I was just thinking about the family of a recent admission.We knew we were in trouble when we met the adult children. The #1 contact had tardive dyskinesia and it quickly became clear that reasoning with this person would not be possible. We were taken aback a when we saw the list of meds which he provided. Narcotics,benzos galore. It seems that if his mom couldn't sleep he would just pop her a second ambien and if that failed another klonopin was given. If her back pain did not respond to "vikadin" he had plenty of ms contin handy. A days worth of thorazine was her regular bedtime routine.
It was also apparent that the full time care giver/crack ho was under the influence of something-possibly some of her patient's meds? A few days ago the social worker received a call from the same son-seems mom's social security check did not arrive.He just could not understand that it goes to the home now.
What kinds of things strike fear into your heart when you first encounter a new admission or their significant others?
Specializes in Recovery (PACU)-11 yrs, General-13yrs.
You know when you are in for trouble when:
The first family member you meet apologizes in advance for the behavior of family members yet to come.....
Been there, done that.
When my mother-in-law was in hospital last year the eldest D-I-L never actually came to see her before she died, but spent alot of time on the phone telling the nurses & doctors how to do it right (she was a 'carer' and thus knew it all). In the meantime whenever the other two D-I-L's went to visit they had to preface any conversations with 'No, I'm not that daughter'.
When you walk into the unit for your shift, and all the halls are deserted except one--and in the middle of that hall is a knot of people consisting of the CEO of the hospital, the ADON, the Charge, a few nurses & techs, a couple of security guards, and a few people you don't know.
In my experience, the most reliable indicator of a potentially problematic new patient is that patient's allergy list. An extremely lengthy allergy list is almost always a sign that a "challenge" is on the way.
I am so discouraged today that I am still at home, dreading to go in. I am the DON at the nursing home and so my hours are flexible. I have just sat here and read each one of these posts, and laughed until I have cried. I have had patients like all of these! So now I feel better. I am going to go blow my nose, put my big girl panties on and act like I want to go to work. Thanks to all.
I made the mistake of complaining to my CN (in jest) that I never get the 19y.o. female admissions. So, the next admission was--you guessed it. But the very first order on my Kardex was: "Absolutely no narcotics."
-the family says they will sue if morphine is given
-the DPOA wants to follow the patent's wishes, but the sister out west (who hasn't seen the patient in 10 years) wants to continue aggresive treatment. She is flying in tomarrow.
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icyounurse, BSN, RN
385 Posts
LOL. Or even better: "My grand niece's sister's cousin twice removed is in nursing school, and she wants to talk to you and look at the chart."