"Wasteful Nurses"

Specialties Private Duty

Published

Apparently, my new patient's mother thinks we're all "wasteful nurses". I already bring my own hand sanitizer and hand towels for my own use, now I have been informed that I must bring my own hand soap and toilet paper. She says we're all so wasteful and will no longer let us spend her hard earned money.

I'm starting to rethink staying on this case. I accepted the no TV/internet use rule and the bar stool to sit on in the kitchen alllll night long, but no there are more rules. I would never treat nurses like this if they were in my home caring for my child.

Specializes in LTC, Memory loss, PDN.

actually, i don't sit down all that much so when it's time to chart or

rest for a few minutes, i want a chair with good lumbar support that promotes

good posture

i don't have any back issues and i intend to keep it that way

Specializes in Pediatrics.

I had a mom that counted everything. Think I spoke of her before. ;-) She bought the "select-a-size" paper towels and in addition to counting how many paper towels we used, she had it written how many segments were allowed for specific uses. For example, cleaning the suction catheter and then drying our hands requires only ONE section because the vinegar used on the canister is actually good for us and "a little vinegar water left on [our] hands to air dry is good infection control". In the latrine we may use "up to three" with a maximum of six bathroom sections per shift. No jokes, no drama, no exaggeration. She was tired of "wasteful" nurses, too.

I had a mom that counted everything. Think I spoke of her before. ;-) She bought the "select-a-size" paper towels and in addition to counting how many paper towels we used, she had it written how many segments were allowed for specific uses. For example, cleaning the suction catheter and then drying our hands requires only ONE section because the vinegar used on the canister is actually good for us and "a little vinegar water left on [our] hands to air dry is good infection control". In the latrine we may use "up to three" with a maximum of six bathroom sections per shift. No jokes, no. drama, no exaggeration. She was tired of "wasteful" nurses, too.

Wow! Did she mention how often you were allowed to use the bathroom?:rolleyes:

Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.

I had one case where there was no toilet paper available. She was a single mother so I know it was difficult for her, but since I was in the house with the patient all day it made things rough. I eventually found out another nurse kept toilet paper in a drawer with the patient's supplies.

Another case I worked I was forced to sit on the floor. The mother was a real bear. There was no internet (which I didn't realize when on orientation because that nurse was on her laptop). It was difficult to not doze off at night with nothing to do & being so uncomfortable.

But other cases have been better. At least I had a chair or something to sit on. I can't imagine having to sit on a stool all night. Talk about leg & back pain. I understand the parents feel out of control because of their child's diagnosis. But they should realize that we are all on the same team. Help us help your child, we're not here to hurt anyone!

Specializes in Pediatric.

I can't tell you how many times I've been on a case where the whole PDN staff was called wasteful. We "wasted" wipes, trachs, gauze, you name it.

One of my current cases makes my agency's corporate headquarters mail, to her home, on the first of every month, a CASE of paper towels and a CASE of gloves. Smh.

Specializes in LTC, Memory loss, PDN.

here's one that's on the other side of the spectrum, actually

it could provide answers to several posts in this forum

i took a few days off work

so, yes, you can take a vacation, but...

the agency filled my days with a new hire, a nurse with 4 years med surge

and some LTC experience and gave her 4 hours of orientation on the case

things didn't go very smooth at all (mildly put)

which addresses the question is PDN the armpit of nursing - sure, no skills required

anyone can do it

the part that is relevant to this post is we get a certain amount of supplies

(no news to PDN nurses) and when i got back to work i was informed that

instead of cleaning a Bivona after change out, it was discarded

and several other supplies had been used triple the allotted amount

now that's just plain wasteful in any setting

I am glad you said that,ventmommy. I always use gloves when changing diapers for that exact reason...once I explained to the parent that if open suctioning (or even inline) was needed quickly (and when many of these kiddos need suctioning, they need it NOW) I needed to be able to pull the old gloves off and have clean hands underneath..or put on sterile gloves for sterile suctioning instead of trying to clean my hands in a rapidly deteriorating situation.The mom appreciated this, at first I think she thought I was afraid to touch her kid, but when you change diapers, especially when you have to put cream on there, you need gloves. If it was my kid, maybe not, but it isn't.

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