Have you ever been in a situation where you simply want to tell another nurse to kindly remove themselves from your presence before I start raising my voice?
A few days ago I was involved in a case where my patient had their member and a testicle removed. Not very pleasant at all, this patient is terminal and the procedure was to give him extra time.
You would think this patient should be treated with dignity and respect wouldn't you?
The clinical nurse in charge of this clinic announced to the entire operating room that 'he deserves it for not washing himself properly'...............................
Ummm where do I start? At the time I was just speechless. I should have told them to refrain from making disrespectful comments. Instead I stewed about it which isn't healthy but at the time I was incapable of speaking to them without using curse words.
This was wrong on so many levels. I have a sister who is undergoing chemo, for someone to say anyone deserves cancer is personal to me. We had a nursing student in the room, now they go back and tell their preceptor and students how heartless we all are. It's hard enough to gain respect from surgeons, no wonder they think we're stupid when someone makes a comment like that it reflects on ALL of us. And of course how you can stand their and look at such a horrendous wound and make a comment really is just mind boggling.
I haven't had a chance to speak with this person but I'm going to. I'm going to let them know that their comment was disturbing, inappropriate and has really offended me. And I will tell them that in future maybe they should show some leadership and maturity by treating their patients with respect.
I just cannot understand all of this. I've cried all weekend over this incident.
