[aeauooo]

Originally Posted by Natkat

I think what you did was great. You didn't reveal his identity - just his eye, or the absence of an eye. Would the average person be able to identify this person by his eye socket?

Oh, the eye was there, it just wasn't in the socket (I called him Popeye)

[quezen]

Some patients are very experienced in playing one shift against another. Have you never noticed; as soon as see you (even though they don't know you from Adam), they say something like "thank god your here! Do you know what I had to live through because of the treatment of (fill in the blank) on the (fill in the blank) shift?"
These patients should have been Psychologists because they sure know how to 'psych you out'. They are setting you up to be their 'servent' for the entire shift so that they will not talk about YOU like that to the next shift. But guess what! It dosen't matter what you do for patients like this, their gamesmanship has nothing to do with you, they are working the system and YOU dear comapssionate Nurse, are part of their System!
Unfortunatally for us, many have as their allies in this game Patients Reps, who are not nurses, and sometimes not really people with a lot of education, but they do have power, and some have an ax to grind, on YOUR back!
You and I both know that not only is the patient in the next room 'circling the drain' the patinet in the next room after that is a long suffering 'salt of the earth' type person, who really could use some help with ADL's, or maybe just a little explanation or a kind word, but they have a different way of looking at the world. You know that old saying 'the squeeky wheel gets the grease!'

[lamazeteacher]

Originally Posted by jlsRN

Which illustrates the fact that our patients come into the hospital with ingrained habits of having others at their beck and call.

How about the patient who really becomes totally helpless when their family comes to visit? That's a weird phenomenon.

INGRAINED HABITS DIE HARD - USUALLY WITH THE PATIENT..............We can't heal a lifetime of expectations in the little time they're in hospital. Thank heavens the MDs expecting their noses (and possibly behinds) to be scratched by nurses are dying out........

[JustaPatient]

Originally Posted by quezen

.....Have you never noticed; as soon as see you (even though they don't know you from Adam), they say something like "thank god your here! Do you know what I had to live through because of the treatment of (fill in the blank) on the (fill in the blank) shift?"
.....

Only time I made this comment was because I was glad. I had seen my evening shift nurse a total of 1 time the whole shift. She got me a new pulse ox monitor finger tip sticker thinggy put it on the tray in my room said she would be right back to put it on she just needed to take a call. I wait 3 hours fall asleep then wake up to being assessed by the night shift.

Now I realize that there was an issue. I was her only patient but she was the charge nurse. I realize there must have been an issue to have to scoot out that fast and i realize that being charge nurse she deals with crap. But I was her only patient (the next shift told me this).



By the way I have a random question.....how do the assign the charge nurse a patient? Is it random? Or do they give then the easiest/most challenging patient? I want to know if one of those is a sentiment about me. I hope they consider me easy, I try to not need all that much attention, and avoid calling if possible.

[earle58]

Originally Posted by JustaPatient

By the way I have a random question.....how do the assign the charge nurse a patient? Is it random? Or do they give then the easiest/most challenging patient? I want to know if one of those is a sentiment about me. I hope they consider me easy, I try to not need all that much attention, and avoid calling if possible.

charges typically make their own assignments...
or not.
it all depends on their work ethic, time constraints, other demands, etc.
but yeah, usually the least sick/needy pts.
it could be 1, 2 or a whole assignment.
sometimes, none.
meg, you never need to worry.
you my love, are clearly a model pt and a personal joy.
trust me, it's the others w/problems.

leslie

[JustaPatient]

Originally Posted by earle58

charges typically make their own assignments...
or not.
it all depends on their work ethic, time constraints, other demands, etc.
but yeah, usually the least sick/needy pts.
it could be 1, 2 or a whole assignment.
sometimes, none.
meg, you never need to worry.
you my love, are clearly a model pt and a personal joy.
trust me, it's the others w/problems.

leslie

Thanks Leslie. it is one thing as a patient I worry about. Being seen as needy or a pain to my nurses. Which I realize I probably am not, but I do not want to be.

[Recuerdo]

It isn't just the neediness...it's those who seem to have this sense of entitlement, like the entire Universe should kiss their ass. They're the worst.

Neediness can be remedied by learning how to be strong.

It's a lot harder to get rid of arrogance, I think.

[softstorms]

Most of what we miss and want is Respect. I am so sad to say that most of what we have is a " MAID" persona. Our "pts" are "clients"
and PR is more important than pt care. We have become a "Service" industry. But, as nurses, we continue to do what is best for our patients and work around the rest of the crap.

[JustaPatient]

I only have the utmost respect for my nurses (usually). As long as they treat ME with respect I will treat THEM with respect. They are human just like me and they are charged with keeping/getting me healthy, of course they get respect.

[mamason]

On our floor, the charge nusre usually doesn't take an assignment. Her job is to sign off our orders, make us aware of the new orders. She also helps problem solve if we need assistance. The only time our charge takes a pt is if we all have a full assignment and the hospital needs to place a pt. Then, the charge will step up to the plate and take that pt along with her other duties. It's not as easy as people think. It's a lot of responsibility. I respect the work that our charge nurses do. Our floor is a very busy tele floor. So, as most of you know, a lot can go bad at any given minute. Many of these pt's are unstable. SO, not only is the charge taking care of labs, orders, and dealing with the docs. She also must be aware of each and every pt and their condition. That's a huge responisiblity.