Patient Care or Personal Comfort?

Anonymous Scandalous Minx #936 · General

So there's this patient I've been looking after for the past few weeks. They have severe arthritis and a nasty case of eczema to boot, making everyday tasks like getting dressed in the morning nearly impossible. Anyway, as their primary nurse, it's my job to make sure they're comfortable and able to function at least somewhat normally despite these challenges. One day, while helping them get into their clothes, I noticed that one of their sweaters had a small tear near the sleeve. It wasn't visible from the outside; only when holding up the sweater against light did you see it was there. Now, this patient has a very strict budget and relies heavily on these sweaters as they're affordable yet stylish and cozy for someone with eczema. I could have fixed it myself easily enough with a needle and thread, but I thought about how frustrating and demoralizing getting undressed to repair a small tear might be. Plus, my hospital isn't equipped to do clothing repairs; that's not within our scope of care at all. So instead of fixing the sweater properly, I did something I knew was naughty: I patched it up with some clear tape on the inside of the sleeve. In hindsight, it feels like a small but significant deviation from my role as their nurse, my job is to tend to them and not to repair or modify items of personal use. Still, seeing how much joy this simple fix brought to their day felt oddly rewarding too. Was I right to do this? Should a patient's quality of life matter more than strict adherence to professional boundaries? It’s been weighing on my mind ever since.