Teaching patients and nurses from a unique perspective on living with Total Parenteral Nutrition

Abstract

S ometimes it is hard to imagine what it would be like to be in someone else's shoes. We think we may know; we even sometimes tell patients that we understand what they are going through, but, as nurses, do we really know what it feels like to have a chronic condition? A5 a new nurse and a chronically ill patient for the past ten years, I would like to take you through some of the experiences that I have had over the past eight years living with total parenteral nutrition (TPN) and a central venous catheter (CYC). My hope is that you will attain a better appreciation of some of the things that your patients go through on a daily basis with their CYCs.