Craziest PDN/PDN Venting Thread

Specialties Private Duty

Published

I looked in here, and other places, and didn't see a sole thread dedicated to the madness that is PDN. As PDN's we go through... Well, a variety of experiences. Let's just say we could write one heck of a book.

So this thread is for:

1. Your wildest, craziest, saddest, happiest, most psycho private duty nursing/homecare stories (Pedi or Adults)

2. Venting about frustrating parents, cases, patients, etc

3. Advice on "should I stay in this case VS that one, etc."

I hope lots of people participate, I feel this is going to be helpful.... We can feel isolated out there in the field. I personally love sharing stories with other nurses. I'll go first, but I'll wait til I get home and can really type out some doozies. :)

Happy story telling :)

Specializes in Peds(PICU, NICU float), PDN, ICU.

Not to stray too far off topic. But there are portable phone chargers that are pretty small. You charge them at night separate from your phone. Then you carry the external charger with you to work and you can charge your phone without plugging in. I'd find it online and post a link, just not sure if its allowed or not on this site. But its great if the power goes out or if the family is too cheap to allow us to charge devices.

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Specializes in Pediatric.
The spanish speaking mom who only wanted spanish speaking nurses.

Im not sure why she felt that way since dad spoke english and spanish.

I will try to think of more. Its been awhile since ive been on crazy cases.

Ok cool, I look forward to it. Over the weekend I'll update with just a few of mine.

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I think the dadsaid he didnt want making his electric bill high.

Mom said she didnt want others to wake up from the sound of the sx machine.

This other case that im thinking about,the mom didnt want us to change her daughter's clothes everyday. It was summer,and the only clothes mom wanted on her were flannel pajamas. She wanted those same pj's on 3 days in a row.

Plus,the girl drooled and sweated alot. Gross.

This same mom never,ever wanted to sign our timesheets.We sent them in blank.

She said she didnt feel like she should sign the timesheets. She claimed if something happened,she didnt want to be responsible.

Out of all my cases,she was the craziest.

Not signing timesheets?

Iwonder how the agency got around that one. We still got paid though.

I didnt stay too long on that one,maybe a week .

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Regarding the dad with the no charger rule,this was years ago,before external chargers came out.

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Specializes in Pediatric.
Not to stray too far off topic. But there are portable phone chargers that are pretty small. You charge them at night separate from your phone. Then you carry the external charger with you to work and you can charge your phone without plugging in. I'd find it online and post a link just not sure if its allowed or not on this site. But its great if the power goes out or if the family is too cheap to allow us to charge devices.[/quote']

I have one of those, it is a LIFESAVER!

I think the dadsaid he didnt want making his electric bill high.

Mom said she didnt want others to wake up from the sound of the sx machine.

This other case that im thinking about,the mom didnt want us to change her daughter's clothes everyday. It was summer,and the only clothes mom wanted on her was flannel pajamas. Plus,the girl drooled a lot and also sweated alot.

This same mom never,ever wanted to sign our timesheets.We sent them in blank.

She said she didnt feel like she should sign the timesheets. She claimed if something happened,she didnt want to be responsible.

Oh my word! Didn't the agency have an issue with that? That's ludicrous, she'd be responsible regardless. ::crazy:: I worked in the home of an insanely wealthy family for 5 months. The parents would sign our sheets, but Dad considered it an irritation. Once he suggested I just forge his name...or he said he could just "presign" a bunch all at once. Um, no. Can you say healthcare fraud waiting to happen?

That's nasty about the girl w/ the flannel PJ's. Maybe the mom didn't want to do laundry. Weird...

As far as the suction thing goes... Ok, no worries, we won't wake you up... Just don't get mad if your son/daughter desats. ::wow::

Electric bill being high? Ugh.

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Specializes in Peds, developmental disability.

I think maybe I am being too picky. If they won't use their AC, I won't keep the case...this is Texas! If they won't let me wear my supportive, stabilizing Asics shoes, that is a big negative for me, especially if there is lifting. I love ventmommie's cubbies for house shoes. But the, if they don't have you back for some reason, you loose your shoes.

You can break a toe if you arent wearing a solid something on your feet, especially if you are in a hurry...like, to get back to your patient after using the restroom.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

My rigidly immobile, diapered, 150#+ vent patient's parents insist that she wear pants. In bed. At night. I'm off this case at the end of the month.

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Oh, my. Where to start?

Really, your phone charger is going to make the electric bill too high? In our house we had a vent running 24/7, a portable vent charging, 3 lithium batteries charging, a marine battery charging, two heating pads, a t/pump, oxygen compressor, two suction machines, a neb that ran 15 times a day, a VEST that ran 6 times a day, an electric bed, an electric low-air loss mattress, a flashlight charging, baby monitor, clock, radio, lamp. And that was just for my son!! I also have other children so the TV is on, lights are on, phones and ipads are charging, computers are on, etc. And I don't like being uncomfortable in my own home so the AC was cranking if it was too hot out and the heat was on in the winter.

Putting pants on a rigid person in bed is ridiculous. It just makes things more difficult for the care taker on top of the fact that if she has hip or knee issues at all, it could actually be painful for her.

Not changing your kid's clothes for 3 days? Gross. That mom needs a talking to about hygiene.

I could understand the Spanish speaking mom if she is the primary caregiver and there isn't a husband or relative to translate for her 24/7. I know I'd want to be able to understand what my nurse was saying.

