Do you think this was un-professional?

[pumpkin1984]

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

[casi, ASN, RN]

Personally I can't help but think that the nurse that is running around the entire shift without the chance to eat, joke, pee, or even take five minutes to stop and reorganize themselves is much more dangerous.

I'd also prefer the nursing staff/doctors at the desk taking a moment to eat and joke then having five of them rushing into the room of my loved one. Having half the ER staff decend upon a loved on is a rather scary event.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

No one really came into our room and didn't seem to care.

One very important question: Did you or your mother ever push the call light to ensure that one of these staff members would come into your room in a timely manner?

As a nurse, I do not possess the mystical crystal ball that will magically tell me if patients want or need something. If you utilize your call light as needed, staff will know to come into your room.

If you used the call light and were ignored, that would be an entirely different issue.