Very Unprofessional....

[Whoatemyburger]

So, last night I get report from a patient in the Unit who was in ETOH protocol. This was the patient's 3rd day withdrawing!!! When I got report from this XY Nurse, she told me that the patient was scoring pretty high. I was surprised because we usually send them to the unit when they score over 12. Anyhow, she tells me a little bit about the patient and says to me "ugh he fell at home due to a seizure and that's why you will see all that nasty stuff on his face". I was like, excuse me? and she was like " well yeah, all that dried blood on his face." I just stayed quiet and continue on with report. When I received the patient, he looked like a total hot mess. Yes, I know he is an alcoholic, but we are not here to judge. I offered a bedbath , ( since he was on seizures precautions/ and on bedrest). We cleaned all the blood off his face. Patients need to have dignity, like every human deserves to have! I do not mean to be so sensitive, BUT WE NURSES , came into the profession to help and be compassionate, or at least be professional in the way we communicate about our patients with other colleagues. Anyways, It felt good, I just love being a Nurse!

[imintrouble, BSN, RN]

The problem you had with the reporting nurse was a comment?

Something said between nurses during report?

I thought it was because he didn't get a bath.

If you haven't made a comment about a patient that you regret, you will. As hard as that is for you to believe.

[Whoatemyburger]

The problem you had with the reporting nurse was a comment?

Something said between nurses during report?

I thought it was because he didn't get a bath.

If you haven't made a comment about a patient that you regret, you will. As hard as that is for you to believe.

Yeah , I hope not

[TriciaJ, RN]

I think the moral is, if for whatever reason you have to pass off "a hot mess" or "nastiness" to the next shift, it would be really helpful to give the reason to the oncoming nurse. And a courteous apology. I could forgive anything if I had a head's up and knew they'd had the shift from hell. I really hated receiving a cavalier-sounding report and then finding all kinds of unaddressed problems. And I tried to be always mindful of what I was passing on.

[klone, MSN, RN]

Maybe it's a translation thing (am I correct that English is not your first language?) but I don't consider calling dried blood "nasty stuff" to be particularly derogatory. Yes, unprofessional, but not in a "wow, you're so rude" sort of way but rather in a "you're a nurse, use correct terminology" sort of way.

[kakamegamama]

I'm reminded of the time a seasoned nurse told me that she always chose to was the feet of the patients she cared for. It didn't matter if they had already had their daily bath, it was something she did. Her thought was it was a comfort thing for many, and something most people avoid doing. She chose to do that for their comfort, because having clean feet made her feel better. I've never forgotten that.

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

"As RubyVee pointed out... there is a much bigger issue here. Every patient deserves to be treated with respect( in this case it was a simple bed bath.) I

hope you examine your callous response."

I didn't see it as a callous response, but maybe I'm relying too much on my personal experiences. I've worked with nurses who had the cleanest patients, ever. They were outraged if one hair was out of place or one drop of blood was on a top sheet. They also tended to be the ones who "didn't have time" to start a blood transfusion that was ordered eight hours ago, cover a critical potassium, replace a blown IV for a patient on a heparin drip, etc. I guess you could say we were extremely short-staffed (on purpose), and their priorities were not always the same as mine.

It's not that I believe in neglecting patients, but I typically give co-workers the benefit of the doubt when dealing with non-critical issues- especially if they take care of the major issues. I don't mind washing a stable patient, myself. Hope that clarifies things.

I think there is a difference between squeaky clean patient and throwing fits if a hair is out of place, and washing dried blood off of a patient's face--if nothing else to see what you are dealing with underneath.

I also think that to not assess what you have is much different than being so consumed with cleanliness that one doesn't complete orders, or report criticals and the like.

The OP mentioned when she did clean this patient up, she did this with an aide. So it is not as if there's nurses running amok trying to do it all with no assistance and short staffed without UAPs.

Skin integrity may not be critical, but it is important. And there were perhaps countless nurse encounters in the 72 hours this patient was there prior to the OP taking over care. Who, i would assume, do check off the boxes regarding skin integrity. And because seizures themselves don't usually cause spontaneous bleeding, it is perhaps not a bad idea to figure out the source of the blood. Because if the seizure caused a fall which resulted in a bump to the head, it does have the potential to cause a brain bleed as well. Which would then be critical.

[Whoatemyburger]

Maybe it's a translation thing (am I correct that English is not your first language?) but I don't consider calling dried blood "nasty stuff" to be particularly derogatory. Yes, unprofessional, but not in a "wow, you're so rude" sort of way but rather in a "you're a nurse, use correct terminology" sort of way.

Maybe I am totally misunderstanding , "a translation thing" lol . I'm sorry , I was just making a broad example about the situation . Where I work there is a lot of diversity amongst our staff and also the patients. Which I think it's great ! That's what I love about NY!! If anything, I think cultural sensitivity plays more of our role . However , to answer your question, both of us nurses on the phone spoke 100% English . By the way, I do I agree with your comment about medical terminology .

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

So sad to hear to hear about this situation. My dad is a recovering alcoholic and he never been treated in that manner,maybe because I made sure I was by his side. Thank you for stepping up to the plate,I would have reported her,because what else have she done ? Once again thank you :)

Which shift would you have reported? Surely not the one who actually cleaned off the man's face?On another note, it really isn't smart to use your real name as a user name. This isn't social media like FaceBook or Twitter. It tends toward anonymous -- as much as anything on the internet can be anonymous. Hospitals have IT departments to scan the internet for folks they're considering hiring, and hiring decisions have been changed by what was found.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Maybe it's a translation thing (am I correct that English is not your first language?) but I don't consider calling dried blood "nasty stuff" to be particularly derogatory. Yes, unprofessional, but not in a "wow, you're so rude" sort of way but rather in a "you're a nurse, use correct terminology" sort of way.

Calling dried blood "nasty stuff" or "bloody yuck" is pretty much par for the course in some units. I wasn't there to hear the tone of voice or see the expression on the face of the nurse giving report, but the comment in and of itself, while not strictly "professional", wasn't UNprofessional either.

[Nurse Medicine Woman, ASN, RN]

Thank you RN perdiem. Yes, my instructor definitely saw what was important. I actually miss that kind of nursing - the kind we practiced in the 80's. So much more dignified.

[liberated847]

I think it's because it was his third day there. Nobody found time?

I call BS on this so called 3 days...

[liberated847]

Thank you RN perdiem. Yes my instructor definitely saw what was important. I actually miss that kind of nursing - the kind we practiced in the 80's. So much more dignified.[/quote']

Nursing in the 80's wearing a ridiculous cap and being little more than a Doctor's gofer ? No thanks lol