Lack of basic care--appalling!

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Jul 27, 2011

Very sad....

Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN · Jul 27, 2011

Appalling! Thank you for doing the right thing!

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Jul 27, 2011

:hug: I'm glad you feel better and I agree. There has been a switch and I can't put my finger on it or on why.....but nurses don't want to nurse. They want to chart and collect a paycheck. I know I'm going to get nailed for this but as a newly dependent patient and a bedside nurse for 32 years it's just my opinion.

I can't accept the patients are sicker or there isn't enough staff because there are basics that cannot be forgotten. When I graduated school a trached patient was a trached patient and on a med-surg at night I'd have a 32 patient floor with another nurse usually an LPN and 2 aides and we did oral care.

It's not everyone or everywhere but it has become pretty annoying. Even on here there have been statements about not getting to baths and linnens and they think it's no big deal.....worrysome

Thanks for being a good nurse!!!!!

ardiente · Jul 27, 2011

i see this alot. nurses are too busy talking about their personal lifes/ rushing to get "done" so they can gossip, be on facebook, computer,smoke breaks, gossip. this really bothers me. since i mainly do meds, yes...they ask me for whatever. i am so frustrated with these nurses that care of nothing. just hope that what comes around will come back to them.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

hey folks,
i know we've all read threads on this topic before, but i just need to talk about it!
lack of basic care is really starting to get under my skin, so to speak..
last weekend i was working in two completely different units, at different hospitals on friday and saturday night and ran into the same problem:
first, on friday i took care of a trached pt who was npo and having a lot of secretions and while his trach was capped, those secretions where presenting themselves orally. well, upon a closer look at my pt, the poor man's mouth was a complete mess! his mouth was dry, dirty, smelled terrible and seemed to be peeling around his lips and his lips were cracked! i looked back in the electronic chart and he hadn't had oral care all day!!!! no oral care was charted from 04:00 to 20:00 when i gave him oral care. over the night, i gave him oral care q2 hours along with his normal q2 hour peri-care and turn. in the am his mouth looked wonderful!
second, on saturday night i took care of a total care pt who was also npo and had not had oral care all day!!! again, his mouth was dry, smelly, lips cracked, tongue had a thick layer of white coating on it, and worst of all, this pt also needed to be suctioned frequently which only made things worse! again, i gave him oral care q2 hours along with oral suctioning, peri-care and a turn. it took me all night to remove the thick white coating from his tongue. i don't know if it was yeast or not, but that can surely be prevented with frequent oral care.
i have reported these incidences to the appropriate parties, but i just needed to vent about it.
if it were you laying in that bed, and not able to eat or drink, wouldn't you love and appreciate it if someone provided you with the basic necessities of care?
let's not forget our basics, folks!!
ahhhhhhh, that feels much better.. .

obenfermera1 · Jul 27, 2011

Way back when there were actually techs/aides/CNAs on the floor every shift for real I remember these things - baths, oral care, linen changes- were done in a much more consistent manner.....I miss ya'll!!

Now, I am more likely to come into a laboring patient's room and find her (1) soaking wet from shoulder blades to knees (2) Foley bag close to exploding and (3) hasn't been turned/repositioned since the epidural was placed 5 or 6 hours ago! Arrgghhh!!!

And don't even get me started on the lack of care with Antepartum patients.....

I agree that there's been a HUGE shift in focusing only on the infamous "she's pink and breathing she's OK" philosophy. You can't manage labor from the desk people!!

Ahhh, I feel better too OP, thanks!! :yeah:

KateRN1 · Jul 27, 2011

A few years back (more or less) I read an article about a patient who suffocated from build up of oral secretions. I wish I could give that article to every nurse, nurse manager, and hospital CEO as evidence that basic nursing care is so necessary.

