Prayer request and a vent

[Angella Walker]

Took my dh to urgent care on Tuesday, stayed there for 4 hours and they tell us to go to the ED to get further examination because they can't determine why my dh has the sweats, fever and vomiting.

Go to the ED, the nurse intern (God Bless Her) picks up on the discomfort that my dh has sitting up and informs the MD about it. In comes the troops. My dh had 20 people in the room immediately. Insurance person, xray, cardiac echo and head cardiologist in the room in a matter of 20 mins.

It wasn't until 3 hours later that dh was going up to the cath lab getting his catherization done because they were waiting on his troponin levels to come back (which were elevated).

Praise God that they didn't find signs of damage or blockage! It turns out that dh had pericarditis. He is still in the hospital for observation but is doing well.

On to the vent. He has the most horrible nurse. She has no sympathy for what we are going through. We came to the ED thinking that he had the flu. She just doesn't understand the shock that we went through. She is qualified to perform her duties as a nurse but has absolutely no empathy for us. I have requested that another nurse be assigned to my dh and they have complied but prior to that, I have picked up on her horrible comments about my dh. Sure he is moody. Who wouldn't be if they just had their mortality dropped on their lap. She even yelled at my grandbabies for being around too much.

I understand the stress that nurses are under (jr. nsg student myself) but she really needs to consider a change in professions. My dh suffers from GERD and went 2 days without any meds. She didn't think it was important enough to inform the MD of his complaints of discomfort and the constant throwing up he was doing. I am appreciative of the little nursing knowledge that I have. I let the MD know what was going on and he promptly responded to my requests.

Moral of the story is, not all nurses are cut from the same fabric. If you can't tolerate patients in a critical care setting, move to another area.

I am so sorry for the long post. I said all of that to say this...be the best nurse you can be. Your care of pts. in times of fear will stay with them the rest of their lives. If you can't handle the emotions of your patient population, change your dept.

Thank you for reading this post for so long.

AW

[atownsendrn]

Very well said!!! I am glad you stood up for yourself and requested another nurse.

{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}} to you. And many prayers for your dh. Keep us informed!!!!!!

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Good post. Hope your husband recovers and gets home soon.

[Disablednurse]

I know what you are going thru, went thru the same thing about 4 years ago with my husband. We live about a block from our local hospital, but because of the horrible treatment he got there then, we now drive about an hour away to the hospital, even for emergencies. We would rather take our chances than go thru that again.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

I am so sorry you got such a rotten nurse. Please, do all her future patients a favor and write a letter to the director and cc a copy to the nurse manager. If they don't know of a problem, it can't be fixed. Wish you lots of luck with your husband and hope he will be home soon. Good luck with school too.

[nimbex, RN]

I agree with traumaRUs, write that letter, some people aren't even aware of how they come across, others need to be reminded of how they should.

write the letter,

thinking about you

[jnette, ASN, EMT-I]

Wow... so sorry you had to go through this and be exposed to such lack of compassion and empathy. Things were hard enough as it was.

Praying that DH heals quickly and fully. Hugs to you both. :)

[ShelleyERgirl, LPN]

Lots of hugs and prayers to you and your family. What a shock for you guys, thinking he has the flu and then finding out something altogether different! I am sorry you had such a crappy nurse, would definitely write that letter! My dad has alot of lung problems including bronchiatases and frequent pnemonia. One memoriable hospital stay, had the nazi nurse from hell! She agitated him so bad that he ended up flinging his albuterol inhaler at her! Now, my dad is the sweetest little old man in the world but man, DO NOT piss him off!