why the lack of baths

Nurses General Nursing

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Ok I just read part of a post talking about keeping people clean and now i have a bone to pick. I would like to know why there is a lack of baths or even washing up when in the hospital ??

My dad way in the hospital for a week and he got no bath the hole time :mad:????

I was i the hospital for a few days after surgery I was unable to get up or even really sit up for 2 days .

On day one i asked for a washcloth to wipe down my hands and face . thats the most I got on day one No toothbrush or anything? On day two the cna or nurse walked in and asked if I would like a toothbrush and toothpaste :)" all right bath time !!" I am the kind of person that takes 2 showers a day so you can understand how upset i was when i heard the the items being toss on the sink as she walked out :mad: By the end of the day i had it so I called the cna in still do not know who came in nurse or cna and asked to be undone from the c##p on every arm and leg i have so i could brush my teeth then as I am getting ready to get up she walks out yelling hit the call bell when you are done "OH THANKS " So as I am standing up and trying to ami myself towards the sink I am think WOW this was a bad idea if there ever was one I grabed onto the sink and holding on dear life i did mange to brush my teeth :) I then fell back on to the bed side ways that the #### call bell was not there "no glasses on so I could not see it and with the way i was cut forget about bending . In the end another pt heard me and called for help but come ? and I never did get a bath but at least I got a new gown as mine was bloody and wet ? but what is the deal here ?

Specializes in LTC, medsurg.
Honestly, by the time I give all the meds, do all the procedures, check all the charts, document the assessments, call all the docs with changes in the patients or with all of the questions that the patients forgot to ask them when there were there, updated all of the family members that have called to check on the patients, meds, meds and more meds, stopped to pee twice and shoveled some food in my mouth for about 10minutes out of 13-14 hours of the day.....I have not had any time to help each patient to bath. I hope that my PCT would have done that, but depending on the patients that you have, you are bouncing between call bells all day long

I had a group the other day when room 1 would call and I would go in there, then while I was in there room 2 would call. I would leave room 1 when I was done with what they wanted and got to room 2. When I was in room 2, room 3 was calling. I would leave room 2 when I was done with what they wanted and go to room 3. While in room 3, room 1 was calling again. I did this little dance from 7am until about 3pm. Which meant that I got no charting done, no doctors orders done (which would tell me I had procedures that needed to be started or new meds.), I was not able to go to the bathroom in that entire time and I did not get anything to eat for the day until about 4pm.

Honestly, we would all love to take care of you from head to foot and make sure that every patient is bathed and has absolutly no problems or needs, but when you have so many patients and so much that HAS to be done by the nurse, you literally don't have time. I get so frustrated, because at the end of the day I think of all of the things that I really wanted to do for each and every patient and just was not able to do. This stuff literally wakes me up in the middle of the night and I say....did I get that cup of coffee for that patient or did I forget because the other guy's bp was 200/100?

I completely understand. And this doesn't mean that you're not a good nurse or give inappropriate care because the bath wasn't done.

Medsurg is just crazy!

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Specializes in cardiology/oncology/MICU.
I'm not trying to take any stabs at any one shift. I don't work nights so I don't know what goes on. I'm just stating why I don't do more baths or why a lot of times I don't see them being done during my shift.

Sorry if you misunderstood my comment.

I did not misunderstand you. Every unit is different. I was just saying that is how it is where I work. No worries:clown:

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Specializes in MED/SURG STROKE UNIT, LTC SUPER., IMU.

Thank you Kanga. There are times when I feel like such a pitiful excuse for a nurse because I can't be everywhere at once. I gave safe care, but did I do everything for each and every person to make them feel better or more comfortable? It is absolutely insane on med/surg floors with all of the admissions, discharges, procedures and just the amount of patients. Our top patient load is 7, which is fine if you don't have any heavy cases or if everyone is stable with no discharges and admissions. Once you start throwing any of that in there you might as well hang it up.....you will be there until 9pm at night finishing up and then turn around to be there at 6:45am the next day only to be yelled at for leaving so late.

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Re: why doesn't nightshift do more baths...

Unless the pt is completely out of it, can you imagine the hollering that would be done if we were waking them up in the middle of the night for a bath? More hollering than for not bathing them at all. And there's only so much you can do in the first few hours of the shift.

Re: why doesn't dayshift do more baths...

If you're walkie talkie, you need to be bathing yourself. If you're not totally out of it, you need to do what you can for yourself, and get help with the rest. But unfortunately, since hospitals staff for the staff to do twice as much work as is humanly possible, bathing is going to be at the bottom of the to do list, underneath the tasks that will keep you alive.

Re: Family members that think their pt didn't get bathed the whole time....

One, did you ask? Two, I've had many a patient that refuses hygiene care, then complains to the family that they didn't get any. Three, I've often mixed in cleaning a few areas when I'm changing diapers. So while I never go in and give a "bath," over the course of the shift everywhere has been bathed. But it was all done while I kicked the family out of the room, so in their mind, I'm sooooo lazy and never gave the pt a bath.

