do you make sure your pts

Florence NightinFAIL, BSN, RN · Dec 10, 2011

I'm not arguing about the basics here. Each person has an area that they are more concerned with than others. For me it's poop & pee. If a pt wets their bed or diaper - whether or not they are mine - & whether or not I am crazy busy I ALWAYS change them right away. I see some people who when the pt say 'I'm wet/need to be changed' will say "ok, I'll get your nurse/let your nurse know/ wait until I"m finished with X". I have never said that.

I'm not patting myself on the back here but what I'm saying is that the head to toe bed baths that were drilled to us in school are not really realistic in some units for EVERY DAY.

leslie :-D · Dec 10, 2011

I'm not patting myself on the back here but what I'm saying is that the head to toe bed baths that were drilled to us in school are not really realistic in some units for EVERY DAY.

oh hell, no...you're right.

you've got to pick your (parts) wisely.

but at the very least, pick them...pick something!

leslie

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Dec 10, 2011

I'm not arguing about the basics here. Each person has an area that they are more concerned with than others. For me it's poop & pee. If a pt wets their bed or diaper - whether or not they are mine - & whether or not I am crazy busy I ALWAYS change them right away. I see some people who when the pt say 'I'm wet/need to be changed' will say "ok, I'll get your nurse/let your nurse know/ wait until I"m finished with X". I have never said that.
I'm not patting myself on the back here but what I'm saying is that the head to toe bed baths that were drilled to us in school are not really realistic in some units for EVERY DAY.

HA! Leslie...pick your parts wisley......I love that.

Flo n Fail...point taken and heard. It did come off sounding different. I appreciate your candor and input. YOu are right those head to toe spit shines don't exist anywhere but ICU....which was the major reason I wanted out of med surg.

I'm just saying don't forget the small stuff i(or not so small in some cases:lol2:) it counts as well!

NoviceRN10 · Dec 10, 2011

Obviously the flooe can run without techs if they staff up with more nurses......
There may be the rare 12a-7a shift that has no techs yes?
But where else? I think in modern hospitals a floor with no techs is rare indeed

You are in for a big surprise when you actually become a nurse :coollook: . Techs/aides are becoming a luxury and total patient care is more prevalent than you apparently have a clue about. Not in ICU, but on many other acute care floors.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Dec 10, 2011

How much time is spent chatting?
Ok i'll say this, i like many nurses work on a ward were breaks are not a daily occurence and rn never break togeter, yes we chat amost ourselves sometimes doing joint tasks somtimes at the desk if no cares need donem I know this could be percived as constant and i worry when colleage speech about their social lives. i know someone will say we should be working etc . we talk with medics, pharmacy, and therapist ietc. it can creat a bonding execercise that creats trust etc espically with NP and medics, and this makes patient care better.#
however nurisng is like any profession some people work more than others.
I will bath patients comb hair etc, i will styq late to do my writing however even then im touching the saftey issues more than the basic of nurisng.

I have the gift of gab but there is a time and place....by the way text talk is discouraged in the terms of service...just fyi :redpinkhe

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Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Dec 10, 2011

I wish I could have you as my preceptor You sound AWESOME :)

Thank you!!! But Be careful what you wish for......I'm fair, but I'm tough...

You'd learn a ton but be exhausted.

mindlor · Dec 10, 2011

I only have my experiences, on my last shift here at the VA we had 24 on our unit (med/surge) and zero were total care.......

I am sure there may come a day when we have 24 of 24 total care.....variable yes?

mindlor · Dec 10, 2011

Thank you!!! But Be careful what you wish for......I'm fair, but I'm tough...
You'd learn a ton but be exhausted.

I would love it Esme and I would ask you to be hard on me. I do not want to skate by.

I want to be a great nurse like you!

anotherone, BSN, RN · Dec 10, 2011

IT SICKENS ME that i should be excpected to not get a break in 13 hours just so patients can get a bath. yes i have done that MANY MANY times. and will continue to do it but it sickens me to no end. it make sthe cycle worse in the long term.

anotherone, BSN, RN · Dec 10, 2011

mindlor, this va rotation in a 24 bed unit had 24 waklie taklies at once? what type of floor was this med surg? i have never seen more than 50% of the patients on my med surg floor be complete walkie talkies.

leslie :-D · Dec 10, 2011

IT SICKENS ME that i should be excpected to not get a break in 13 hours just so patients can get a bath. yes i have done that MANY MANY times. and will continue to do it but it sickens me to no end. it make sthe cycle worse in the long term.

i do hear you there.

that's where my ambivalence comes in.

if we nurses continue working these shifts w/o any type of break, all we're doing is sending the message to 'bring it on', we'll do it at any/all costs.

and this is a major reason why mgmt ***** all over us...because we allow it.

there have been times that i've taken a stand...

even at the cost of the patients.

otherwise they would have kept on wiping their feet all over me (and other nurses i worked with.)

most of these employers know that we'll keep on going, if only "for the pts"...

and they/mgmt take full advantage.

leslie

Ruby Vee, BSN · Dec 10, 2011

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.

just don't do it. just don't bash another health care practitioner unless you know that your mother-in-law was neglected out of sheer laziness and not because you showed up three minutes before two which was the agreed-upon time for the rn and cna to get together and bathe her. unless you know that her mouth was not crusty and and her hair not brushed because your dear, demented mother-in-law became agitated and combative when someone approached her to care for her. perhaps someone was trying to comb those matts out of her hair and it hurt so she hit the caregiver. perhaps her heels weren't on a pillow because she didn't want them on a pillow and kept kicking the pillow off the bed. and those staff quietly talking to one another -- may have been talking about how to staff the next shift, troubleshooting the new documentation software, getting report or planning who was going to go care for your mother-in-law who keeps refusing care from white nurses. or male nurses. or whatever.