Dear Abbey, about a nurse

[Faeriewand]

This is about a nurse in the Dear Abbey column.

And is it true that when a patient is coming out of anesthesia that they will answer truthfully any question that is put to them?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucda/20060602/lf_ucda/nurseslooselipsmaysinkpatientsmarriage;_ylt=Akp7G3.7GGrbqvrqOvKdmzzNbbUC;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA--

[Faeriewand, ASN, RN]

I think a lot of the letters to Dear Abby and Ann Landers are made up anyway.

I used to think this too. But I've seen Dear Abbey interviewed on tv and she said when something is unbelievable she calls the person to confirm. She says she couldn't make that stuff up. I know when you try to write her you have to give your name, address and phone number.

Ann Landers is dead BTW.

[cannoli]

Yeah, and after her death, some young guy was answering the letters under the name of Ann Landers. That stuff is for entertainment only, just like the horoscopes or the cartoons.

[Blee O'Myacin, BSN, RN]

Unless you work directly for a doctor in private practice, the only orders taken from a doctor are directly to do with patient care. Not about employee conduct.

Besides, I look at that scenario as a part of patient education. The nurse was explaining side effects of anesthesia to a layperson. There are some people who wake up screaming and swearing and it can be very unnerving to a loved one.

The wife took it upon herself to ask a loaded question in such a public forum. She got what she deserved. The poor nurse certainly didn't say "ask your louse of a husband if he tried grab my boob when we were transferring him from the table to the stretcher..."

Blee

[TLC RN]

how did "mike" know it was a nurse talking? did she say she was? it could have been an na or transporter???

and if you are that unhappy...you can write dear abbey and tell her who "mike" should have asked to speak with...the nurse manager.

[color=#003399]www.dearabby.com

[flashpoint]

I don't think the doctor should have said something from a "supervisor" point of view, but I do think we all owe it to one another to hold each other accountable for our actions...if that means a doctor telling a nurse her commets were not appropriate, then so be it...same with the nurse telling the doctor (or the housekeeper telling the unit secretary or the CNA telling the nurse or whatever). No one should simply stand by while someone makes comments that are inappropriate.

In this case, we don't have any idea who might have heard the nurse, but Abby should certainly learn that nurses are not subserviant to doctors.

[LydiaNN]

Not sure I agree with you on this one. I think the doctor has the right to tell the nurse that she used poor judgment in telling the patient's wife that her husband would be truthful. I don't think you can consider that this is disciplining the nurse - just telling her she used poor judgment and not to do it again.

Not to do it again or else what? If she's not his employee, which she wouldn't be in this situation, he has no standing to tell her what to do or not to do, and no recourse if she doesn't follow his dictates.

[PANurseRN1]

Here are the problems:

1. "The doctor needs to counsel his nurse...." Nurses are not a possession/do not belong to physicians. Totally inappropriate to word it that way.

2. There was no physician there who overheard this. It would be one thing if he'd heard it, but he didn't. "Abbey" was advocating that the doctor verbally counsel the nurse after the fact. Again, totally inappropriate.

Get out of the 1950s, Abbey.

[SharonH, RN]

Not sure I agree with you on this one. I think the doctor has the right to tell the nurse that she used poor judgment in telling the patient's wife that her husband would be truthful. I don't think you can consider that this is disciplining the nurse - just telling her she used poor judgment and not to do it again.

I can't understand how the nurse used poor judgment. It sounded to me that she may have beent trying to ease tension and perhaps fear by telling the wife a light-hearted side effect of the medication. How was she to know that the nutty wife would use that opportunity to confirm her suspicions? That was an underhanded and cowardly way to confront her husband. AND the fact that he WAS cheating means that he alone is to blame for the demise of their marriage, not the nurse. This was one of the silliest letters to Dear Abby I've read in a long time.

[PANurseRN1]

I can't understand how the nurse used poor judgment. It sounded to me that she may have beent trying to ease tension and perhaps fear by telling the wife a light-hearted side effect of the medication. How was she to know that the nutty wife would use that opportunity to confirm her suspicions? That was an underhanded and cowardly way to confront her husband. AND the fact that he WAS cheating means that he alone is to blame for the demise of their marriage, not the nurse. This was one of the silliest letters to Dear Abby I've read in a long time.

The pt. and the wife are both idiots, really. They deserve each other.

[SharonH, RN]

don't know if it's true or not...but something about this statement made me cringe:

someone needs to write and tell abbey that its not the doctor's job to discipline a nurse because the nurse doesn't belong to him. if their is a valid complaint against a nurse, it should be made towards hospital administration or the state board of nursing.

Precisely.

[MarySunshine]

I completely agree with you, SharonH. What a dumb letter and a dumb response.

[KellNY, RN]

Re: The original letter....if this man was telling the truth, then it's not the "nurses" (can we be sure of her job? as was pointed out, it could have been anyone) fault that the marriage was over--it's the mans fault for boning Mary Hellen.

As for "is that really true"...I can tell you that with many people (as the surgical/PACU nurses!) it is true. Well, I assume so. It's almost like "drunk dialing"--your inhibitions and judgements are so lowered that you're bound to say anything without thinking about it. When i went in for my surgery, last January, I vaguely remember telling the OR staff some *really* personal stuff--true, but not anything I had ever planned on telling them.

Who knows though, he coulda bee talking out of his butt.

I'd like one doctor try to tell me what to do and what not to do regarding my handling of patients, their family and their education. It's none of their business. Now, if they want to inform me that I'm doing XYZ medical procedure incorrect, then great--I'm always up for learning new and better techniques. But s/he is not my boss, simply put. I don't need him/her to put me in my place.

Kelly