But overall, staffing in the hospital sucks. And quite honestly, these days, if you make it out alive, you're doing better than some patients. And usually the ones that complain about things like not getting a bath were either well enough to bathe themselves or were so sick that their bath was pre-empted by saving their life.

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I think I should add I was not on a floor it seemed more like a cross between icu and a floor there where maybe 10 rooms in all if that and there seemed to be lots of staff because I had my vs done a lot and there where 3 people doing them at each shift for the most part they where grate, well all but this one nurse but anyway . I never waited more then 5 min. For someone to come when I called so thats why I just to done get it. That seemed to be the olney thing that buged me well that and being woken up at night for vs , blood draws, shots , meds ,

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Specializes in LTC, medsurg.
Thank you Kanga. There are times when I feel like such a pitiful excuse for a nurse because I can't be everywhere at once. I gave safe care, but did I do everything for each and every person to make them feel better or more comfortable? It is absolutely insane on med/surg floors with all of the admissions, discharges, procedures and just the amount of patients. Our top patient load is 7, which is fine if you don't have any heavy cases or if everyone is stable with no discharges and admissions. Once you start throwing any of that in there you might as well hang it up.....you will be there until 9pm at night finishing up and then turn around to be there at 6:45am the next day only to be yelled at for leaving so late.

Sometimes I feel the same way, but I think we do the best we can with the circumstances. Sometimes I'll have 3 out of 6 patients that may be getting dilaudid or morphine q2h or q3h, so I'm just running from room to room all day constantly pushing these meds...... all while knowing in the back of my mind that I need to squeeze in a bath for a poor little incontinent bed ridden patient that never asks or calls for anything. Medsurg is extremely hard work, and unless someone has worked a mile in our shoes, will never know why baths can't get done. I'm thankful for the post by the ICU nurse that use to work medsurg who understands the day in a life of a medsurg nurse!

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.

In 2 years of clinicals I never saw anything close to this situation happening. It wouldn't fly at the 4 hospitals here. Also my many many years as a patient I never had an experience like this either. Sounds like a bad hospital and make sure when stuff like this happens you tell the hospital about it or it won't get fixed.

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Specializes in MED/SURG STROKE UNIT, LTC SUPER., IMU.

Yeah, the dil-lala every 2-3 hours is hard when you have so many patients.

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But overall, staffing in the hospital sucks. And quite honestly, these days, if you make it out alive, you're doing better than some patients. And usually the ones that complain about things like not getting a bath were either well enough to bathe themselves or were so sick that their bath was pre-empted by saving their life.

Isn't that the truth!

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Specializes in Professional Development Specialist.

I work in sub acute, which is just barely post hospital and often a very long way from home. I think a LOT of people these days forget that you are in the hospital to get stable enough to go somewhere else. Insurance isn't going to pay for you to stay days and weeks until you feel 100% anymore. The nurses in hospitals don't have the time to stand by and hand patients a wet wash cloth while you shower. It's flat out not realistic. If they have a patient that is physically able to somewhat bath themselves and have the mental ability to use the call light if they need help in some way, it seems to me that is a reasonable expectation. If you are going home in a day or two, who is going to shower you? If the answer is no one then you need to show you can do it alone before you discharge. Otherwise you can spend a few weeks in a rehab facility, where you won't get a shower more than twice a week. :D But you will still be expected to push yourself and do as much as you possibly can yourself.

I was a patient not so long ago who was very ill. But since I was still expected to shower myself and brush my own teeth. I am old enough not to expect anyone else to do so for me, and not so old that I can't do it on my own. Maybe we should all appreciate our independence, even when we feel crappy.

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I work in sub acute, which is just barely post hospital and often a very long way from home. I think a LOT of people these days forget that you are in the hospital to get stable enough to go somewhere else. Insurance isn't going to pay for you to stay days and weeks until you feel 100% anymore. The nurses in hospitals don't have the time to stand by and hand patients a wet wash cloth while you shower. It's flat out not realistic. If they have a patient that is physically able to somewhat bath themselves and have the mental ability to use the call light if they need help in some way, it seems to me that is a reasonable expectation. If you are going home in a day or two, who is going to shower you? If the answer is no one then you need to show you can do it alone before you discharge. Otherwise you can spend a few weeks in a rehab facility, where you won't get a shower more than twice a week. :D But you will still be expected to push yourself and do as much as you possibly can yourself.

I was a patient not so long ago who was very ill. But since I was still expected to shower myself and brush my own teeth. I am old enough not to expect anyone else to do so for me, and not so old that I can't do it on my own. Maybe we should all appreciate our independence, even when we feel crappy.

I was not wanting them to do it for me but to at lest hand me a basin with water ? And to atleast stay in the room long anuff for me to stand up ? And when I came home I fix have to hire an Ade to help me because I was so week I really could not stand

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Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.
I was not wanting them to do it for me but to at lest hand me a basin with water ? And to atleast stay in the room long anuff for me to stand up ? And when I came home I fix have to hire an Ade to help me because I was so week I really could not stand

Did you ask them to fill your basin? I know that the aide or nurse should have offered at the very least, but many times they are so busy running around that the obvious is overlooked. I am sorry you are still dwelling about your bad experience.

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