What can nurses do to better help you?

I like for nurses to give me information even when I don't ask for it right away. I don't always know what questions to ask, so a generic, "Do you have any questions?" does no good for me. Tell me what my blood pressure, pulse, etc. are. When I was in the hospital the BEST thing a nurse did for me was wash my hair! I felt so revolting and dirty, and she made me feel 100 times better. I think the fact that someone touched me without poking a hole in me or causing pain was a big factor, too. Another nurse told me what to expect each day as reaction to my surgery--he let me know when I'd been out of surgery 6 hours that between 12 and 36 hours post-surgery I'd feel really lousy. And I did, but I wasn't surprised that way. So basically, a nurse can help me by giving me information and touching me without poking a hole in me.

When I was in the hospital for pain control due to RCC, the night nurse came in every 3 hours to give me the IV Demoral. She knew from report that I was ringing every 3 hours from the previous shift so she came in without me having to use my call light. Also one night I woke up with the sweats, had a fever, the CNA came in and said I'm going to give you a chair bath and wash your hair for you. I was grateful for both of them. There are also little things, if you need to move the overbed table, make sure you put it back when you done with what ever you are doing. If you say you'll be back in a time frame try and do that. If you know you can't come back don't say you will or find someone who can. Please knock before entering the rooms and be sure to wear your name tag.
Linda