*Easy* things I just hate doing

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in Adult Oncology.

I am venting my pet peeves. I had one of each of these yesterday, 1 patient w/ 3 of these. Share with me yours.

I hate:

1. Giving enemas - I have never not caused a huge mess even before I get the solution INTO the patient.

2. Taking accuchecks - The accucheck needs a calibration or quality check, or has the wrong code card for the strips, or I don't stick the patient hard enough so there's not enough blood and then have to go run for another finger stick thingie because the second one I grabbed is faulty

3. Sitz bath - see #1

4. Simply having a patient in isolation - putting on and taking off the PPE can suck your time, and if the patient has the temp in their room up I get all hot and sweaty within 5 minutes

5. Putting in a foley - this is never as easy as it should be. Either the A&O patient is unhelpful "Please keep your knees up and apart Ms X" or the anatomy is unhelpful.

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

Not all of those things are easy. :)

I hate doing controls on my accu check meter. I don't know why. I just don't like to do it.

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Specializes in ER.

Teaching crutch walking. Just don't like it. Everyone thinks they know how already and doesn't realize 4 weeks on crutches is different from 4 seconds.

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Specializes in Gerontological Nursing, Acute Rehab.

I really don't mind doing any of those things. But I hate doing routine vitals. I don't know why, I just do. Mind you, I do them, and most often I do manual BP's because I don't trust our electric cuffs, but even in nursing school it was something that I just didn't like doing.

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Specializes in CVICU, ICU, Cardiac/Telemetry.

I'm with you on the isolation. Sometimes a section on my unit will have up to 3 isolated patients, but then we start switching them around so that the primary nurse has no more than 2 out of their 4 or 5 patients. Totally annoying though to have to gown and glove, then de-gown and de-glove (and sweat buckets in the meantime). I tend to cluster as much care/treatment/medication/vitals in one visit so that I don't have to visit as often (sad, but who wants to risk spreading it to everyone else!)

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definitely bathing people oh and sticking for blood...especially blood cultures

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I hate dealing with isolation! The easiest thing that I really detest though, daily weights! I know it's no big deal but I just hate when I have to do them. It's particulary unpleasant if I have to use the bedscales.

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Specializes in ICU, ER, EP,.

1. accuchecks... a ten second procedure... hate it

2. neuro checks every hour with a patient that is cranky

3. rectal kayexallate, nasty

4. charcol, I'm always wearing it

5. being the waitress, crying out loud, give me your list of demands all at ONCE so I can make ONE trip

thanks for the vent:)

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Specializes in PACU, OR.

Recovering children with laryngeal masks in. I don't regard them as safe for the little ones.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, DSU, Ortho, Onc, Psych.

I don't mind doing any of the above, though haven't put in a foley on a live patient (yet) but seen it done a bunch of times.

But I DO hate it when u do EVERYTHING u can for the patient, I mean u check everything like do they have their call light, their water, glasses, books/magazines, the overway table is right next to them, remotes for TV etc, given pain meds - whatever, then you ask: 'Is there anything else u need done?', they're like 'No thanks nurse'. You go to the door & then, I can almost guarantee you, they say: 'Oh just one more thing nurse...' U know how it's called the doorknob question by doctors? Yeh that. So I just grit my teeth, smile, turn back and say 'Yes?'

I HATE that more than anything!

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Specializes in LTC.

Frequent neuro checks on someone that you know just slid out of bed or a chair onto their butt, but because the fall was unwitenessed we have to do neuros.

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

I don't particularly like I&O cathing people, which we do a fair amount of on my floor. It's not really hard, it's just a pain.

I also don't like hanging antibiotics on babies. We do it on occasion if baby comes back from NICU still receiving them, or sometimes if baby's blood culture comes back + for GBS (I can count on one hand the number of times the latter has happened). Doing the abx thing isn't hard, it's just time consuming and there are a million little steps that we don't do all the time, so we get out of practice in the wellbaby nursery.

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