No Stars In My Eyes · Jul 28, 2011

Back When : With sufficient and consistent range of personnel assigned to a unit, everyone had time to complete that shift's routines which included "THE BASICS". You weren't just responding/reacting to events and trying to "get done". I remember having a patient with SEVERE arthritis ; she crackled when you moved her at all, in any way, and she was very dependent, but as usual with little old ladies of her ilk, she didn't want to "bother" anybody. I noticed she sounded very "stuffy" and after peering in her nose, saw it was nearly occluded...she could not even blow her own nose! I sat down with a handful of cotton-tip applicators and a few packets of lube, and cleared her nose for her; she cried and cried, because she was sorry I "had to" do such a thing, but also because she was so grateful someone had noticed and done something about it. Now, I can't say I enjoyed it, but no way could I have walked away after I noticed the problem. All I could think was, "What if it was ME?" Though it was gross, I felt a great deal of satisfaction knowing she wouldn't be suffering in silence THAT night! I imagine nowadays if I had taken the 30-45 minutes to do that simple humane action, no one would be there to help take up the slack and I would get further and further behind, maybe told that was not part of my job. In an LTC especially, when doing med passes just means you are literally at the med cart for 12 hours straight, trying to GET DONE, a simple nicety is trumped by trying like he** to be efficient in a situation where efficiency is impossible. And who suffers? Of course, it is the patient. :mad:

allnurses Guide · Jul 28, 2011

Thank God there are still aides and nurses that get it!!

And why is it always oral care that gets skipped?

Boy oh boy! I'd give the previous CNA/PCT a piece of my mind!!

Such an easy thing to do... sheer laziness.

nursearoo · Jul 28, 2011

It really is nuts how people supposedly "caring" for another don't do basic things they do everyday.....like mouth care... :uhoh3:

I see it even with patients in home care....I had a nurse once caring for my own child who I "thought" was good, and doing good care...until the nurses that relieved her would tell me "she was soaked through everything with urine", "she smells of bo"......well I started counting briefs & smelling breath etc.....this nurse even charted in her notes that she changed her 4x during the night...little did she know the briefs were counted.....only 2 used....hmmmmmm We even started marking date/time initials between the dressings of trach & gtube plus in an indiscrete place on the brief.......wow...low & behold!!! She still denied it to the hilt......ok though...she was canned by me...... she would actually brag she knew she was good...... that's just one example of laziness out of many I have dealt with in my own home...nevermind in my workplace......I started dating/initialing there too....others have started the practice too.....let me just say things changed :idea:

I always give my patients a tub bath if I can.....so many will say "I can't lift"...well the kids don't weigh that much......my simple & direct response to them is.." well, don't you get washed every day?" That kind of solves the problem pretty much:up:

People just seem to forget the basic daily care that is part of our nursing duties.......not just passing meds & charting.....heck I even change linens & empty trash at the end of my shift...even taking it out to the barrel when I leave:eek:..I think I am one of the few at places I work who does that...even had families comment "no one else does that" I very nicely let them know it is part of our job to clean up after ourselves.......I think some believe it is beneath them to empty a trash can.....

kukula · Jul 28, 2011

Thank you for doing the right thing!

Just today I was giving meds to my patients. It has been my habit to have some small talk with my patients. I ask them about how thier day was, how thier lunch is etc. I ask them if they are comfy, are they in pain, etc. I usually do this for like ten minutes, then give them thier meds, stay a little bit more before moving to my next patients. Well today, while talking to my patient, my perceptor called out to me from outside the room. I rushed out and saw her waiting for me. And she was like "Dont talk to the patients. You are wasting time. No wonder it takes u so long to give medications. Just go in, do what u have to do, then come out. I was surprised on how she acted. I tried to reason out by saying I need to check on the patients and i need to develop trust and a relationship. And she was "Theres no time for that. You have ten patients. If u wanna do that then good luck. Be prepared to stay around while everyones left for home". Sigh. Its really sad how nursing is today.

Freedomsong, NP · Jul 28, 2011

Wow...I have to say I'm a bit disappointed by some of what I'm seeing also. My pts are total care pts and are to be turned q 2 and I have to ask like 3 or 4 times for help turning my pts. I mean seriously, you're at the nurses station gossiping and laughing loudly.....(be quiet anyway, people are sick)!!! Also, did it ever cross your mind that you're making me do things late because I have to wait on you to stop talking and help me? Did you know that I was trying to keep everything caught up and as timely as possible so that I can take care of my pts to the best of my ability. Why can't we just take care of the patients?