i need help in this scenario. i'm a 20 year old student nurse, and i'm at a med surg clinical. the patient refuses me taking her blood presure anywhere on her body because it hurts... but not so much that i can't take the BP. the hospital only carries a few regular and obese cuffs and none of them really work on her.. so professionals RN/CNAs have taken the BP on her wrist (no it's not those wrist cuffs either, they use an adult cuff on a wrist because the patient states that it hurts using it near their upper arm)...
isn't this wrong?
i'm surprised what some people can get away with this... i felt the need to correct the nurse, but instead i tattled to my prof because if i told the nurse/cna/whatever she was she'd just think I was a little student with ideals in my head about how things should be.
the other nurses were kind of irritated with me (except one) because i pointed fingers of some people who were doing things incorrectly (who am i to judge? but it was inaccurate how they did it!)... so my professor had to take the bp herself and told them "I TOOK THE BP MYSELF!".. i'm worried about revenge. i.e. when you correct someone, they usually wont help u when u need them..
but thank God i wont have to be in that hospital anymore for clinicals.
i'm aware people have their own way of doing things and hate being corrected but when i see something very important done wrong, it should be corrected..
right?
i have to master the art of asserting myself, getting patients to do what i want to do without looking flustered...
i just feel small and inexperienced.
how do i overcome this?
the stupid thing is, my patient didnt even want me to take her BP correctly... i'm trying to get it done right, making a fuss over her, and she gets mad at me saying "they're killing me by trying to take my BP!" well jeez, i just wanted to give you standard basic care... you cant really put, "patient refused taking BP' on the chart can you?
what would the smartest and legal solution be? i went to my professor, she forced the patient to get the BP and did it right... "even if it hurts we have to do this." when you give meds or when the patient has hypertension, the BP needs to be accurate. right? i mean, didnt the other professionals thing about this?
how can people not take their jobs as nurses seriously, when peoples lives are at stake?
