Bed Number Ten, By Sue Baier And Mary Zimmeth Schomaker

Communication with the unspoken

Bed Number Ten Essay

Samantha DeLeon

University of Saint Mary

NU 542: Med Surg III.

Professor Wall

April 16th, 2024

Communication with the unspoken

Hospitals are the places people go to get better. Not only do people go to the hospital to get better, but people go to the hospital for an emergency, an appointment, medication, and more. A hospital should have constant patient care. A book that touches on patient care and seeking treatment, is the book Bed Number Ten, by Sue Baier and Mary Zimmeth Schomaker. The book, Bed Number Ten, shares Sue Baier's story and experience with Guillain-Barre syndrome, and how her care was in the hospital. Guillain-Barre syndrome is an ascending paralysis.

In the beginning, a nurse named Bruce puts something in Sue’s throat. Bruce did not inform Sue about what he was doing, all he says to her is, “Get used to that because you're going to have a lot of that while you're here.” (Baier & Schomaker, 1986, p.16) This moment upset Sue because she did not know what was going on. Another nurse that Sue noticed, who did not acknowledge their wrongdoings, was Sandra. Sue mentions in the book that this nurse was easily distracted and would always promise to come back but took their time to make it back to Sue. Nurse Sandra, unfortunately, ignores Sue when she tries to tell her she needs a bedpan, but Sandra ignores her request. This makes Sue upset and embarrassed when she passes a bowel movement in her bed. Even though she encountered nurses that were not willing to fully acknowledge her needs, Sue did interact with nurses that gave her great care. A nurse named Vickie gives Sue an enema to help her with bowel movement. This makes Sue happy because no one has acknowledged that Sue has not had a bowel movement for some time. This makes Sue feel better about her stay. Other nurses that made Sue happy were Luana and Bonnie. Both nurses made Sue happy because they realized no one had washed Sue’s hair for some time. This action made Sue feel clean and almost normal again because she missed the things she could do before Guillain-Barre took over her life.

The difference between the book and the article is that the book focuses on Sue’s experience with Guillain-Barre. The book is also from the perspective of a patient and Sue’s thoughts and opinions are valid, but different from how someone who works in healthcare thinks. More on in the book, Sue’s husband is the one who finds a way for Sue to communicate. Sue is also unable to move or speak on her own, and the only part of her body that can move and show that she is communicating is by blinking. The two articles neither discuss a certain patient or disease specifically, but focus on how nurses and hospital staff should try to communicate with critically ill patients. One of the articles even shares how nurses should try to communicate through lip reading or gestures. However, in the book, Sue is unable to do any of these actions. So, how can someone in Sue’s position, Guillain-Barre, do this? This is something from the article that seems questionable. However, one of the articles mentions using the alphabet on a board. This is where both the book and the article become similar. Sue can use the alphabet to spell out words to talk to others, but it is only through blinking, which is a slow and patient process. The articles discuss how communication with patients can improve their care. This does apply to Sue because when she was acknowledged or a nurse talked to her about their lives, this made Sue feel