What you wish they knew....

Nurses General Nursing

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I'm on another forum for moms, somebody posted a thread called "What they DO NOT tell you about labor and delivery that you wish they would have"

After reading several comments (some about nazi nurses..) I have to wonder from a nurses point of view what you wish your patients knew before coming in (not just L/D but everywhere)

My number one is: Yes you just had surgery, yes you will have pain, no you cannot lay in bed until it goes away you need to get up and move.

anyone else?

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

That i'll never ever understand how someone can have genital piercings, yet be afraid of an IV needle. I'll never ever understand that.

That the antibiotic, nebs and all tx you got for the post surgery pneumonia you developed in the middle of the night were "diagnosed" and all taken care of for you by a nurse. All the doctor did was answer his pager and say "uhuh, whatever you think"

Sometimes I get tired of the MD getting all the credit.

Specializes in OB.
That i'll never ever understand how someone can have genital piercings, yet be afraid of an IV needle. I'll never ever understand that.

YES!! I tell my patients with piercings there or on their faces that noone who let someone stick a needle through THAT is allowed to give me a hard time about one little IV!

this is by far the best thread! I WISH family members would understand that if their significant other has stomach cancer, pulse o2 @ 75% while on max o2, unresponsive, MD informing them that he has only a couple of hours left to live. Yet you want me to give the pt morphine? Oh, and while your in here can you lower the head of the bed, pull him up, change him, and turn him to the side because....................................you are trying to prevent a decubitus? That is by far the last of his worries. My job @ this point... AND PLEASE LISTEN UP.... is to make sure your loved one is as comfortable as he can be. YOUR job is to love him and let him go where he is not in any more pain. By the way, I will be here for you as long as you like to answer any questions you may have and you are welcome to grieve in the room with your loved one.

Specializes in NICU.

That no, I'm not here to feed and diaper your baby for you throughout your entire hospital stay .... at some point you will be taking this baby home, as it's YOURS, and now is a good time to learn to do all of these things!

No, I don't HAVE to give you the tetorifice shot if you are afraid of needles, but I DO have to tell you that after a cut like that and no tetorifice vaccine in over 10 years you could develop a deadly infection.

When you weigh 500lbs, have uncontrolled diabetes and smoke you will die at a very young age. The neuropathy pain you have in your legs is the least of your problems.

You are abusing the system when you come into ER by ambulance at the same time of night every couple of weeks with vague symptoms (weakness, nausea, etc...) then ask for a sandwich and a commode as soon as you get there.

That no, I'm not here to feed and diaper your baby for you throughout your entire hospital stay .... at some point you will be taking this baby home, as it's YOURS, and now is a good time to learn to do all of these things!

Amen! and Amen!

I had one father say to me "If I do all of that ( diapering and feeding) what do you get paid for?":trout:

I'm here it make sure you learn to feed your former 25wkr correctly. He needs lots of pacing,frequent burping and an increase in his O2 when he eats or he bradys and refluxes. But you would not know that because you're too busy being a smart xxx. :angryfire

And another thing, I'm not keeping your best friend's cousin's mother's son's friend from seeing the baby. But I will if he shows up with out a parent as an escort. Remember the sign outside the unit apply to you too princess.

these past 2 weeks have been sooo stressful on sooo many levels.

and i am ready to SCREAM.

so, i will start with a few simple requests and 1 little reminder.

1. i wish i had more time to finish all of the admission questions and paperwork. please don't try to have a conversation w/your sister or answer your cell phone while i'm admitting you. and please try to answer my questions concisely. i have to ask you about every imaginable disease and disorder. let's not have long chats about the ones you don't have.

2. i wish patients took their health much more seriously. too many are here today because of poor, irresponsible choices. stressors destroy body and mind. i wish my patients laughed more...took time for their spiritual and psychological well-being. modern medicine is wonderful, often life-saving happenstance. but preventative and fruitful living is even better.

3. i wish physicians knew our roles in healthcare. they seldom spend time at the bedside unless there's an emergency; and never stay on a floor more than 1-2 months. they possess skills/knowledge about pt care, but little information about how pts are served in the hospital. this lack of knowledge about nursing and nursing's unique contributions, seem self-defeating given how closely we work together. physicians need to walk in our shoes.

i have always seen myself as a professional. i know some nurses feel beneath physicians but i've never felt that way. nurses are separate and distinct from doctors. we possess different legal privileges because they can write orders. but, i have the ability not to follow those orders if they are detrimental to the pt. nurses provide a lot of care for the pts that physicians do not know how to provide. we need both physicians and nurses to work as a team for complete care of the pt. i present myself as an asset, and as a part of the team. and the primary and attending physicians treat me that way. they solicit my opinion as much as i solicit theirs. not always so, for the interns and new residents. despite an overwhelming curriculum in med school, it is not too much to request that med students shadow nurses for a term, to see how the other half leads. afterall, we ARE the ones who provide the care. physicians prescribe it. you can't have one w/o the other.

4. oh. and for the record? nausea is not an allergic reaction. it is a common adverse event to potentially every available med out there. sheesh.

leslie

Ok, I love this. Now how are we going to get this stuff out into the public eye? Ideas anyone?

Ok, I love this. Now how are we going to get this stuff out into the public eye? Ideas anyone?

Post it over the patient's/customer's beds like they like to post that open your eyes nurse and look at me poem (you know, the one's where they want to try to make you feel guilty because you don't have time to stand and admire your patient's and see to their every whim.)

I wish patient's families knew that the doctors come on rounds twice a day then are gone. Yes, there is a critical care doc nearby, and the surgeons can be paged. Surgeons can be hard to get a hold of to give you a report on your loved one. This is not my fault.

I wish people would understand that the human mortality rate remains unchanged at 100%.

Amen!

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