Cant believe the nurse did.....

Nurses General Nursing

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A few threads latley have had tittles that got me all excited to read the juicy "gossip", only to be very disappointed or think the OP was a little on the the nutty side. So I thought we could share our juicy "I can't believe the nurse did...."? I can think of one time responding to a code white in mental health, where the pts nurse was egging him on "oh, your going to kill me, well I'd like you to try. Come on, let's have it. You wanted a problem, well now you have one" and other very unhelpful things. I can see why the pt got so angry. Someone had to make leave. Can't believe she works in mental health.

Brandon, can you say " I'm sorry but I'm not able to help you to he commode without help. Let me put you on the pan so you don't have an accident." I can see perfering a toilet over a bedpan.... but a bed pan beats going in the bed....Another thing I would suggest is a slide board for those who have sitting balance. It's much faster than a hoyer and takes little effort . If you put one of the sides down on the BSC and raise the bed just above it the pt will slide right on. A towel over the board will help bare bottoms slide. Is this an option? I've found it works wonders for some patients."No day but today"
I'm trying to understand, as this sounds like a good idea, but I'm not quite visualizing it. How do you put the board under them and then raise the HOB?
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Specializes in Home Health/PD.
I'm trying to understand as this sounds like a good idea, but I'm not quite visualizing it. How do you put the board under them and then raise the HOB?[/quote']

The sliding board they were talking about isn't large. It just goes under their bottom, and they scoot to the wc or bsc. Granted this is only helpful for the alert Pts who have some reason they can't use their legs. I would never feel comfortable putting a confused, frail pt on it to slide to the bsc.

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And THAT my friends is why I will do everything in my power before I let my parents or loved ones in a LTC center, if at all.
Ok. But that doesn't change anything. We do the best we can with what we have. I'm still waiting for someone to tell me how to get all 49 residents up to the toilet the second they have to go. If you come up with it you'll make a fortune.....
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I kind of regret saying anything in the first place. I guess I get defensive when I see other nurses imply only "bad nurses" or "bad aides" are unable to provide the level of care we were taught in school.

I never meant to imply it's okay to let a resident lay in a soiled bed. Nor was I trying to paint myself as some tragic martyr. Sometimes I have time and staff to hoyer up a pt to the toilet, sometimes I don't. We do what we can.

And I just want to add that some LTC facilities (like mine) simply don't utilize bedpans or commodes. I don't know why. I noticed it, having been an aide in a hospital we used bedpans and bedside commodes all the time. Here, bedpans are rare (for whatever reason) and I have never once seen a commode where I work. So our options are limited.

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The residents in question refused a bed pan it's always offered. I'm guessing you don't work in LTC. There's just no time for 2 staff to get a total care Hoyer lift up on the toilet every time. I have 49 residents with 3 CNAs. Should we neglect the rest of the floor to spend 20 minutes getting someone lifted onto the toilet? You do the best you can with what you have, that's a reality of long term care nursing.[/quote']

Wow is all I can say!! I have worked LTC before and I've worked other specialties too but I hope one day..it's not you or your family members basic human needs that are flat out neglected. Meds (unless its an emergency) can wait. Patients cannot.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
I kind of regret saying anything in the first place. I guess I get defensive when I see other nurses imply only "bad nurses" or "bad aides" are unable to provide the level of care we were taught in school.

I never meant to imply it's okay to let a resident lay in a soiled bed. Nor was I trying to paint myself as some tragic martyr. Sometimes I have time and staff to hoyer up a pt to the toilet, sometimes I don't. We do what we can.

And I just want to add that some LTC facilities (like mine) simply don't utilize bedpans or commodes. I don't know why. I noticed it, having been an aide in a hospital we used bedpans and bedside commodes all the time. Here, bedpans are rare (for whatever reason) and I have never once seen a commode where I work. So our options are limited.

49 patients for 4 people is crazy. That is 10 people per staff........unbelievable. To pass meds for 49 people is insane!!!!!! I think it is a shame how this population is cared for.....our society should be ashamed......but this is the society that only embraces youth and beauty. Sad really.

I think your facility wants to try to keep this population moving and not taking the easy way out, OR...... they have, in the past, gotten in trouble with someone forgetting to take a patient off of the pan and that patient got skin breakdown and they got sued. So, instead of increasing to a better staffing guideline they got rid on the pans.

I think the staffing in LTC is CRAZY....I admire anyone who tries to care for patients in these environments. I think we need to try to always do our best for our patients and Brandon....I read your posts and I think you care and I think you do your best to care for your patients.

