I wrote this letter to a Triage nurse. I don't know her name as she did not introduce herself to me. I haven't decided what I am going to do with it...but I figured I would post it here to start. It's an interesting experience being on the other side of the gurney for a change.
Let me know what you think.
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I write this letter to the ER triage nurse who was on duty May 11, 2011 at a local hospital.
On that day I was taken to the ER by ambulance. I had experienced sudden neurological symptoms, was having trouble standing and walking and was very frightened even though I was trying very hard to stay calm. Anyone who's been in that situation knows how awful it is and how your mind races thinking up the worst case scenarios. I had chosen your hospital because I had been there in the past and know it to be an excellent hospital.
When you called me in (the ambulance attendants had to take a number and wait to be called) you sat down in front of your computer and started to take the report from one of the ambulance attendants. You barely looked away from your computer screen, and from my perspective didn't make eye contact with the ambulance attendant. You did not look at me or acknowledge me.
When you were done, I asked you if it was possible for me to go to the bathroom. You waved past the triage room towards the waiting room and said, "There's a bathroom over there, you can walk there."
My friend, who had accompanied me, responded, "But she's having trouble walking."
You responded, "That's not my problem. I can't go to the bathroom for her. There are wheelchairs all over the place."
The ambulance attendants helped me into a wheelchair and my friend took me to the bathroom.
You didn't know this at the time, but I will tell you this now....I am a Registered Nurse and have been for 26 years. I know what it is to be overwhelmed, overworked, undervalued, underpaid and frustrated. I know what it is to be stressed and I know how it feels to burn out. I've been there, done that and have the t-shirt so to speak.
I truly understand that your job can be difficult at best, But let me ask you something....how is all that my fault?
What did I, as your patient, do to deserve to be treated so rudely? Do you think I wanted to be there strapped to that ambulance gurney? Do you think I timed having my bladder being so full it was painful right for that moment? How much would it have cost you to turn to me and actually look at me? A nursing assessment consists of at the very least looking at your patient and not just relying on the report of the ambulance attendants. How difficult would it have been to simply tell me that you would get me a wheelchair once you were done? (There was one right next to my gurney) How difficult would it have been to crack a little smile? I wasn't asking anything complicated, all I wanted was to pee.
Remember, I am one of you. I too have been on your side of the bed and I too have felt the sting of the profession we chose. So I think it is safe for me to say, with some authority borne from experience that there is never an excuse for a nurse to treat his or her patient the way you treated me.
I'm writing this to put a voice to this problem. I know I'm not the only patient who's had to go through this or worse. Sadly, this kind of behaviour has become rampant. I see examples of that everywhere. Our current health care system with all its problems has put our profession is in crisis. The lack of funding, lack of resources and lack of staffing means that nurses are shouldering a huge burden. I get that! But our patients are in crisis as well and we are the professionals who are caring for them. That's why we are nurses, to care for people. Caring means kindness, not rudeness.
My friend, who is not a nurse, was aghast. She later told me that while we were in the triage room she witnessed another nurse yelling at a very elderly woman and dragging her down the hall by the hand. My friend was going to say something but was told by the ambulance attendant not to say anything because the nurse would "make a spectacle of her."
That is a sad statement considering we are talking about a profession known for caring. Have some of us really forgotten who and what we are and why we are doing what we do? Maybe we should all spend some time on "the other side of the gurney" for a change.
I do have to add one thing however, the ambulance attendants were phenomenal. They were caring, gentle, patient and knowledgeable...literally everything a health care professional should be and more.
nursemike, ASN, RN
1 Article; 2,362 Posts
There also exists the distinct possibility that this was not an isolated incident, that the triage nurse referred to has a long pattern of indifference and badly needs to be fired. We can all read things into the story that aren't there. Frankly, unless the OP did publish her letter in the media (a dire step, IMO) I doubt the triage nurse would be fired. Nurse shortage or no, it costs a lot to train us, and it would be an impulsive manager who took that step over one complaint. But what if it is one in a litany of complaints? Isn't some corrective action in order? And even if it truly is one isolated instance, isn't part of being a professional being accountable for our actions?
This does not read to me as a busy nurse being testy because a walkie-talkie patient demanded a cup of coffee (or tea). The OP needed to toilet. That's hard to ignore. The OP was not ambulatory. The triage nurse said, "That's not my problem." Well, maybe next time it will be. Another poster mentioned a "sense of entitlement." I think patients absolutely are entitled to be treated like human beings, with respect and caring. These aren't perks, they are among the bare minimum qualities to be expected of a nurse, and that nurse didn't meet them. It has also been variously remarked that those of us who aren't triage nurses can't understand the stress. Again, this is not an example of an obnoxious patient wanting to be pampered in the midst of a crisis. We all deal with stress, and at times are stressed to the limit. The frequency of such stress, and the types of stressors, may vary by department, and yes, in times of stress, any one of us could slip. But if the stress in one's position is such that one can't manage to care about a patient in distress, it's time to move on. Are those defending the triage nurse really saying a patient's safety and comfort are trivial? Is there no minimum standard of care? Or am I unaware of some hidden truth that all triage nurses are excellent nurses, above reproach? Frankly, it's pretty hard for me to believe that those responding defensively would tolerate such indifference in themselves. Why excuse it in another?