I guess I'm a florist now too....

Q. · Oct 28, 2005

Aren't flowers and the water full of pseudomonas?

Probably all the more reason to change the water and remove dead flowers if you notice them in your patient rooms.

I don't know if you've ever seen what happens to the water when dead foliage is left to decay, but it doesn't look or smell pleasant at all..

cricher55 · Nov 4, 2005

I have unpacked and arranged flowers for patients because someone sent a bedbound patient flowers ordered from the internet. No family present and the volunteer who loves to that sort of thing is not there that day.

What made it worth while for me was that the patient was truly grateful.

I dont mind doing that sort of thing for patients who have no ablebodied visitors/family present.:flowersfo

nursemaa · Nov 4, 2005

I would have gotten the vase and put the flowers in it, not because I think it's my job or part of nursing, but because I like doing things for others. I would, however have given her "the look" that says: "Gee, you don't have to be so snippy about it".

If I didn't have time right then, I would have told her I was in the middle of caring for another patient, but would be glad to see if someone is available to help her out. Then I would ask an aid or someone who isn't busy to find her a vase, or do it when I got a free minute.

lindylou54 · Nov 4, 2005

well you know what?

I think you should have cut the stems all different sizes and of course "amputate" a "few" leaves, put a few DSD on the flowers and.......well I think oyu get the point-lol:nurse:

flashpoint · Nov 4, 2005

hi! i am new to this site,i am a nurse and i want to say this burned me up when i read it!!:angryfire this happens to me as well,and it seems like it happens in the most inconvient times,i am always in a fasted paced mode anyway,and it always takes one inconsiderant family member to try to slow you down.i work for an urgent care clinic,and their was a daughter that brought her mother in simply because she was acting "strange" as she put it,the daughter looked to be in her late 40's early 50's, so anywho the daughter insist's that I help her mother into the bathroom and get her cleaned up because she knew she had a bm on the way there! well that did not fly with me at all i looked dead at her and said "the bathroom is the 3rd door on the left,you are more than welcome to use it ,i am very busy and i am the only nurse here at this time. needless to say the hag daughter did not take her own mother to the bathroom,!!!!!!!!! waht does that say about family?

I can relate to this one. We run a multi-specialty clinic in the hospital Monday through Friday. We are a small rural hospital without a lot of specialists, so specialists from surrounding hospitals set up a clinic here so their patients don't have to travel to see them. I work there every now and then to help cover vacations, sick days, etc. We have an elderly couple that sees the cardiologist once a month and the wife has pretty severe alzheimers. The husband is pretty healthy, so he takes care of her. He often brings her to the clinic with a soiled brief and expects the nurses to change it and clean her up. It's not exactly easy to do in a public bathroom and it is honestly a pain to have to go to the floor to get her a clean brief (he never brings one for her), get the washcloths and soap, and find another nurse to help her stand while you do her pericare. The husband always cleans her up in her bed and just rolls her from side to side since she can't stand. We have a "family" bathroom, so it's not like he can't take care of her because he can't go into the women's restroom or she can't go into the men's.

I certainly don't think I am above helping a patient or anything, but this is just not a good situation for us to be put in. The multi-specialty clinic is very busy and all of the nurses are usually busy helping another doctor, scheduling appointments, doing reminder calls, etc. Often, we have to call a nurse from the floor to help us with this woman because it is just not a one-man job.

We also see a lot of visitors who think that we should change their baby's diapers. More than once, we have been handed a soaking wet or stinky baby and told, "He needs his diaper changed." This is one that I simply refuse to do...it is not my job to care for the visitor's children.

What irks me more than anything is the sense of entitlement. Being in the hospital or having a loved one in the hospital does not give anyone the right to be flat out rude. It does not mean that someone else will take care of responsibilities that you are very capable of handling on your own and it does not mean that the nurses are at your beck and call. I won't refuse to help with things when I have time, as I know how stressful a hospitalization can be...I will not, however be walked all over and treated like a servant.

sandiixx · Nov 4, 2005

I quite often fix the flowers or get a vase for the flowers at work when i am asked nicely about a vase or I see the flowers there but if someone approached me like that ( and thank goodness it hasnt happened) I would have to pull them up on it for sure. I do not take being spoken to like that at all and wouldnt put up with it!

sunny78 · Nov 5, 2005

i agree, i would never bluntly refuse to help anyone,but it erks me so bad when patients families or their ''friends'' that come in their with them,and its like instead of them being seen for their illness,all of the sudden they have registered at the HILTON,and no one else is their but them!!! we all have experienced patients like this,but you know the people that come with them are worse than the patient is!

Indy, LPN, LVN · Nov 5, 2005

I have to admit I was thinking of this thread monday night when I revamped a floral arrangement that I know had been on the nurses desk since the wednesday night the week before. It was N-A-S-T-Y but about 4 blooms were still really pretty.

I made a mess of the kitchen, to say the least. Leaves EVERYWHERE. Of course then I cleaned it up 'cause I just thought it would be ridiculous to have housekeeping woke up for baby's breath and soggy leaves all in the kitchen. What was interesting, was that under the sink in the cabinet, I discovered about 20 clean flower vases, so I was able to save the few pretty blooms and put 'em back out. Where I drew the line on this was that I didn't cut the stems down 'cause I'd have felt the need to have my nursing scissors autoclaved. Blegh. Kinda funny though, I looked around at my mess and thought, no, I'm definitely not gonna be a florist anytime soon.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Nov 5, 2005

years ago, i worked with a resident that was a real "south end of a north-bound mule". he wrote an order in enormous block letters across most of a page of order sheet:

"flower care q 24 h."

because i'm a little prickly about stuff like that, i called him when i saw the order, and asked him what exactly he meant by that. "you know," he replied. "take care of the patient's flowers." what a jerk!

ruby (and that was one of the reasons we woke him up at 3 am to draw blood gases on a dead patient.)

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Nov 6, 2005

(And that was ONE of the reasons we woke him up at 3 AM to draw blood gases on a dead patient.)

Yes, but were the flowers still alive?

GrnHonu99, RN · Nov 6, 2005

EEEEKKK...takes me back to the days when I was a waitress...you wouldn't believe some of the things customers would ask me to do...well maybe you would..I certainly would NOT have done it...how rude.

RN34TX · Nov 6, 2005

EEEEKKK...takes me back to the days when I was a waitress...you wouldn't believe some of the things customers would ask me to do...well maybe you would..I certainly would NOT have done it...how rude.

Yeah, like waiting tables is much less different than nursing, at least on a Med/Surg unit anyway.

I went through LPN school as a waiter/bartender and saw many similarities between nursing and waiting tables and slinging drinks.

It's all about the customer.