[THE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES MEDIA LABORATORY, THE NEUROPSYCHIATRIC INSTITUTE]

[UCLA CENTER FOR THE HEALTH SCIENCES,LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA]

[Affect Stimulus Series, 2. Nurse-Patient Interaction]

[Produced and Directed by Barnett Addis, Ph.D.]

[Film Production:  John Christner, Phil Condit, Ron Ovadia]

[...]

[Speaker 1:] Oh my god, it's still bleeding. I've had this done a million times before,

and I've never taken this long for it to stop. I thought you'd never find that vein.

How many of these things have you given, anyway?

You're just a student nurse, aren't you?

I bet you've never given one of these before in your life, have you?

I don't think that's right.  I don't think you should experiment on me.

You know, you can get somebody who doesn't count.

Why don't they get somebody competent to do this kind of thing,

instead of using us as guinea pigs, you know.

[...]

[Speaker 2:]  Well, I'd really rather talk to the doctor about this.

I don't want to spend my time talking to you, and then have to repeat it all over.

I certainly hope I don't have to wait around here for the doctor 30 or 40 minutes.

I wanted to come in and tell him about this thing, and then get on with it.

The ladies at the bridge club just drive me crazy.

They... well... I, when I'm the dummy, I have to sit there and wait.

And I don't want to wait here now.

I really hope he comes on in.  I want to talk to him about this problem I'm having.

[...]

[Speaker 3:]  Well, how are you today?

It's real nice to see you again, on an informal basis.

I have missed our informal chats.

And I don't quite understand what interfered with our getting together occasionally.

I do try to share my feelings with you, and others who are working in the program.

And I do like you.

But I've had some moments of concern since my position has changed, as to how you are perceiving our working relationship at this point.

I understand that you have discussed this with others, and I question the advisability of your doing this at this particular time.

I feel like the both of us have been with the program long enough to understand some things,

and the necessity for my involvement in scheduling and activities.

So, although I like you very much, I do question what you do with your time.

[...]

[Speaker 4:]  Hmm-mm... Oh, I'll tell you, I've worried, and I've worried, and now I'm worried.

It just don't seem like that I can  get ahead on anything.  I'm just...I don't know.

It just don't seem like that I can make ends meet on the salary that I get.

And uh, the kids, I've got them on my mind.

And my wife, it just... it's just something all the time.

I... it just, it's disgusting and I don't know.

I, I've tried time and time again to get where I could go and talk to the teacher about the kids.

She keeps calling, and saying that they're always into something.

Wanting to know if I'm not going to do anything about it.

And I don't know.

And I've got so much on my mind.

I'm working two jobs, I've got my mind on my wife.

Now then I've got my kids.

I just don't know what to do.

It's beyond me, it... I know that, there is...

I just might as well give up, because the more I talk about it, the worse I get.

The worse I feel.

And I just... it just don't seem that I can get anything over to them.

Just seem like they... Now my kids, I'm talking about mine,

seem like they think they know just a little bit than their parents do.

And I'm just, with my financial situation, and my working status,

I've just, I've just gone to my limit.

[...]

[Speaker 5:] I used to do all kinds of things.

[...]

I liked learning.

And uh...

[...]

And I enjoyed things.

And there was...

[...]

There was a lot I was going to do.

And now I can't do any of it.

And I don't understand why.

[...]

[Speaker 6:] I need to talk with you. It's hard for me to say this to you because,

well, it's hard to put into words the way I feel,

but I just have to tell you that I've been around here for a long time,

and you are by far the finest nursing student that I have ever seen on this unit.

Your competence, your sensitivity, your understanding are just uh, what can I say?

They're first class.

I hope that when you graduate from nursing school that you'll seriously consider looking us up, and coming to work for us.

There's nobody else that I've ever met that has your abilities.

You're really great, that's all I can say. Will you look us up?

[...]

[Speaker 6:]  I need to talk with you. When people like you come on the ward,

I make the assumption that they are going to be of some help to us in taking care of our patients.

Now I've seen people who are students who make minor mistakes, but what you did falls out of the category of a minor mistake,

and that starts getting into where you can really do some serious damage to another human being.

Now if you intend to stay on this unit, you will have to make certain that you do not ever make an error like that again.

That's not just incompetence, that's insensitivity. And the kind of insensitivity that you showed could have killed a patient.

I don't ever want to see that again on this unit, and I don't ever want to see your face if you ever do anything like that again.

[...]

[Speaker 7:]  Have you been working here since I've been going to the doctor?

I haven't uh, seen you before.

[...]

Um...

[...]

You're nice!

It's a good feeling, sweetheart, you ought to try it sometime.

You really should try it. Mmm.

[...]

Maybe um, maybe after you get off work this evening we could stop by this cute little bar I know.

Some real cute chicks there.

[...]

[Speaker 8:]  Whew, I'm glad that's over with.

You know, you're really a really nice person. I've been coming to this place...oh, I've forgotten how long it's been now.

But I don't know, it seems to me like you and I have a whole lot in common.

I was wondering, I was thinking about this the other day.

I don't know what it is, but I really think you and I could really make a go of it other than here in this office, you know?

So why don't you give me your phone number, and maybe we can set up a date sometime, and go out and,

I don't know, do whatever you want to do, and I think I've got a few friends that you might be interested in, too.

I've got several friends. They drop into my apartment all the time.

And I don't know, I think you and I could really hit it off because I've already noticed that we have a lot in common.

[...]

[Speaker 9:] I'm glad you stopped by.

You know, I've been here for a while now, and I've had a lot of time to think about things.

Well, I've been thinking a lot about you, especially in the last three or four nights.

You've been telling me what a great patient I've been, but...

I don't know if I've ever told you what a fantastic person you are.

I think what I'm trying to say is that I really like you a lot.

And you know I'd like to be friends with you. I mean close friends.

Yeah, I'd maybe even like to get together with you when you have some time.

We could see each other when I got out of the hospital.

I think we have a lot in common.

How do you feel about that?

[...]

[Speaker 10:] You know, you have problems, I understand that. Everyone has problems.

But you have made an occupation out of having problems.

We are not running a therapy institute here.

I cannot afford to deal with you and your personal problems constantly on an hour-by-hour basis,

nor can the people that you work with.

You're not a child anymore.

This is not the type of organization that we have here.

Somewhere down the line, you're going to have to make a commitment to being able to work out things yourself on your own.

We cannot afford to deal with this type of material day after day, week after week.

Do you have any idea how other people relate to you here?

Do you have any idea how you're coming across to everyone?

[...]

[Speaker 11:]  Hey, Florence Nightingale. Come here.

[...]

[The Affect Stimulus technique used in this film is based upon an original training model developed by Norman Kagan, Ph.D.]