talk let them, or offer them pen and paper if it looks like it is too much work. Often the patient can tell you vital information about their asthma and things that will help which can help speed the recovery of the attack up. I do find that I want to talk unless I am at the point of exhaustion and even breathing just feels like too big an effort. By focusing on getting my words out I am not focusing on the difficulty breathing and can find talking distracting sometimes. If I don’t want to talk I won’t but I really appreciate it when a Dr will take the time to listen even if it is 2-3 words between breathes.
I hate to think that others go through hard times with their asthma and have rough experiences in A and E but I have really appreciated the comments from people who read the article and that they can relate to it. I didnt only want to write it for me but for everyone who attends anywhere with asthma, or an asthma attack as generally we all feel kind of similar so I hope that more people can read this and maybe perhaps make even just one patients experience of asthma better.
I am also having a small chuckle to myself because I still cannot believe I have published an article in a journal. When I did Sports Science when I first left school I always dreamt about having a journal published but back then never did I think it would be something like this. If I am honest being published was a bit of a pipe dream. Especially as I got an E at my A Level English despite working my ass off but thankfully (i think thats the right word) when I sat an entrance test to do my Nursing they picked up that I am pretty badly dyslexic because I write my letters back to front and some other things. This discovery has been a blessing as it means I may very well get more things published as I have really enjoyed doing it and really enjoy writing wether it is for my blog or PPI stuff or work. I do wonder though what my English teacher would think now after years of despair trying to teach me- it was like teaching the unteachable!
I want to say a massive Thank you to all the kind comments I have received about my piece and if you want to print it and share it with others please do. The more people who read it the better!!
ANONYMOUS-ASTHMA 