When you are the patient. Do you get nervous about it?

sbostonRN · Aug 4, 2012

Most of my patients are very well informed about their meds. Our policy is to bring the med sheets to the bedside and open each pill and tell the patient what it's for. So they realize when there's something new and I explain to them why it was ordered. So if I was ever a patient, I would expect this sort of treatment. I would not just blindly take anything the nurse brought in to me...I would want to know what pill it was and if I wasn't on it prior to hospitalization, then why was it added.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Aug 4, 2012

oh, yeah, i have been a patient and been scared feces-less. one reason is that i live in a rural area and the local hospitals are not all that great. most of the nurses went to the local cc and did all their clinicals at these two places, so they don't know any better, and the nursing management isn't much better (and openly voice their contempt for staff nursing). so yes, i am nervous about it.

Piglet08 · Aug 4, 2012

heck, yeah. I'm embarrassed to say I've put off routine preventive care because of it.

All right, all right. I'll schedule the darned colonoscopy.

And that's just outpatient. If I were inpatient, yeah, I'd be scared. I know too much.

mlykateRN · Aug 5, 2012

I am getting ready to have a major surgery for a rare tumor....as an ICU nurse....I am scared to DEATH!!!!! They may need to give me consious sedation just to get me to the hospital LOL! I guess at some point you just have to trust just as our patients do...of course I will be a little more educated than most and will definately be looking out for myself. RN's make the WORST patients. I am gonna try real hard to be good, but don't mess with me to much!

LadyinScrubs, ASN, RN · Aug 5, 2012

The title says it all. We know what nursing is like, and we know about the mistakes that even the best nurses can make.
Do you get nervous as a patient? If so, what do you do to make yourself settle down or make sure you don't become a med error statistic?

Yep -- case in point. I went in for a procedure (forget what it was). Had a long discussion with the nurse manager for the out pt unit. Discussed my concerns. Everything went fine and I was still drowsy when the nurse manager came by to check if everything was going okay. She noted I wasn't responding correctly, did a quick assessment, and popped the O2 back on. Whoever was caring for me, did not note that my sats were dropping quickly after she took me off the monitor. Do I get nervous...you bet ya.

umcRN, BSN, RN · Aug 5, 2012

I am getting ready to have a major surgery for a rare tumor....as an ICU nurse....I am scared to DEATH!!!!! They may need to give me consious sedation just to get me to the hospital LOL! I guess at some point you just have to trust just as our patients do...of course I will be a little more educated than most and will definately be looking out for myself. RN's make the WORST patients. I am gonna try real hard to be good, but don't mess with me to much!

I am also an ICU nurse and I had 5 hour brain surgery (for a tumor) with an ICU stay! I hear your fears! Haha ironically the only thing though that completely freaked me out pre and post surgery was that I had an a-line! I asked anesthesia prior to surgery if it was really necessary...apparently yes, but I can remember coming through the fog at one point and begging my nurse to take it out! haha (it didn't hurt, just something about it). Other than that I did trust my nurses a lot. Initially after surgery you have to I guess, while they were waking me hourly for neuro checks I was still pretty out of it, I do remember really liking my initial ICU nurse though and I really felt like I trusted all of them. Once I was on the floor I was a lot more awake and able to ask about my meds and other things. For instance I refused lovenox injections and marched myself down the hall multiple times (i'm 25, I was not letting them inject my stomach when I could walk and move just fine haha). I also refused insulin pre-op when I was on steroids and they checked my sugar right after I ate the hospital provided meal which was full of juice and cookies (I took my insulin after surgery of course which I still thought was dumb because I was going home on steroids but not checking my sugar).

Good luck with your surgery, I'm sure it will go great and all your fears will seem sill afterwards (i'll admit the a-line was not that bad haha)

tokmom, BSN, RN · Aug 5, 2012

Yeah, I have been nervous and was in complete awe of the lack of critical thinking that I did NOT see.

I had a nephrostomy tube placed, thanks to two large stones that were backing up urine and enlarging the kidney, causing major hydronephrosis.

I wasn't given anything in recovery for pain, because the nurse didn't want me vomiting.( I told them I get sick after surgery, with motion) She made me wait until I was taken to my room before I received anything for pain. I only got that after I yelled at them to get something NOW.

