do you make sure your pts

Nurses General Nursing

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Hello fellow nurses;-)

my DH and I went to visit his mother in the hosp today...this was her 2nd day, dx dehydration. she is pleasant late 80s with pretty severe dementia. Very nice hospital, quiet,,,no one rushing around...(not like the hospital I use to work at;-) staff at desk talking amongst each other.. anyway, MIL with crust all around her lips, mouth very dry, hence the crust(no swabs around) eyes crusty, hair not brushed and has matted(she has never looked like that.EVER.)it was a somewhat of a shock for my DH to see her like that.. her heels right on the bed(not propped on a pillow)so the heels do not break down....this was at about 5pm. My husband was so angry..he said if they all have time to stand around and talk why hasn't someone cleaned her up?

Anyway..I do not want to bash any other HCP, but i do see his point..we were both just so exhausted, when her nurse strolled over to the room from the front desk we didnt even ask why she wasnt cleaned up..I just did it and was happy to do it for my dear MIL. I know when i was tons busy, running my butt off I still made sure either myself or the aide did the care...hair brushed, face washed off, mouth care(esp. with dementia pt who didnt drink much, would go in and swab their mouths...constant rounds on the floor, esp. when things were quiet..time to catch up and whoever needed some things..got them.

So fellow nurses, my question..do you make sure your aides(if you have them)or you, yourself, make sure your pts are getting at least some minimal grooming done? Thanks.

Specializes in DOU.
Does the staff need to get a bit better at time management? Yes

I - for one - would LOVE someone to come in and teach me how to get better at time management. Maybe then, I would have time for at least one of the 15 minute breaks I am legally entitled to, or maybe I could have a lunch break before 2:30 or 3:00.

I honestly feel I do a heroic amount of work during a day in the hospital, and I don't think many people could do more. We are ALL limited by time, the quality and quantity of our CNAs, and the number of total care patients we are assigned.

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It is things like that that made me leave med surg.

I didn't have the satisfaction of giving good care, and without those intagible benefits, there was no reason to stay working there.

It was all I could do to give the minimum, all the missed lunch breaks and leaving late didn't help.

Aides were often pulled to sitter duty, so the ratio of 4 aides for 45 patients could drop. Most of these patients were frail and elderly too.

I am sorry you and your family was upset by your relative's condition.

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I - for one - would LOVE someone to come in and teach me how to get better at time management. Maybe then, I would have time for at least one of the 15 minute breaks I am legally entitled to, or maybe I could have a lunch break before 2:30 or 3:00.

I honestly feel I do a heroic amount of work during a day in the hospital, and I don't think many people could do more. We are ALL limited by time, the quality and quantity of our CNAs, and the number of total care patients we are assigned.

Nurses need to start calling the govt agenciess that administer labor laws.

If it can be shown that breaks and lunches are being missed due to managements refusal to staff properly they will be fined big money.

Nurses need to come together and force this issue. If everyone takes their breaks what will they do? fire all of you?

I think not

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I - for one - would LOVE someone to come in and teach me how to get better at time management. Maybe then, I would have time for at least one of the 15 minute breaks I am legally entitled to, or maybe I could have a lunch break before 2:30 or 3:00.

I honestly feel I do a heroic amount of work during a day in the hospital, and I don't think many people could do more. We are ALL limited by time, the quality and quantity of our CNAs, and the number of total care patients we are assigned.

Working hard does ot equate to working smart..

I have seen nurses run around like chickens with their heads cut off.....methodical planning and thought can equal fewer trips back and forth across the floor.

Also what I see is a general lack of teamwork.

Nurses on a unit need to support eachother better.....from what I have observed......

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MINDLOR...didnt you mention that you are not a working nurse yet???

i make sure all my peeps are fluffed and puffed unles they are a + o x's 3 and refuse to participate in their own care, as for total care patients i participate in care with the aides its how i do my assessments, maybe its because i was a tech for 5 years prior to becoming a nurse...anyway i think its important to peform care and adls with patients and i think although it maybe the aides job its the nurses responsibility to make sure its done with that said there are always execption to be made such as the detoxing/drunk homeless ciwa pt's that frequent the med surg floors ;)

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MINDLOR...didnt you mention that you are not a working nurse yet???

i make sure all my peeps are fluffed and puffed unles they are a + o x's 3 and refuse to participate in their own care, as for total care patients i participate in care with the aides its how i do my assessments, maybe its because i was a tech for 5 years prior to becoming a nurse...anyway i think its important to peform care and adls with patients and i think although it maybe the aides job its the nurses responsibility to make sure its done with that said there are always execption to be made such as the detoxing/drunk homeless ciwa pt's that frequent the med surg floors ;)

I am not a nurse as of yet. However, at clinicals my eyes are wide open, and my eyes see things through the lense of 25 years of management experience....

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let me clear one thing up. The floor cannot run without techs. When I am a practicing nurse, I WILL team with the techs, I will respect them, help them however I can and never under any circumstance take them for granted. Their role is crucial.

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
You bet!!! I spent 5 days in ICU/Med surge as a patient and got no help with grooming so I know how it feels. This sort of lack of care is inexcusable. The nurse should be reprimanded.

Is that all? Shouldn't she have her ID yanked and be escorted out to her car? :uhoh21:

Juzme - it would bother me to see that if it appeared people were just engaging in idle chitchat. However, when we had our thread about baths so many people said they really are really swamped and would love to have the time to do those grooming tasks I'm not going to second-guess them.

But I'm so OCD about how my patients look I may have snuck back in after my shift to do it.:) I really don't see the harm in asking about it in a non-confrontational manner.

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No no, a simple reprimand would be fine :)

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Specializes in Med Surg/ Rehabilitation.

I am graduating in 5 days, but I will tell you...the last hospital I did rotations at was the best at this! Every nurse, esp. ICU gave mouth care, brushed their hair, ect. I've learned from my own Mother being in the hospital that not all people do what they are supposed to do. Long story short, my Mother was in ICU for 6 weeks and almost passed. For a total of 8 weeks, no one brushed her hair or even tried to groom her in any way, shape, or form. When she was discharged, I spent 3 hours trying to get the "mat" out of her hair and was unsuccessful. I had to cut most of it out and she was completely devastated. She has always had long hair....most of her life. Makes me sad to see some people could care less.

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I am graduating in 5 days, but I will tell you...the last hospital I did rotations at was the best at this! Every nurse, esp. ICU gave mouth care, brushed their hair, ect. I've learned from my own Mother being in the hospital that not all people do what they are supposed to do. Long story short, my Mother was in ICU for 6 weeks and almost passed. For a total of 8 weeks, no one brushed her hair or even tried to groom her in any way, shape, or form. When she was discharged, I spent 3 hours trying to get the "mat" out of her hair and was unsuccessful. I had to cut most of it out and she was completely devastated. She has always had long hair....most of her life. Makes me sad to see some people could care less.

I am so glad your mom is doing better!!! And wow, your story makes me really sad.....you may want to consider a phonecall to JCAHO

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Hello fellow nurses;-)

staff at desk talking amongst each other

We had this issue at our hospital. The patients relatives complained that the staff were 'chatting' at the desk. Once this was investigated it was found that the nurses were actually liasing with the physiotherapist about patients or getting feed back from the doctor in regards to the patients plan or having a catch up handover and not idly shooting the breeze.

Appearances can be deceptive.

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