Gastric bypass - psycho

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Do any other nurses deal with post gastric bypass patients and the difficulties they have as a result of their procedure? I find a lot of gastric bypass patients to be extremely rude and demanding. The other day another nurse and I were splitting a room, I had B bed and the other nurse had A bed. The gastric bypass patient in A bed began complaining to her nurse that she wanted regular sugar and jello and not all this diet stuff. The nurse explained to her that the doctor ordered a clear liquid gastric bypass diet and explained the advantages of being placed on that type of diet. The patient did not care she began to yell at the nurse stating that all the other nurses brought her in a regular tray and that she was just being difficult. For the second time the nurse told the patient that she would place a call to the doctor to try to have the diet changed. The patient was utterly obnoxious to the nurse. The nurse walked out and the patient called the nursing coordinator. She explained her exaggerated story to the coordinator. The coordinator must have told the patient that the nurse was handling it appropriately, because I heard the patient say, "you don't see a problem with this?" And began yelling and screaming all sorts of rude things. In report nurses just cringed ever time they have a patient with a history of gastric by bypass, and ask are they psycho? Anyone else find gastric bypass patients to be difficult?:banghead:

Specializes in Travel Nursing, ICU, tele, etc.

Hi luvschoolnursing,

You are absolutely not psycho! People are letting off some steam on this thread, which is ok. If you have any more questions, please post them, I will look for you. You can do it. All the best to you,

deeDawntee

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Oh my gosh people! I am an ICU RN who had a Roux en Y in 1998. I was hoping that nurses had become more compassionate in the almost 10 years since I had surgery. It was humiliating how I was treated by the nurses. They treated me with contempt without giving me a chance and I will tell you, I am not a demanding person. This was before lap procedures were done, so I had an 12 inch incision that was extremely painful... I will spare you the details, but I beg you not to assume every gastric bypass pt is psycho. I do know how hard it can be to take care of demanding patients, but just for me, have an open mind the next time you have a gastric bypass patient and see how it goes. Please also try to remember the nice patients you had, they tend to fade in our memories, whereas the demanding ones stick in our memories for a very long time....

I did not read any post that led me to believe the poster was not compassionate, nor did any of them state that all gastric bypass patients were psycho. Why would the nurses humiliate you or treat you with contempt?

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We have a gastric by-pass surgeon at our facility. It is very common for his patients to have multiple psycho-social issues. Hard to tell if they eat to relieve the stress or if the stress is a symptom of overeating. At any rate, they are required to have a counselor release them prior to surgery. We have had some who were "psycho" (lay definition). I think some patients took the position that the best defense is a good offense. At any rate, it points out that good nursing, for any condition, involves more than the body.

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I guess I will chime in too. Two years ago I had a vertical sleeve gastroplasty for morbid obesity. I had a lot of teaching prior to surgery and a psych evaluation that said I was a good candidate. To date, I have lost 200 pounds, have no back pain, no more hypertension or hyperlipidima. I self paid and it was the best decision of my life.

In my support group we have not had any real problems with secondary addictions (except for new clothes). I am so sorry that there are so many patients out there that haven't had appropriate teaching and who are psycho.

My surgery was open and I was high risk, so I was in ICU for a few days. I thought I was a great patient, I did everything I was told and had the best nurses in the world.

The list of ways surgery has changed my life are too vast to state. I will just end with saying, nothing frightens me any more. I am fully living and enjoying every day. If anyone is interested in finding our more I would love to talk to you.

Take care, Debra

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Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.

It sounds like the surgical group is not doing proper pre-op teaching ....Many nurses treat the morbidly obese with prejudice-maybe they sense this from yourself and many of your co-workers? We have 2 well known bariatric programs locally-all 3 hospitals involved have bariatric units with specially trained staff.Maybe you can help make a positive change by looking into these things?

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Specializes in ER, Occupational Health, Cardiology.

Ahem.

As a GBP pt coming up on 3 years in August, I can only say that it has only improved and enhanced my life. I can only speak for myself, but I would give myself one or two swift kicks in the patootie if I ever spoke to any hospital staff member the way these people are described as doing!

Some people are just mean, rude, and obnoxious, and their weight has little to do with it. As one earlier poster mentioned, this person's addiction was food. Surely you've dealt with rude smokers, caffeinated coffee drinkers, or alcoholics who didn't want anything to come between them and their substance of choice? Same difference.

We were told, going in, that GBP is only a TOOL to help us lose weight. It is up to the person to make the right choices to keep the weight off.

