Hi everyone! I'm writing this to get some thoughts out but also to see who agrees. As an LPN I never experienced belittling until the other night. I had a patient who had chest pain. Whenever a patient says "chest pain" I aask them to point to where it hurts and about 60% of the time they point to there stomach.. I still follow up with assessing for cardiac arrest, angina, lung abnormality, etc. but the other night I was concerned because my patient did point to his actual chest. BP was 190/100 and it was a holiday and being the only nurse on staff (we are long term care), I rely on doctors mostly. So he had nothing ordered.. No prior history that would require BP meds, nitro, aspirin, nothing. So I had the CNA stay with him, called the primary doc. And called 911. Between getting papers together for the EMS, and transfering him while taking the doctors call back, by the time I called the ER to give report, he had just arrived. And the RN said to me, in her exact words, "this is why I hate LPNS. Pt has hosp try of gerd, did you even check that?" As always I was very professional and apologized for giving report later than I normally do and did not make excuses, just expressed that I ubderstood her frustration. I used to work in a hospital so I get it.. Things get crazy, but I'm a nurse too, and things are far from slow paced or laid back for me. I just wanted to vent. I am never rude to staff who does not have my crudentials. I love my nursing assistants and thank them for all they do. I help as much as I can. I thank housekeeping for all they do.. The kitchen.. Everyone. No matter how much money they make or what they went to school for. I just wish people could see the bigger picture sometimes.. Everyone matters. We're all a piece to the puzzle and should be treated as such. Teamwork is a big deal to me as is respect. -end rant-
btw, when I got report back on my guy, he had an MI. Guess it wasn't the gerd after all. He is okay though, thank goodness. And I made sure to thank the RN for stabilizing him.