Since I was in overnight, I noticed not one nurse checked the urine in the nephrostomy bag to check for bleeding. Nobody did my post op vitals until late that night.

Around 2 am I got up to use the bathroom (thankfully hooked to a MS PCA that I watched being programmed)and noticed my period had started. Of course it was heavy and nasty. I finished up in the bathroom and wandered back by my bed, found my purse and a tampon.

I did not flush the urine as I knew they wanted to measure.

When the nurse came in during the night to empty the hat, she was not even bothered by the bloody urine with small blood clots. I was waiting for her to ask about the blood or check the nephrostomy bag. Nope...nothing... The day shift nurse never did check it either.

Now if it was me, I would have at least questioned the frank red blood and looked at the nephrostomy bag. :idea:

canesdukegirl, BSN, RN · Aug 5, 2012

It is very difficult to be on the other side of the curtain. I have been in that position a few times since becoming a nurse.

Of course I was scared, as any patient would be. Thankfully, my husband was always at my side and I learned to relinquish my sense of control only after he told me that he wouldn't leave my side. My husband is also in the medical field, so I felt safe BECAUSE of him. Had he not been there, I am not sure how I would have felt. Perhaps I would have felt vulnerable, scared, exhausted, tense, irritable, impatient...you name it. My emotions ran the gamut.

It is from my experience being a patient that I recognize the angst of my own patients. It has made me a better nurse. When I encounter a pt that is really "over the top" scared in the pre-op area, I slow myself down and ask them what their worst fears are while in surgery, and take the time to LISTEN to them. Even if they just want to vent, it makes them feel better to know that someone took the time to listen. It definitely creates a bond of sorts.

When I was in the holding area for my lumpectomy, I was surprised that I felt so reliant on my pre-op nurse. I knew what the procedure was because I have done it myself hundreds of times. But being on the other side really changed my perspective. I was constantly asking my pre-op nurse if all of my labs were ok, asked her if my INR was WNL, asked if my K+ was WNL, asked how much Versed I would be getting before going back, asked what kind of local was being used during the procedure and asked what size ET tube would be used should the anesthesiologist have to intubate. I know I was a royal PIA, but thankfully, I had my surgery in the same hospital in which I worked, so all of the staff knew that I had OCD. Believe me, the anesthesiologist came fully prepared with 2mg Versed prior to my rolling back into the OR...he just wanted me to shut my pie hole already!

itsmejuli · Aug 5, 2012

I'm very sensitive to meds of all kinds. I just got prescribed something for migraine and a muscle relaxer, I'm afraid to take either. Think I might stick with the ibuprophen and suffer through it. At least I know what to expect.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Aug 5, 2012

what a timely question. i've spent the last few months in and out of hospitals, clinics and procedure rooms and i'm always terrified! i haven't had any big errors that i know of, no lapses in care that i can discern. everyone has been very professional and organized. haven't had to wait for pain pills, and i've had no complications of the procedures. my husband has been at my side every step of the way, and that has made me feel very safe. he saw to it that i had a prescription for ativan early on in this cancer marathon, and knows me well enough to tell me when i need to take one. (because somehow i feel it's "cheating" if i take something to help me through some of the big scarey situations like the 27 mammograms the morning of surgery to place localization wires, or the 3.5 hour mri with biopsies (10 gauge, 14 inch needles through my boobs guided by mri. now that was a trip.

i have no complaints about my care, about the nurses or x-ray techs or doctors who took care of me. even the man with the big long needles was calm, caring and made me feel as safe as possible. (and gave me a whopping dose of seroquel.) but still, i'll admit to being frightened every time i walk into the hospital as a patient.

wanderlust99 · Aug 5, 2012

I was really scared. I remember coming out of surgery and the first thing I did when I woke up in the PACU was check the bedside monitor for my rhythm & sats. I was pretty much the worst pt ever post op. I was having really bad chest pain that I didn't expect and it freaked me out big time, I was in tears and embarrased that I was crying so I hid my face under my blankets so my parents wouldn't see me.

Some of the nurses were neglectful and not nice. I could tell they didn't enjoy caring for patients. Disappointing experience overall but it made me realize I'm a good nurse and that certain hospitals are overrated big time.