I came into work yesterday and the day shift nurses were talking about how our director came up and chewed everyone for complaints from a patient...no one introducing themselves when they walked into the room, pt complained about some hair left in her bed after being prepped for a cath, nurses telling the pt it was policy that the pt couldn't take their home meds back home with them...etc.
...Then I realized it was the patient that my preceptor and myself prepped for cath! I was still orienting and I have never prepped someone before, so I brought my preceptor along to make sure I was doing it right. She was showing me how to do it on one side and as she was shaving, I kept grabbing the clumps of hair off the bed and putting them in the trash. Then she had me shave the other side, and same thing. There were still some hairs left in the bed and the patient complained about it. I tried to clean off those hairs as best as I could...and I realize it was my fault for 1) not putting down a chux pad beforehand and 2) failing to do a linen change afterwards (and not delegating it as I should have, I had a VERY heavy load that night!) but from what I have heard from other employees, the pt made it sound like there were clumps and clumps of hair left in the bed! Linen change was done at around 0715...pt got up to the bathroom so the new nurse & I changed it while they were up. Shave prep was done at I don't know, 0500-0530? Then a pt was complaining of chest pain so I had to order a stat EKG and get the doc on the phone...and still trying to get caught up with charting everything including meds, initating orders, etc...it was busy for me! And I don't know if they were prepped some more downstairs or what and left more hairs in the bed...but frankly I'm pretty worried!
I had this patient the night before, too, and I was told I was the very first person to introduce myself when I came into the room. Not sure what was going on with the discharge. I'm still on probation (about half-way through now), just had my evaluation last week and was told how I am doing such an outstanding job...that night I worked was by far one of the worst nights I have ever had...and during my evaluation I was commended for handling it professionally and not having a negative attitude about anything, etc....and now this! I haven't heard anything yet, but yesterday our director took our schedule book because she was trying to figure out who was working that night and working when the pt left.
A similar situation happened in the past...Another patient wasn't happy with the care the were receiving and complained that no one came in the entire shift. Obviously with documentation including med documentation, that is not the case. I did not work that night, but everyone who worked that night got talked to...
I have never had a patient complain about me before! And I know this is bound to happen at some point in my career (and it probably hasn't because I'm still so new) but I have not made any med errors and have never had any safety issues with patients. If I need to call the doc, I call. If I'm unsure about calling, I asked my coworkers for a second opinion. I always try to advocate for my patients in the best way possible. I am always polite to my patients - I never talk back to them or be rude to them. I have perfect attendance and always show up early to work...and I'm still worried what will be said to me if anything at all. Day shift nurses were again talking about it at shift change. Came home and couldn't sleep...finally slept for 2 hours...and now I'm awake again and I'm back tonight!
