Nurse sees worst, best of profession during daughter's ER visit

I can't even help myself, this is really bugging me!

I was thinking about a comment made about being a saint. I think the misconception comes from the fact that there were quite alot of nuns working in nursing. I remember going to school with the Sisters of Charity. If we felt sick, or got hurt on the playground...we were supposed "offer if up to God" and basically "suck it up". So, I truly believe that some of the publics ideas about nursing go hand in hand with nuns being nurses. The difference? Amounts of workers on the floor-Free staff. If anyone is injured, "they suck it up". No families to care for when they get home. Safe retirement and benefits are taken care of by the church!
BIG PLUS...THEY GO TO HEAVEN.

Seriously, I emailed her-I hope she visits our website. I'd appreciate a comment from her after she reads our comments.


Maisy

I hope you linked her to this particular thread.

steph

I did link to our website. I also considered asking her school for an official response, but I will assume they have to clear her articles. If not, shame on them!

Maisy

LOL I wonder how she would react to our comments.

I have to say I disagree about Women's Center, the hospital where I work, they are just as busy as the med-surg floors. I do have much more respect for L&D's since coming to my area, that place is like an ER or ICU. One minute fine, next minute insane. But I do have empathy for the writer, it is sad to realize nursing and healthcare alike have changed so much. I was always bringing reality up to my nursing school instructors, after working 5 years in an ER before nursing school, I was like when is reality going to be taught here...of course...my mouth always got me in trouble then, but I am still the same way today. I am all about getting rid of crappy, burnt out nurses. I have worked with them. There are various reasons of course....Hell, myself I had to get out of ICU because I was burnt out....but you have recognize it. How much of her interaction with nurses was the burnt out ones or the overworked ones? I don't know. I know that in the ER/ICU and other critical areas, you have to keep your compassion. Once that is gone, you are toast, completely burnt out. I don't think for a second that she should have felt like she should have diagnosed the appendix issue...that is just the momma in her talking.

I agree there are always people in every profession who need to recognize when it's time to go. However, that crusty nurse has tons of experience that may be that patient's saving grace when there is an emergency. I am not saying it's okay to be cranky and mean, but I am saying I'd rather have that nurse if I am dying or circling the drain, then the nurse who is all personality and no substance. I work with some of them too patients love them, but I truly think they are in danger, charting sucks, and ultimately care suffers (patients don't realize it)!

I don't know about anyone else's ER, but we are never slow. NJ is closing hospitals everywhere. The waiting room is always packed, we have tons of holds, and stretchers on every hallway. Very busy, very scary! Not downgrading others jobs, can only speak for mine.

Maisy

Thank you! I used to work alongside of and occasionally behind a nurse who the patients adored! She was quite the cut-up, she kept them laughing and she was very comforting. But as soon as she went off shift all the bells were ringing because they were in pain, dressings weren't changed, meds were missed and they had need after need after need. They never brought this up with Nurse Wonderful because they didn't want to bother her, I swear to you. One woman even admitted to me after having her for a couple of days that while she loved her personality, she really needed a nurse who took of her needs a little better. So you see, sometimes they do realize it.

"The worst wasn't that the nurses in triage were mean or unskilled; the worst was they didn't care about my daughter. They didn't care about the young woman across the room, also crying in pain, also waiting for hours. They didn't care about the young man who came in bleeding profusely. The initial nursing triage staff did the bare minimum required of them; they did it without a smile or a touch of concern. They did it quickly and efficiently and soullessly. They sat at their desk and ordered food and talked on their cells and told jokes within feet of my daughter who was in agony. How could anyone, let alone a health professional, be so insensitive? As a healthcare consumer, I was bewildered and angry. As a nursing instructor, I was horrified. And as a member of the nursing profession, I was embarrassed and ashamed. These were my colleagues. This was America in 2008. No one should be treated like we were that night, no one."

contrast that to this...

"Four hours after our initial check-in, we were admitted to the main emergency room and eventually, things got much better. We had a stellar nurse named Kristi, who came to our room with morphine in her hand for our girl."

The author admits that in both cases, the nurses did their job efficiently. The main difference seems to be that Kristi gave IV narcotics and the nameless nurses in the ER did not. And who's job is it to order pain medications? Perhaps the author of this article should reserve some of her anger for the overworked Drs in the ER that actually write the pain medication orders

I'm going to try to say this without getting anyone in trouble. I agree with most of the other posters and feel that this instructor has no clue about what goes on in an ER,.or even at the bedside for that matter. She was a Mom with a sick kid and yes it sucks to have a sick kid,.it sucks to have to wait for hours in the ER and it sucks to sit for days at your childs bedside not getting enough sleep,.not eating right,..etc. and feeling helpless. She is also a nurse and an educator and should have expected the long waits and too many pts with not enough staff.

My even bigger irritation with this article is that she states the name of the school where she teaches in the article. That school is owned and ran by a hospital. I'm assuming she "grabbed her insurance card" and went to the very same hospital. She mentioned her former students and referred to some of them by saying she "knew who to reject and who to accept" as caregiver for her daughter. She is also currently still "teaching" at this school and has students who are looking to her as a mentor to guide them through the process of becoming an RN and someday working at said hospital.

What was she thinking? Many of her students have seen this article. What does this say to her former students (they will all know who they are)? What are her current students supossed to learn from this?

I think this woman was a frustrated Mom that was worried about her child and like many other frustrated Moms felt that nothing was happening fast enough to suit her. I understand that when it's your child, it's an emergency. As an RN educator she should have been able to understand that in the ER world a 15yr old with fever and belly pain must take a back seat to the MI, the CVA, the 2yr old who can't breath and is turning blue and all the other life/limb threatening emergencies that the ER is there to care for.

I cannot imagine what she was thinking to write an article with such personal attacks against the nurses with whom she should be working so closely with. She didn't even offer suggestions as to how the staff could have appeared to be more caring. I'm curious to see how the hospital reacts to this article and perhaps learn what her motivation was in writing it!

Hi all...
I must add my "two cents' worth" here. I, too, was on the other side of the guerney...stressing out with a 17 yr. old boy (in excellent physical condition) who had chest pain, difficulty breathing AND a Troponin of 30...yes...30. Thank God the small hospital where I work has an ER with some very good nurses who jumped right on top of him. Long story here...but I, too, being a nurse was dealing with laid back nurses and drs in the larger hospital where he ended up being transfered to who didn't have a clue what was wrong with him and my being a "pain in the b***" got him the care he needed. The cardiac MD didn't know what was wrong with him, yet kept insisting I sign for a cardiac angiogram and I kept saying "no". Turns out, my son ended up with pnemonia and pericarditis. If I had signed for the angiogram, no telling what might have happened since the heart was already irritated. And yes, that nurses' daughter COULD have died or ended up with massive peritonitis and a bowel resection had thing not progressed as rapidly as they did. Sometimes we have to be the advocate for our family members as well when they become the patient!