If I hear that one more time I swear I am going to stop wherever I am and scream. Literally. I will stand there and scream until The People come to take me away for evaluation. :uhoh21:
I haven't worked staff at a facility for a very long time so I haven't had to deal with this issue personally in eons but it still chaps my hide every time I hear it.
Today I was supposed to meet my sister for lunch. I arrived at her facility and waited in the car at the designated spot. She didn't come down after 15 min so I called up to the unit (I used to work there). The secretary told me she said to meet her on the unit and we could eat in the staff cafeteria instead. I didn't understand why but when I went up to the floor I saw a huge semi-circle around Nursing Station B comprised of nurses, aides, administrative big-wigs, and family members of a particular resident. Particular as in picky. I hear, from the ENTRANCE of the unit the man of the family (father, uncle, whatever?) yelling "I want her fired!" He is pointing at this poor aide slinked low against the nursing station half crying, half yelling something about new bed linens. The rest of the staff, my sister included, are trying to calm down the man and his female companion, meanwhile he is still yelling "I want her fired. If this is the type of trash you hire in this facility then you should be closed down and I'm going to call State."
:nono:Oh, no, not those words. That's a bad threat.
So now this poor girl may lose her job. I don't know for sure because obviously my sis didn't get a lunch, or rather, I had to leave before I even spoke to her, so I don't know if she got a lunch or not. But she missed OUR lunch date because some layman read somewhere or heard somewhere that if you threaten to call State you can get anything you want. That is an abuse of power and it peeves me to no end. Further, I feel it is highly improper and rude that a family member can dictate who is or isn't employed at a facility.
This is not to say that she didn't deserve to be reprimanded. I don't know what she did, but I highly doubt it is worthy of being fired and even if it IS, that should be at the discretion of the facility not a family member.
Or even better, there are the odd people that take care of their elderly mother/grandmother at home and then sit there nitpicking and questioning every thing you do with their loved one.
Almost inevitably, at least one of the diagnoses will be dehydration...I just go, "hmmm" to myself and let if fly....whatever. Let them think they're just the greatest caretakers in the world. They're probably busy spending the social security checks or planning how they're going to spend the money the inherit while the family member they are taking care of is probably sitting around the house dehydrated all the time. Go ahead and question everything I do; and yet not even have the slightest concept of basic human needs. If they're neglected on such a basic need, you have to wonder on how many levels their needs go unfulfilled.
As my wife used to say "Instant old lady, just add water."
Maybe these people just don't understand what's important or how to take care of someone and need education and training. How soon do you want to see the same pt again?
Don't demographics suggest that a lot more care will be done at home in the future and a lot of what nurses do will be to support this?
I think difference about nursing and manageing healthcare in the UK is that the relatives can shout as loud as they like it is almost impossible to get anyone fired. There is a lengthy and difficult process to go through to terminate anyone and you have to prove that retraining and re-evaluation is offered. We have strict emplyment laws and policies and staff are always encouraged to be a member of a union.
Complaints are recieved and dealt with but staff are rarely fired because of them
this in itself presents some problems, one of the biggest gripes of nurses who work in va or state hospitals are the aides and lazy nurses who have served a probation period and are now tenured and it is nest to impossible to get rid of them..there should be something in between the two extremes
On the phone with Denise now. She says that the resident's daughter-in-law (wife of screaming jerk) saw the CNA use the same wash cloth on her MIL that she had just used on the resident's roommate. Then, she was irrate because the CNA did not change the resident's bed linens and the family has expressly requested that the linens get changed twice a day (in the morning and at HS) because resident is incontinent and has always had fresh linens each night when she lived at home.
OK, first of all, I HIGHLY doubt a CNA would use the same wash cloth on one resident that she would on another. That's entirely gross and it violates everything we are taught on the most basic medical level. Secondly, even if CNA HAD done that, when would she have had a chance to change the bed linens? I am pretty sure DIL would have stopped CNA in her tracks with her rants and allegations, completely impeding the CNAs ability to continue her duties. This is JMHO but I know I wouldn't want a PCT/CNA to continue to care for my relative ANY FURTHER if I saw that type of substandard care. Judging from the fiasco I witness at Station B I am pretty sure that family feels the same.
My sister then told me that CNA is certainly going to be fired and I think the whole situation is ludicrous. It's absolutely insane. It's an injustice. I am peeved right now and I don't even work there.:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire
If the family saw her using the same, dirty washcloth on her, why did they let her? And they really shouldn't have seen the CNA washing the roommate since the curtain should be drawn... unless they were peeking in the cracks that those curtains always leave behind... Sounds ridiculous to me... but I guess I wasn't there.
