YIKES!!!!! That's about the only word I can express about this one.
Got off a weekend night shift (through my agency) at a nursing home I have never been to previously. I prefer to stick to hospital work when I can just because of what I am about to say.
Came on to the shift at 2200. As seems the usual, I had to sit and wait for report until 2245, already putting me behind for the night. I had to scramble to get caught up, but that's nothing new. Since we were running short 2 CNA's I was also putting in double duty answering lights and doing other aide work. No biggie as I always do this anyway, just usually as a helping hand not out of complete need. Still no suprise (been there done that). However, about 0200 I floated over to the other unit to cover a nurse who went home due to "female problems". She told me that she was having a "heavy flow", and so I left it at that. Now, I am covering my original unit as well as this lady's as well. No biggie, except I knew everything wasn't going to get done. A call light came up on this new unit as I was passing by, and I didn't see a CNA on the entire unit, so I went to help out. I got to the residents room and asked what I could help with. The gentleman promptly said, "my back is itch'in". I told him I get that all the time myself with a smile, and I asked him if it was okay to help him sit up. He pleasantly agreed that it would be fine. He also said "you sure are nice compared to most of the folks here." When he sat up I discovered the most terrible DC I've seen in a long long long time. It was so deep a 3 1/2 inch swab could be inserted all the way in and barely touch tissue. But that's not really the issue. It was full, and I mean FULL of the biggest maggots I have ever seen. When he sat up, they fell out all over his bed. I was shocked (not in a "gross! look at that!" way, but a "how the h*ll could this go unnoticed!?!" way). I cleaned the wound and got all the maggots (I think). Then, took another look inside. What I believe I saw was the back of his right lung. I quickly took a look at his chart (which took me about 30 minutes to even find as it was tucked away at the unit nursing station under an old notebook, NOT where it is supposed to be). This man was on a rotation to prevent bed sores!!!!! I called the DON, who said she would "call it in" with a yawn of disconcern. I also asked if she was aware that the LPN from the other unit left. She said that she was aware, and I would have to cover. I told her I would do my best, but we were pretty short all around. I asked her if she considered calling the agency for a nurse. She said NO WAY! We're not paying for a full eight hour shift if the person is only going to be there for 5 or so hours! Inside, all I could think was how rediculous she just sounded not caring an ounce for her residents care and well-being. I then charted what I discovered and the Doc arrived shortly after, VERY angry. He said (QUOTE), "They oughta shut this d*mn place down. Too cheap to pay for staff, and too cheap to use a d*mn agency." I replied with "I'm actually agency through ********." He then said, "That suprises the h*ll out of me! I have been on them for months now to get some help in here. In fact, I told them I would quit as the primary here if they didn't. Looks like they are trying to do just enough to get by. humph! Typical!"
Shortly after this conversation and about a 30 second exam of the resident, the Doc called for a transport. He said, "don't worry about messing with this. I'll take care of it. You have 40 other people to worry about. That's when I realized I actually DID have 40 other people to worry about!
I knew only the MOST BASIC requirements were going to be taken care of for these poor people tonight, but I hunkered down and started to try to accomplish the impossible. Meds got passed, the Doc stayed and did a couple foley's then did dressings on about a dozen residents!!!! Wow, what a cool guy!!! But of course, just about nothing else was done. I also discovered two other residents that were on scheduled turns were NOT being turned. Jeeeez!!!! And where in the world are the aides?!? I had only seen one aide (on my original unit) since I had been there (the aide issue is another story in itself).
Needless to say, when the DON came in an hour late (grrrrr!) I gave a report from h*ll to her. I told her that she needed to get some more CNA's in here and a nurse that cares more about patient care than a mild discomfort. She said something like, let's not talk about THAT and talk about all the things that you left undone. I was about to explode!!! I told her that unless I would have been able to split into 6 people last night, there was NO WAY that these people were going to be cared for properly. I also expressed to her the lack of attentive care the residents were getting. They were lucky to get a water refill in a 12 hour span, some clearly hadn't been bathed for weeks, and on and on and on. She rebuttled with something to the effect of, we aren't made of money and walked off! Seriously, she walked off!!!
I have never done this before, but for the first time ever I reported a facility to the state. God help those poor folks at that h*ll whole.
I know that agency won't cure the shortage of qualified nurses and nurse aides in this country, but in my opinion, if you need help and people are suffering as a result of such short staffing, it's time to call them in and in droves!
Sorry for the book... I had to get this off my chest.