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Specializes in PAR,OR, ICU, Peds HH, MS.

I have worked a bari unit for about 6 years and do not find these patients any more difficult to care for than the general hospital population. Every patient has stresses and issues in their life-inappropriate behavior is not weight based.

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I have worked a bari unit for about 6 years and do not find these patients any more difficult to care for than the general hospital population. Every patient has stresses and issues in their life-inappropriate behavior is not weight based.

The ones I find to be difficult have a history of GBS, 12 months or greater. Not the ones that just had the surgery.

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Specializes in Diabetes ED, (CDE), CCU, Pulmonary/HIV.
Do any other nurses deal with post gastric bypass patients and the difficulties they have as a result of their procedure? I find a lot of gastric bypass patients to be extremely rude and demanding. The other day another nurse and I were splitting a room, I had B bed and the other nurse had A bed. The gastric bypass patient in A bed began complaining to her nurse that she wanted regular sugar and jello and not all this diet stuff. The nurse explained to her that the doctor ordered a clear liquid gastric bypass diet and explained the advantages of being placed on that type of diet. The patient did not care she began to yell at the nurse stating that all the other nurses brought her in a regular tray and that she was just being difficult. For the second time the nurse told the patient that she would place a call to the doctor to try to have the diet changed. The patient was utterly obnoxious to the nurse. The nurse walked out and the patient called the nursing coordinator. She explained her exaggerated story to the coordinator. The coordinator must have told the patient that the nurse was handling it appropriately, because I heard the patient say, "you don't see a problem with this?" And began yelling and screaming all sorts of rude things. In report nurses just cringed ever time they have a patient with a history of gastric by bypass, and ask are they psycho? Anyone else find gastric bypass patients to be difficult?:banghead:

Does the clear liquid GB diet include a clear liquid meal replacement or protein drink? Sometimes we have people with diabetes on a clear liquid diet and they are sent chicken broth and diet jello. When the diet is clear liquid, even the person with diabetes needs apple juice or regular jello to provide some caloric intake.

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Specializes in ER/Trauma.

Chiming in here as well...I had lap RNY almost 2 yrs ago. I have lost over 180 lbs, and lost 90 on my own before that. I have lost over 2 people. My health is better than it has ever been, and I am loving life and the 2nd chance given to me.

I have to say, I selected my hospital and surgeon based on their program of support both pre and post op. There are several other hospitals in the area and at that time, none offered as much post op support. The surgery is just a tool. It takes support and a team effort to teach someone how to use it and be successful. I was extremely blessed with great nurses at every step in the process. My hats off to the med surg staff, they were expertly trained and very professional. Another thing I will mention, this particular hospital has a unit dedicated to post op GB pts, which could explain why I had such a great experience.

Again, I would NEVER speak to someone like the op described! There obviously was a serious lack of understanding from the preop education and on the physicians part. I cannot fathom anyone being a new post op and even remotely thinking they could have a regular diet.

I am sorry for your experience, and I am glad you have a place to vent. I would be frustrated too had I been treated that way. But, I do have to say, there are many of us who have been and continue to be successful post ops. Am I perfect? No. I have a bite of things here and there, but I know how to draw a line now, whereas before I obviously did not. I generally don't tell people how I lost my weight, other than diet and exercise, which is true, it took both of those in conjunction with my surgery to work. Otherwise, I live in a fishbowl, with people feeling they can critique every little thing that goes in my mouth. And yes, I had issues with food. It took some therapy to let go of that, but let's be honest here...who doesn't have some issue in their lives? Its just life and we all do.

Okay, I guess I will step down from the soapbox and let someone else have a turn! ;)

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Specializes in Diabetes ED, (CDE), CCU, Pulmonary/HIV.
I have worked a bari unit for about 6 years and do not find these patients any more difficult to care for than the general hospital population. Every patient has stresses and issues in their life-inappropriate behavior is not weight based.

Thank you SueB1967! I think you're right about that. This post is a test to see if your thanks score changes. I've never seen that before, must be something Brian has added to the site. Our own version of Press Ganey!

:balloons:

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Specializes in cardiac/critical care/ informatics.
Does the clear liquid GB diet include a clear liquid meal replacement or protein drink? Sometimes we have people with diabetes on a clear liquid diet and they are sent chicken broth and diet jello. When the diet is clear liquid, even the person with diabetes needs apple juice or regular jello to provide some caloric intake.

Yes they have protien in the clr liq and no sugar. Sugar is a big no no for gbp.

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