The nurse that fired herself over the trach issue had 2 years of experience before coming to our case. Disappointing to say the least that she was so ill-equipped to handle an emergency. I'm all for crying after a miserable experience if it will make you feel better but you need to keep yourself together to actually HANDLE the emergency.

I didn't have rules against drinking coffee. I just don't have a coffeemaker or a Keurig/Nespresso because I don't like coffee. My husband only drinks it at work. So you could drink it if you brought it with you. A nurse destroyed our carpet with a Dr. Pepper. It exploded when she opened it and there were a zillion (*just an estimate) droplets of soda everywhere that she didn't clean up so it pretty much stained the carpet permanently.

I really don't understand the point of being nasty to a nurse. I'm not saying that a parent has to love and adore each one but seriously, not giving nurses a place to sit or allowing them to read at night or all the other horrors I have read about is just insane.

The home is a workplace and like it or not, the nurse is there to help the parent. I know that lots of parents are still grieving all the "wasn't supposed to be like this" scenarios but that is not an excuse to abuse the people trying to help.

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A nurse destroyed our carpet with a Dr. Pepper. It exploded when she opened it and there were a zillion (*just an estimate) droplets of soda everywhere that she didn't clean up so it pretty much stained the carpet permanently.

I hope she at least tried to clean it up? I can't imagine making a mess like that and just leaving it.

I about had a heart attack when I noticed ball point pen marks on the family's nice leather couch. I have no idea if I was the culprit or not, but I can assure you a pen in my possession has never since touched that couch!

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Specializes in Pediatric.
I think maybe I am being too picky. If they won't use their AC, I won't keep the case...this is Texas! If they won't let me wear my supportive, stabilizing Asics shoes, that is a big negative for me, especially if there is lifting. I love ventmommie's cubbies for house shoes. But the, if they don't have you back for some reason, you loose your shoes.

You can break a toe if you arent wearing a solid something on your feet, especially if you are in a hurry...like, to get back to your patient after using the restroom.

Yes, I need to get the indoor slippers or sneakers again soon. I am jealous of ventmommie's cubbies, especially after the parents that got angry that I rinsed out my supper Tupperware in their sink. ::dying:: That's right... Texas is hot. I'm in NorCal so no AC isn't a deal breaker- just a big annoyance. ::sigh::

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Specializes in Pediatric.

I hope she at least tried to clean it up? I can't imagine making a mess like that and just leaving it.

I about had a heart attack when I noticed ball point pen marks on the family's nice leather couch. I have no idea if I was the culprit or not, but I can assure you a pen in my possession has never since touched that couch!

I would've died too.

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Specializes in Pediatric.
Oh, my. Where to start?

Really, your phone charger is going to make the electric bill too high? In our house we had a vent running 24/7, a portable vent charging, 3 lithium batteries charging, a marine battery charging, two heating pads, a t/pump, oxygen compressor, two suction machines, a neb that ran 15 times a day, a VEST that ran 6 times a day, an electric bed, an electric low-air loss mattress, a flashlight charging, baby monitor, clock, radio, lamp. And that was just for my son!! I also have other children so the TV is on, lights are on, phones and ipads are charging, computers are on, etc. And I don't like being uncomfortable in my own home so the AC was cranking if it was too hot out and the heat was on in the winter.

Putting pants on a rigid person in bed is ridiculous. It just makes things more difficult for the care taker on top of the fact that if she has hip or knee issues at all, it could actually be painful for her.

Not changing your kid's clothes for 3 days? Gross. That mom needs a talking to about hygiene.

I could understand the Spanish speaking mom if she is the primary caregiver and there isn't a husband or relative to translate for her 24/7. I know I'd want to be able to understand what my nurse was saying.

The nurse that fired herself over the trach issue had 2 years of experience before coming to our case. Disappointing to say the least that she was so ill-equipped to handle an emergency. I'm all for crying after a miserable experience if it will make you feel better but you need to keep yourself together to actually HANDLE the emergency.

I didn't have rules against drinking coffee. I just don't have a coffeemaker or a Keurig/Nespresso because I don't like coffee. My husband only drinks it at work. So you could drink it if you brought it with you. A nurse destroyed our carpet with a Dr. Pepper. It exploded when she opened it and there were a zillion (*just an estimate) droplets of soda everywhere that she didn't clean up so it pretty much stained the carpet permanently.

I really don't understand the point of being nasty to a nurse. I'm not saying that a parent has to love and adore each one but seriously, not giving nurses a place to sit or allowing them to read at night or all the other horrors I have read about is just insane.

The home is a workplace and like it or not, the nurse is there to help the parent. I know that lots of parents are still grieving all the "wasn't supposed to be like this" scenarios but that is not an excuse to abuse the people trying to help.

That's a lot of appliances! You sound like a super understanding mom. How many kids do you have? Can you hire me? -lol!

As far as your views on being nasty to a nurse- you're right. Unfortunately, I feel so many families, like you said, DO get caught up in the "it wasn't supposed to be like this" and even further than that- turn bitter. It's so sad. :/

I'm horrified to hear about the exploding Dr. Pepper that ruined your carpet. That happened to one of my more recent cases. (I wasn't the culprit.) They made the agency pay for carpet cleaning in the room where the spill occurred. Did the nurse attempt to clean it?

Ventmommy, if you can, could you give us nurses a list of what you feel the 10 most important "survival rules" are for nurse going into a family's home? Things to avoid, faux pas, etc... Heck it could be 20 rules... I love your posts so much that if you wrote something like this I would print it out and laminate it in my binder :) :)

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