Coworker as pt??

[miko014]

Okay, how many of you have had to take care of a coworker? I've had to a couple of times before, and it's really stressful (at least, IMO). What do you all think? Should employees be allowed to be pts on the unit where they work (assuming there is a choice, of course!) ...Would you want to be a pt where you work?

[reesern63, RN]

You do bring up a good point. I would have to accept that fact that if I were a patient, then my business would be everyone's business because people just can't be trusted.

Dispite the fact everyone knows about HIPPA people still ask inappropriate questions about coworkers who are inapteint. I was on the elevator hearing a manager talk about one of his employees kidney infections. Just yesterday I was at a meeting a someone across the table asked "how is so and so doing that's a patient on your unit (a coworker)"...."I just smiled and said "HIPPA" and we laughed about it. But I was uncomfortable with that.

We recently had a coworker inpatient for a routine surgery and it was all over the unit that she was a drug addict. That was not a "need to know" and definately a HIPPA violation.

If I had something to hide, or was just too personal, I certainly wouldn't go to my current hospital.

I'm currently facing this issue. And I too can't get past the chart bit. I am on a few Rx that will make people say some judgemental things. I don't want anyone to know that information. I know how charts "travel" on my unit.

[puggymae]

I have been the co-worker in the bed on several occasions. Everyone has always treated me well.

The good thing about going to the hospital where you work is you know who the nuts are and you can stay away from them.

When I went to the hospital to have my baby there was one labor hall nurse that I could not stand - and as soon as I walked onto the unit I said to her face "Stay away from me, and my baby. I don't want you to take care of me." And she never darkened my door.

[misty1998]

I work in a small rural ob dept and i know that most of my coworkers love taking care of fellow coworkers. we are a close unit and most of us socialize outside of work. its great to be there when they deliver their little miracle. usually we are one of the first ones they tell when they are expecting and we are there their entire pregnancy. not saying we don't take great care of other moms and babes but we do give our coworkers extra special treatment and they can rest assured that when they want to rest that their little bundle is getting cuddled and cared for by someone who truely does care about them! I know if/when I have a baby, I will definately deliver at the hosp I work at now.

[dream'n, BSN, RN]

personal removal of post.

[miko014]

Yeah, I know in a perfect world, it shouldn't be a big deal. But there are a lot of HIPAA things that happen...I mean, when we get report, everyone in the room hears what's going on...housekeepers and anyone else who might be around included. Of all the times I have taken care of coworkers, I have never witnessed anyone just thumbing through the chart for fun, but still, it's all out there for the world to know. And then there are ancillary people that come and say, "did I just see so-and-so on a cart?? Is he okay??" And what can you say to that, really? No, that wasn't him? All I say when they ask "how is he doing?" is "fine". Or "he's okay". But still, I don't like being in that situation.

Don't get me wrong, I know that sometimes your hospital is the only one around. And I know my coworkers would take fantastic care of me. It's just people's curiosity that I don't like! And I think OB and ER are different...no offense intended or anything like that. It's just usually a shorter period of time in ER, not like days or weeks on a floor. And OB is a different world, lol!!! You have a new bundle of joy to show off, and usually you're not TOO sick...I know your coworkers still have to care for you and deal with some pretty personal stuff, but still...it's different. Can you tell I'm not OB??

[kcalohagirl]

A co-worker of mine was a patient on our floor a few months ago for a "mystery illness" which ended up being an auto-immune response.... . .

One of this woman's children had had rheumatic fever previously, and if I remember correctly, my co-worker also had either rheumatic fever, or some kind of by-product/offshoot of such. (ID is not really my forte, as you can probably tell).

This co-worker and I were not especially close before this incident. We were new grads at the same time, but worked on differnt shifts, she had a husband and 3 kids, I was newly engaged, we saw each other at work, but we didn't socialize.

She was a difficult patient. She reacted badly to ativan. REAAALY badly to ativan. I was her nurse the day we found this out. She was also not at all modest when she was on ativan. Some of the other nurses I work with ridiculed that and said they were uncomfortable taking care of her because she was a co-worker. One nurse said she didn't feel comfortable inserting a foley.

I did have a talk with her about the difference between being a patient and being a nurse. Face it. I think it would be hard for any of us to give up control. And even though we say we want patients to participate in their treatment, we really do expect them to trust us and let us direct the process. As a nurse, it was very hard for her to relenquish that control.

She and I have actually become close friends since then. She asked me for ativan, and I told her no. She was really annoyed at the time, but was okay with it afterwards. She wasn't good at respecting the patient nurse boundary, and was transferred to another unit. She may not have been the "ideal patient", but she wasn't any more demanding, any worse than the people we take care of on a daily basis.

Some people said she should have been better because she was an RN, but when you are under the effects of benzos and narcotics, who is really rational? (Think Meridith on Morphine from Grey's Anatomy)

I think the biggest challenge in taking care of co-workers is boundaries. As a nurse, it is hard to be a patient. As a nurse, it is difficult to see your co-worker as a patient and not as a collaborator.

But it can work.

[jodi_cmsrn]

I would prefer to be a pt on the floor where I work. I trust most of my coworkers and they know me. So when I say I'm in pain they know it. I don't think I receive preferential treatment because I'm an employee. I know when they're busy and I know I have to wait my turn just like everyone else.

I agree. I was a patient last year on the unit I work, and they actually moved a few people to accomodate me (their idea while I was in surgery), not my request. With post op nausea and vomiting, I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.