What Should Nurses Do for Preeclampsia Patients?

[eleni]

What can nurses do to support patients when they are in a situation similar to yours? Good or bad, please share your experience with nurses in your preeclampsia pregnancy. What is one piece of advice you would give them?

Please post your responses here.

[jenh]

Communicate. And that goes for doctors, too. It seems many people don't want to tell you how serious it really is for fear of making you worry, which might make your BP go up even more. I hate being treated as the "little woman who shouldn't worry her pretty little head." You can't have informed consent if you're not first informed.

[blythe]

Take and record blood pressure readings accurately - don't retake or put me in a different position and only write down the lower number. If you want reassurance that my bp can go down with reduced activity or having me lay down that's fine, but please note that and record the high numbers too.

[jean]

Take your patients seriously. Do not dismiss their complaints/worries as something that might just be "normal" for pregnancy. Preeclamptic patients would rather be safe then sorry. And not be made to feel foolish for bringing up how they are feeling or for their concerns.

[princess purr]

Taking time to really explain what is going on. I had the sweetest nurse when I was in the hosp, she cried with me after I lost my daughter and apoligized for not waring me that it was possible that she would not make it. I think she being warm and caring and taking all the problems seriously is most important.

[whereowhere]

Thanks for caring to ask this question. My experience was of a preeclampsia loss. My preeclampsia was made worse in the emotional way by most of the nurses caring for me. It is not just the health aspect of caring for preeclampsia patients, but the emotional aspect is so important. It is a terrifying experience for so many of us. I lost my twins at 21 weeks to severe preeclampsia. As I just found out I had it, the nurse looked me straight in the eye and said VERY firmly, "you are sick, you are very, very sick, and even if you don't feel sick, you are very, VERY sick." well, her honesty may have been what she was trying to convey, but it isn't always the best for a person to hear how SICK they are. She could have said something along these lines, "you are very sick, but we are going to take VERY good care of you..."

The designated grief nurses were nurses I was afraid of even before I was diagnosed, as I was in Labor & Delivery. It was like a horrible joke when they turned out to be the ones to take care of my grief. It is very important to have nurses who have warmth and caring in that position. Having them in that position taking care of me in my grief was really like a horror movie, and I am serious. Please choose naturally caring nurses for that position of grief nurse.

Another thing that nurses or nurse aids did that to this day pains me, is as me and my husband were given our babies to love and hold, there were 2 nurses or aides, who I had never even seen before just leaning against a counter just STARING at us as we were in our grief. If they had nothing to do, at least LOOK busy.

Do your best as a nurse to remember at least the faces of the patients who have lost a baby from preeclampsia. You may see them again someday in your care or somewhere else. It had only been one month from the day I lost my twins. The one nurse who had been the one who seemed the most caring and compassionate when I was delivering my babies, I saw her in the grocery store. I had just bought a ring that day with 2 hearts to symbolize my twins. When I saw her in the store, I said, "hi, do you remember me?". "Yes! I do", she said. I think she really did remember me, but what happened next hurt me very much. I said, "look, I got this ring for my twins". She responded "Ohhh, how beautiful! How ARE they?". I said, "good" as my heart broke when I realized to her I was just another patient, and even my horrific experience of losing my twins did not even stay with her even just to simply remember that I was the one who LOST my babies.

Thanks again for caring to ask this question of us. I truly believe the nurses around you make a world of difference in the experiences with preeclampsia.

[eleni]

Thanks everybody! Look for a recap article on this topic in our January Expectations newsletter.

Eleni