We see this all the time in ER. We have Patient Advocates that round on patients to see if they are getting "proper' care.
When some patient or family member becomes verbally abusive, the Advocate gives them a gift: gas cards, free meal tickets; to smooth things over. Management says we have a zero tolerance for abuse of the nursing staff!
What a laugh! Blame it all on Press-Ganey!!!!!:selfbonk:
Comment:When some patient or family member becomes verbally abusive, the Advocate gives them a gift: gas cards, free meal tickets; to smooth things over. Management says we have a zero tolerance for abuse of the nursing staff...
While I rarely respond to topics, this topic I will express a somewhat rejected solution (by nurses). The time has come that nurses need to recognize that this behavior is verbal and emotional abuse and it is NOT acceptable ! The verbal degrading by the family member is assault and in the presence of others is also libel. The lack of proactive intervention by management is also abuse. When nurses bring civil suits against those who abuse them, then this behavior might stop. Management supports pt/family complaints to prevent being sued, because nurses have never sued their employers for abuse we are left vulnerable. Some of you may think and say "it will cost me my job" well, why would you want to work under such conditions.
Am I a new nurse ? No, I gave nursing 40+ years of my life to nursing. I have seen many changes, but the one that saddens me most is the lack of respect or appreciation shown to nurses. MC
Yes but this does not stop relatives shouting. There was a time when there was more respect for nurses. Of course a genuine complaint needs attention but I've encountered 'difficult personalities' who (in my opinion) are seeking to fill a need for attention or are 'working-out' their feelings around the admission of their sick relative. Whichever way, they are a demoralising influence and not enough support is given to the staff in question.
We are really lucky where I work, we have very supporting managment and there is an absolutely zero tolerance to relatives or patients shouting or abusing staff. The slightest hint then they are warned to calm down, obviously we appreciate that stress can be a huge factor but if it continues they are escorted from the trust by security.
this in itself presents some problems, one of the biggest gripes of nurses who work in va or state hospitals are the aides and lazy nurses who have served a probation period and are now tenured and it is nest to impossible to get rid of them..there should be something in between the two extremes
Your not wrong there, and that is big problem with some areas of the UK healthcare system, but that's a whole different thread
How many of us have been counselled after doing nothing wrong but the patient's perception of our actions reflected poorly on the hospital? And how do you fix that?
I can think of a way to fix this, but it's likely to cause employment issues when the manager is asked these questions.
"Don't nurses deserve to be treated like human beings?"
"Isn't anyone responsible and accountable for their own behavior anymore?"
"Which is more important--patients lives and safety or customer service?"
If the family saw her using the same, dirty washcloth on her, why did they let her? And they really shouldn't have seen the CNA washing the roommate since the curtain should be drawn... unless they were peeking in the cracks that those curtains always leave behind... Sounds ridiculous to me... but I guess I wasn't there.
I don't believe for a minute that the CNA did re-use the washcloth.
Specializes in telemetry, med-surg, home health, psych.
#l- DON should have taken all involved into an office or other area away from other pts. and staff, visitor, whoever....
I used to work as Supervisor in LTC on weekends and had to deal with irate family members all the time...you do need to cater somewhat to them but I never allowed aggressive behavior, if it came to that I let them know that I would not tolerate that and they would have to come back when they were calm enough to discuss the matter. I generally was able to keep things quiet and diffuse the situation but, yes it can be very challenging....it takes all kinds, and I think I met them all !!!!!!!!!!!
They are having a care planning meeting for the resident on Tuesday. Sister said that there was a notice stapled to all the unit nurses' paychecks today telling them that it was mandatory that they ALL attend and that floats will be sent to the unit for the hour meeting. She has Tuesday off but has to go because the SON requested the meeting and is threatening to move his mom if the meeting is not held on his next available day to attend (which I assume is Tuesday). Everyone has to rearrange their lives to once again appease this one person. Why do all the nurses have to attend? That is ludicrous. She has to go in on her day off for an hour. They set a precedent with this one family member and it's not a good one.
stevenschmidt
8 Posts
As my wife used to say "Instant old lady, just add water."
Maybe these people just don't understand what's important or how to take care of someone and need education and training. How soon do you want to see the same pt again?
Don't demographics suggest that a lot more care will be done at home in the future and a lot of what nurses do will be to support this?