Pediatric patients...parents are KILLING me!

Specialties Private Duty

Published

Ok I have to rant and I know some of you feel me! I am BEYOND sick and tired of being taken advantage of by my pedi parents. They just flat out don't take care of thier child and expect you to do everything. And WHY am I here taking care of your child when you and your husband are here just lounging around the house, running errands, and going out to eat? Why am I here if YOU are here? You come in every few hours to see how your child is doing and then out the door u go! Why am I here stuck sitting in a small room for 8 to 10 hours while mom is at work and dad is sitting in the recliner ALL day playing XBOX? Why are you throwing a damn fit when I call you an hour before my shift and tell you my daughter is very sick and I have to cancel my shift...because you are going to be home all day but now you can't go to your yoga class and meet a friend for lunch. OMG, you have to take care of your own child! What a horrible thing it must be not to have a nurse there to be a parent so you don't have to! UuuuuGgghhhhh these parents are ruining my desire to do private care. TAKE CARE OF YOUR CHILD!

Specializes in Home Health,ID/DD, Pediatrics.

I understand completely how you feel. I am all for giving parents a break, but if this is DAILY then that is not a break and they are taking advantage. WE ALL need respite from stress of one kind or another, and being the parent of a special needs child no doubt is emotionally and physically exhausting...but so is being the nurse caring for them too. It's very hard to be able to make distinctions on who needs a break and who is milking the system sometimes.

I have seen horrible parents who will and do gladly insist you do EVERYTHING, and your essentially doing it all from the time they wake up to the time you put them to sleep at night. I have also seen great parents who truly are involved. Unfortunately though it seems that their are far more who will take advantage of the situation and of the nurse. I recently had a patient who's mom got mad because she had to move her pedicure appointment because I had a family issue going on that I needed to leave work a couple hours early to deal with (when I could have taken the whole day, I just said I need to leave early today...which I NEVER do). Not only did she get irritated, she spent the rest of the day trying her level best to make me feel guilty, the only time she wasn't doing that was when she was working out with her friends, or making her husbands massage appointment. Never mind the fact that I have given up COUNTLESS DAYS OFF to help them out, worked over 60 hrs a week in their home for a year now, stayed late, came to work early, helped the mom clean her house, went to the ER more then a few times AND STAYED for support. But when I needed to leave early even though mom only works 2.5 days per week and the rest she's off and was off that day and I needed to go take care of MY FAMILY MEMBER who see's me FAR less because I'm ALWAYS working taking care of their child...yeah that is a completely different story.

We get burnt out, exhausted physically and emotionally and we tear our bodies up caring for others. We have people who are always wanting to know what WE can do FOR THEM all day, every day. I work extremely hard, I go well above and beyond and am one of the most dependable and professional PDN's I know, and to have a parent get mad because they can't get a pedicure...no not ok. I don't call out sick, I have shown up to work 2 days after dislocating a rib with my back muscles on fire (due to a fall in THEIR HOME) to care for my patient.

These agencies don't seem to care, nor do they seem to make much of an effort to tell parents what is reasonable to expect from a PDN and what is not and why. When agencies start taking better care of their nurses then these patients will get even better care. Many times I feel like a body, someone to fill as many shifts/hours as possible who is to be paid as little as possible and doesn't deserve to be treated w/respect. I am one class away from my BSN and I can say once I'm done I'm sooooooooooooo out of here!

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As a parent of a Child with severe disabilities, THANK YOU. That's the kind of nurse we need. I think you GET IT!

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Doesn't have a clue. Get another job.

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This is a very sensitive post. Although I myself do not have any children, I have worked as a PDN with special needs kids. I can just imagine being a parent who works full time with a family with a special needs child. I salute those parents!! And yes the parent or parents may leave for leisure time but I feel like they really do need it just from my observance! It's a job at the end of the day whether the parent/ parents sits around and does nothing. It was my responsibility to take care of the client during my shift hours. I was only lifting my patient 3 days a week. I can only imagine a parent doing this 24/7 cause as a parent you have no days off.

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How much do you get paid per hour to be a private duty nurse? Is it safe to assume you make at least $30/hr and get benefits. Babysitters get paid $7.50 per hour, this is for complete care including diaper changes. What is the point of having a private duty nurse if the parents are going to do every thing the nurse is suppose to do while the nurse sits around watching? The parents go to work so that they can keep the insurance which pays you to come take care of the child.

If I was making $30 an hour and got benefits I would not care what the parents was or was not doing while I was working my shift, and frankly it would be non of my business what the parents were doing unless they were harming my patient.

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Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.

If I was making $30 an hour and got benefits I would not care what the parents was or was not doing while I was working my shift, and frankly it would be non of my business what the parents were doing unless they were harming my patient.

Boy, I wish I made $30/hour. Or even $25/hour! And benefits, too? Wow! Perhaps you live somewhere where to cost of living is higher.

I do agree that I'm there to do a job, and not to decide whether or not I think they deserve the help.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Home Health.

I made $18/hour when I did PEDs (as an RN). The going rate in my area for babysitters is $12-15 per hour.

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Do you at least get paid holiday, paid sick days, and paid vacation? If you don't get any of those benefits you are overly being taken advantage of, fast food workers get all these benefits and they even get group insurance. A fast food workers health insurance isn't any thing to brag about but at least they get some kind of discounted health insurance.

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Do you at least get paid holiday, paid sick days, and paid vacation? If you don't get any of those benefits you are overly being taken advantage of, fast food workers get all these benefits and they even get group insurance. A fast food workers health insurance isn't any thing to brag about but at least they get some kind of discounted health insurance.

I have never got any of the mentioned benefits working in home health. Yes, I've always known that I've been taken advantage of, but the alternative, at least for me, is worse.

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You go to the red cross to be a babysitter, you go to college to be a RN. A $3 an hour pay difference does not fairly pay you for your training and skills unless your employer paid for your training and even then you would only work for lower wages for a contracted amount of time. Some of the school nurses in my state make $30-$45/hr and depending on what city the job may even come with a state pension and retirement benefits. The cashiers that work in my town hall make $18 an hour and gets benefits.

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Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.
You go to the red cross to be a babysitter, you go to college to be a RN. A $3 an hour pay difference does not fairly pay you for your training and skills unless your employer paid for your training and even then you would only work for lower wages for a contracted amount of time. Some of the school nurses in my state make $30-$45/hr and depending on what city the job may even come with a state pension and retirement benefits. The cashiers that work in my town hall make $18 an hour and gets benefits.

Different parts of the country have different pay scales and cost of living. It depends on housing costs, etc., which are much higher on the east and west coasts. If my costs are low, I don't need as high of a pay scale.

And, no, I'm not going to tell you where I live.

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

How would you know what nurses are making in your state?

You go to the red cross to be a babysitter, you go to college to be a RN. A $3 an hour pay difference does not fairly pay you for your training and skills unless your employer paid for your training and even then you would only work for lower wages for a contracted amount of time. Some of the school nurses in my state make $30-$45/hr and depending on what city the job may even come with a state pension and retirement benefits. The cashiers that work in my town hall make $18 an hour and gets benefits.
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