Do you think this was un-professional?

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One night I had to take my mother to the hospital and when we got there we waited for hours. Then when we finally got into a room, there were nurses and doctors buzzing around. No one really came into our room and didn't seem to care. I looked outside the room to see that the doctors and nurses were busy, eating chips and salsa. Laughing it up and not really concerned for the patients. I know that sometimes you just got to have fun but this made them look like they just didn't care. Is this how some hospitals are?:redpinkhe

Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, Rehab, ACU-Telemetry.
One night I had to take my mother to the hospital and when we got there we waited for hours. Then when we finally got into a room, there were nurses and doctors buzzing around. No one really came into our room and didn't seem to care. I looked outside the room to see that the doctors and nurses were busy, eating chips and salsa. Laughing it up and not really concerned for the patients. I know that sometimes you just got to have fun but this made them look like they just didn't care. Is this how some hospitals are?:redpinkhe

There was probably more to the 'scene' than what you actually saw. These nurses and doctors might of not had taken a break in many hours, and the one time that they had a few extra minutes..you looked outside the room, and that is what you saw. I sincerely doubt that the nurses and doctors decided that night to say "Let's stop and eat, and just forget about the patients."

Kathy

:redpinkhe:innerconf

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Specializes in ED, ICU, Heme/Onc.

Things aren't always what they seem. The fact that you waited hours in the waiting room suggests to me that your mother wasn't critically ill. I'm sorry that you had to see the staff being human beings and eating and laughing with one another. Realize that the same staff that shares an easy comeraderie is also the staff that works well when it really hits the fan in the trauma rooms. Frankly, I'm glad that your mother was well enough to be upset by the wait. To most ER nurses, "sick" means "trying to die, right now".

Even if it is your turn to be called back from the triage and waiting area, expect to still be triaged in the back, you might have to be seen in the hallway on a stretcher because the beds are full in the ER and there are none available on the floors. I am constantly reprioritizing, and I do figure in a snack, meal and bathroom break. Sometimes that takes priority over the new patient in the bed. I never forget that the person is someone's mother or wife or son, brother or father. But people don't realize that if the nurse thinks she can go to the bathroom before seeing you, then you should be relieved that you aren't in immediate danger of death.

I have my own feelings about food at the nurses station - I mean, ew.. it's gross up there. I don't want food around where I'm working.

If there was a change in your mother's condition that warranted immediate attention and the staff was unaware, you should have spoken up.

I am sorry that you had such a negative experience.

Blee

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I could see there titles on there name badges.

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Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, ED.
But people don't realize that if the nurse thinks she can go to the bathroom before seeing you, then you should be relieved that you aren't in immediate danger of death.

That is a very good point.

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Nothing like being under cnstant scrutiny from people who know nothing about us or our jobs.

How dare they laugh and eat!

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Nothing like being under cnstant scrutiny from people who know nothing about us or our jobs.
I've noticed that many visitors and family members have the "factory worker" mentality, where they firmly believe that nursing staff must be doing nothing worthwhile if they are simply sitting at the nurses station, eating a snack, and charting. Little do they know that the vast majority of my job involves repetitive paperwork.

I can be in a patient's room and injure myself while repositioning them, but the family members who observe the spectacle won't give a darn about me or my well being. They won't even inquire, "Are you okay?" The blunt truth is that many people are self-centered, and only concerned with what is going on with them at that moment in time. There's more occurring than what you might see at the time, even if you see nothing but staff members laughing and enjoying chips. Nurses and doctors are humans with emotions, blood flowing through their veins, physical needs (such as snacking), and they've got one of the toughest jobs in existence.

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Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.

To the OP, I hope your family member is now feeling better.

Having gotten that nicety out of the way ...

To any of you reading out there in Internet Land, what do you do for a living? And could you describe your work day? Whatever it is that you do: crunch numbers, clean houses, work on an assembly line, answer the telephone, drive a cab/car/bus/truck/train, wait tables, teach, fix cars, mow lawns, or weave baskets ...

Do you really do that primary activity every second of every work day? Or do you occasionally stare into space for a second to clear your head, get up to stretch your legs, have something to eat & drink, go to the bathroom, chat with a coworker, check in w/the kids at home, adjust the waistband of your pants, take a glance in the mirror to make sure there's nothing stuck between your teeth, or sit for a moment to "regroup" and make a to do list before digging into work again? If you don't, congratulations, you're SuperHuman and I bow to your superiority, at least until you drop dead from overwork. Then I win. ;)

If you really object to my eating/drinking on the fly in view of patients/visitors ... OK ... you win. I'll take a lunch break sitting down in the cafeteria, totally away from my patients, where I can't continue to glance at the central monitor or note that their meds have come up from pharmacy or see around the corner through my sixth sense that Grandma is again trying to stand up and rip out her foley.

If you are waiting in the ER, by definition you do not have a life-threatening emergency, i.e., are not trying to die in the next 10 minutes. Again, my congratulations to you.

Oh, and on the rare occasion that my caffeine addiction forces me out to the vending machine in the Waiting Room of Angry People ... if I'm out there getting a soda then odds are that soda is my breakfast and lunch. If you, Waiting Room Person, have had either of those two meals today, you are not entitled to give me the evil eye as I get my 20 oz. soda. Be glad you're not being rushed back (see: "dying" above) and save your derision for someone who may actually deserve it.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

Judging someones insides by their outsides is never the right thing to do.

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MLOS is my hero...

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Pumpkin, the world is what it is and if you are having problems with one part of it, then you need to question it. What kept you from putting on the call lite or from going out and asking the staff for some help and support?! If you had asked, you probably would feel different about what happened that night since you would know what was going on with the staff. Why is it easier to sit and complain about your circumstances instead of taking control of your life and acting to change what you don't like. Good lesson for you...hope you can benefit from it. Hope your mom is doing great.:igtsyt:

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.
I couldn't agree more. I have experienced this as a patient/family and as a staff nurse. It always shocks me that staff members will go down the hall laughing, horseplaying and joking around- right past a family in distress- crying- holding each other. Even the families camping in our ICU waiting room get to witness this spectacle. I had two staff members start a syringe water gun fight at the desk in the unit where a family of my deceased patient was coming in to pay thier last respects. Nursing isn't a holy order with a vow of silence but we are the face of caring in whatever setting we practice. Show some restraint and keep the shenanigans in the break room.

Geez, where do you work?

There needs to be some serious teaching and sensitivity training going on if you are serious/not exaggerating.

I mean, I agree with most of the posters in this thread; families are caught up in what is going on around THEM and with their family member and don't understand that WE are at work, doing our job, and that our workplace consists of small breaks and eating and joking at times, just like anyone else's workplace.

But c'mon. At the same time... water gun fights at the nurse's station? While there are grieving families right nearby, even?

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How dare they laugh and eat!

dang, if spectators only knew...

that if i stuff my face, it means i am stressed to the max, as i (almost) choke on my chips while scribbling the latest orders.

and laughter?

heck, yeah.

i would literally have a nervous breakdown, w/o it.

truly pumpkin, i assure you, it is not as leisurely as it sounds.

of course i can only speak for myself and the people w/whom i work.

but any sort of munch breaks, are all revolved around the 'chew and screw' deadlines we're up against.

and it's all r/t stress.

trust me on this.

leslie

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