Just when I think I've heard it all from patients' family members...
We have a young patient with Downs syndrome on our Med/Surg unit right now; he is very sweet to take care of and has a nice smile but unfortunately he has expressive aphasia and will yell out at random times even with a one-to-one sitter, he has been on our unit before and this is his normal baseline.
Anyway, I was on my way home from work when the son of one of my other patients came up to me, pointed at the room with our Downs patient and said "when can we get rid of that nuisance, it's been 2 days already!?" I just kind of looked at him (I was tired, it was the end of a LONG 12 hour shift, after all). The son went on to say:
"This is a public hospital, we should not have to be subjected to that kind of harassment. People like that (again pointing at the other patients' room) need to be removed from the rest of us. My father doesn't deserve to listen to that *expletive*. Get that thing out of here and away from us normal folks."
I had a lot I WANTED to say at this point, but I just apologized again for the noise, and told the son that I was sorry, but as this was a public hospital we cannot refuse to treat anyone, all patients who come to us receive the treatment they need. I then walked away.
What I wish I could've said but couldn't due to our customer service model, was "How DARE you? What is "normal" Who are you to judge who is or is not a person (calling the mentally handicapped patient a 'thing') So you want to segregate all mentally challenged people away from the general public, great idea (sarcasm) Do you know who else thought that was a great idea? Adolf Hitler."
he probably felt guilty about not wanting to be there. His problem, not yours. I take the passive-agressive approach on these situations because otherwise I would be in jail.
Amen! There are cameras everywhere now, so you know for sure they would be able to prove you tagged them.
Yeah, I'd want to smack the moron, too. Goes back to what I tell new nurses -- it's not the patients, it's the families that will drive you crazy...
AMEN! When my Mother was in the hospital, I did not tell them I was a nurse until I seen trouble and same with my daughter when she was having my first grandchild, I did not want to be one to over step my boundaries. However I did stand up when the situation needed advocation for my loved one as I would for any patient.
I have also found that I truely cannot believe how crazy some of these patients families are and patient teaching sometimes go straight out the window
24 y/o pt admitted, with HCT 19, plts 11, WBC 150K, 90% blasts from ER, no known history of cancer. Pt has white CXR, sats 78% on RA. The obvious suspected diagnosis is new diagnosis AML with pneumonia/pulmonary leukostasis, a rather dangerous situation. In an excellent hospital, pt would go to IMU/ICU for Bipap and probable intubation, where there is close observation for when (not if) she goes bad.
RN, however, was in Florida, where the oncologists do not want to share power with another MD, so pt goes to Medical Oncology, where RNs have 6-12 patients apiece on days, and only remote tele. Thankfully the RN has only 6 pts (thank G-d) nd the other RN on the side has 7. RNs insist that pt be placed closest to nursing station (we argued until blue in the face that pt needed an ICU bed) and starting Bipap as pt is difficult to stabilize on other O2. Bipap has a very quiet alarm (management doesn't want the alarms "disturbing" people) that is not adjustable. Pt is also coughing and very nauseated, thus at risk of aspiration. So we leave the door open, to observe and monitor.
I walk by door and find it closed and promptly reopen it. Pt keeps pulling off Bipap as she is uncomfortable, and promptly desats rapidly so we have to keep replacing it. A few minutes later, door is closed. I reopen it. I then catch another pt's vistor closing the door. I explain that the door must stay open.
A few minutes later, the patient concierge comes up, wanting to speak to me and shuts the patient's door. You see the visitor for another patient called her because, she felt sick. Mind you, not another patient but the patient's visitor felt sick. Why, you ask? Because listening to that coughing from "that" room and how mean the nurses were making the pt wear that mask.....it was making her (the visitor) nauseous.
Just to make clear, none of the pts were disturbed, but the visitors hanging out, gossiping in the hall were "bothered".
As my partner and I tried to explain to the patient concierge, PC kept asking if there was anyway we could just move our critically ill pt "farther away". We gave up and turfed her to the manager, and returned to trying to keep our 24 y/o alive.....and reopened the door.
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
Good one Esme!
:thankya::thankya: I haven't been at this profession from bedside to management to supervision for 33 years without knowing how to pass the buck with elegance and grace......
... IMHO, loud and disruptive patients (no matter what the cause) should always be in a private room or with a patient who will not be disturbed by them.
And IMHO, those loud and disruptive patients (no matter what the cause) shouldn't be loud and disruptive, regardless of a private room or with a patient who won't be disturbed. HA! Tain't gonna happen, though, is it? Even if they're loud/disruptive in a private room/with a patient who won't be disturbed, it may still carry over into the hallway/other rooms. Fact.
That son who wanted the disruptive patient "away from the normal" ppl needs some attention. His stress over his loved one needs to be recognized and his desire to remove the disruptive patient in the hospital (public OR private) needs to be reality checked to him that there are other patients that need care as much as his loved one. If that doesn't work, refer him to the clinical supervisor/up the ladder. I don't have a problem dumping this up the ladder because I have better things to do with my time... like taking care of the loved one AND the disruptive/loud patient.
I do believe that the poor guy was sleep deprived and concerned about his father's welfare. He just couldn't figure out how to say it nicely.
As long as we continue to excuse poor behavior, we'll continue to have to put up with poor behavior. Sure there's a reason. I'm sure he is sleep deprived. That doesn't give him a right to be a jerk.
Specializes in Happily semi-retired; excited for the whole whammy.
The OP wasn't upset because a family member came to her with a concern about his father's need for rest. It was the way he chose to express himself and none of us should be his apologist. I find it ironic that the son chose to point out that it's a public hospital, since public facilities are the very ones that have no discretion as to who they serve. Using public facilities has its advantages; dictating who else uses them isn't one of those. Ideally, the young man would have had his own room, but even if he had, those walls aren't soundproof. It is likely that someone would be disturbed. Yes, it is up to the nursing staff to take every measure possible to ensure that patients are able to get the rest they need, but that's not always possible. When I had my son, a new hospital was being built on the same grounds as the one in which I was recovering. I was awakened from more than one nap by the noise of a piece of heavy machinery. Had I or a family member insist that I be housed where this wouldn't happen, we would have been informed that there was no such room in that hospital and I'd have been invited to recuperate elsewhere, I'm sure. We can only do as much as we can do. That doesn't excuse this guy's bigotry or hateful diatribe. Ugh!
bostonbakednurse
65 Posts
I do believe that the poor guy was sleep deprived and concerned about his father's welfare. He just couldn't figure out how to say it nicely.