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Specializes in Med/surg, Quality & Risk.
When I was a cna,a nurse poured mouthwash over a resident's lady parts because she said it smelled. I asked her why and she said"its known as the other mouth."I know it had to burn. I'm not one to report other nurses or aides.

What an idiot! I've seen multiple people use shaving cream, they say it takes the smell off better than our perineal wash, but I don't like to use things that are not for their intended purpose. If a visitor saw you doing that and the pt got an infection or something, it would immediately be blamed on the shaving cream.

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Specializes in LTC and School Health.
It was a nurse that did it, not a CNA.

And to to BrandonLPN and others that agree with him; my Mom is in a NH and if that ever happened to my Mom I would be reporting said nurse to the DON of the NH. Our loved ones are there through no fault of their own. In my Mom's case she has Alzheimers and after taking care of her for 7 years by myself I no longer could handle it and had to put her in the NH. It's bad enough they have to be there but just because they are doesn't mean they don't deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

I've already reported one snotty nurse for bossing my Mom around and treating her like a child. I have no problem doing it when needed.

Well fine. The NURSE should have been reported. Maybe he/she needs some coaching.

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I dunno...I feel like a lot of people are piling it on BrandonLPN when he is just being upfront and brave enough to tell it like it is. My only experience in LTC was way back in clinicals, but I remember seeing that staffing there did not allow for residents to get an ideal level of attention/care. I work in an ICU, and even with a low patient load and tons of staff, it is still sometimes a struggle to gather the help necessary to move a patient. So I really sympathize with BrandonLPN's situation.

To the posters saying that non-emergency meds can wait and patient cares should come first, I think that is just unrealistic. OP has 49 patients. If he interrupted his med pass every time a resident had a request, he would never, ever complete his med pass.

Staffing ratios in many LTC facilities just don't allow for staff to drop everything to fulfill Pt requests. It's not that the staff is unfeeling, they just don't have the resources.

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Specializes in LTC and School Health.
I dunno...I feel like a lot of people are piling it on BrandonLPN when he is just being upfront and brave enough to tell it like it is. My only experience in LTC was way back in clinicals, but I remember seeing that staffing there did not allow for residents to get an ideal level of attention/care. I work in an ICU, and even with a low patient load and tons of staff, it is still sometimes a struggle to gather the help necessary to move a patient. So I really sympathize with BrandonLPN's situation.

To the posters saying that non-emergency meds can wait and patient cares should come first, I think that is just unrealistic. OP has 49 patients. If he interrupted his med pass every time a resident had a request, he would never, ever complete his med pass.

Staffing ratios in many LTC facilities just don't allow for staff to drop everything to fulfill Pt requests. It's not that the staff is unfeeling, they just don't have the resources.

Agreed. Now looking back, it probably wasn't what he said but how he said it. I worked in ICU and there were times when it was such a hassle for the patient and nurse for patient to get to the commode. A couple patients did "go" in bed, and it wasn't the end of world. We cleaned up any incontinence right away and provided as much dignity as we could.

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Specializes in Adult/Ped Emergency and Trauma.

I think only a couple "came down hard," and their certainly entitled to their opinion. I think BrandonLPN is the wrong target, as I know this is widespread in LTC if you truly want them to prioritize. You otherwise take out good nurses willing to call out such realities, and not the real problem: understaffing, profit greed, and poor management. I think everyone knows in their heart he is doing everything in his power to take care of his patients with his resources and training. The fact that LTC is renowned for understaffing, funding shortages and lower funding priorities by reimbursement is the real problem, and the lack of more educated attention on the obvious problems in LTC settings. It's a Management problem by people with NO medical or clinical experience making detrimental decisions for patients that deduct the importance of their dignity that needs to be addressed, yesterday!!

No, I think the reality is you can only do so much with so much, all I ask is that if something involving a patient would be inexcusable for you or a family member, advocate and address the problem with superiors. If that doesn't work, I'm sorry, it's called "whistle blowing!!!!!!!!!"

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Specializes in Intermediate care.

We had a patient that was constantly screaming. he was completley alert and oriented, he would scream at the top of his lungs until it was time for his next oxycodone. He jumps from hospital to hospital complaining of "back pain." Guy played the system and figured out hospital wasn't falling for it. So he started complaining of chest pain.

We've seen him a few times for "chest pain" even though nothing is wrong. Anyway...constantly screaming "GIVE ME MY OXY!!! GIVE ME MY OXY" Then he would lift his butt and set off the chair alarm on purpose until someone came in the room "GIVE ME MY OXY!!" Patient's were complaining. One of our nurses walked into his room and was like "YOU! sit down now and shut the *heck* up, nobody is falling for this anymore." (profanity- i didn't want to say it but you get the idea).

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