My recent experience as a "family member" in the hospital

Jaaaman · Jan 12, 2004

Just Curious, but why is this in the Texas Nursing Forum? I thought you worked in Nursing adminstration in California. Did you have this bad experience in Texas?

Jaaaman · Jan 13, 2004

Bump.

mattsmom81 · Jan 22, 2004

Ainz is in administration. I did not know he was a male. But it IS obvious he/ she is quite critical of floor/bedside nurses in general, from my observations at least.

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Jan 22, 2004

Ainz.......you're a hospital administrator, you say? When was the last time you worked a shift on the floor?

Now, don't get me wrong; my philosophy is, it doesn't take any longer to be nice than to be rude, and it is NEVER the patient's fault that the staff is overworked, therefore it's inappropriate to tell patients we can't do something because we're short-staffed, or because the people in such-and-such department are slow/lazy/incompetent etc.

That said, it's all too easy for people who don't work a busy med/surg floor to criticize the staff who do, without considering what they go through in the course of a shift. There are multiple admissions/discharges, baths, meds, doctors' and families' visits, new orders, treatments, procedures, post-op care, and charting to deal with, and that's without having anything unusual come up---a patient crashes, a family member becomes violent or abusive and security must be called, someone falls, a blood sugar heads south, and so on. I'm sorry, but with today's patient loads, we no longer have the luxury of enough time to cater to our patients........some days, we're lucky if we can fetch you a glass of water!

I'm sorry you and your wife had a bad experience at the hospital. I say again, there is no reason to be rude, but we simply cannot manage all the tasks that must be done in the course of an 8- or 12-hour day AND give one-to-one care when we have five to eight patients, or more.

Just out of curiosity: How are the nurse-to-patient ratios at YOUR hospital??

tckoolaid · Jan 31, 2004

I am sorry to hear of your experience. I am a Male RN, and also had an eye-opening experience when my wife had to go into the hospital for a few days. I watch closely, and did see first hand the stress on the faces of the CNA' up to the RN's. I also saw first hand the stress being dealt out to them by busy Doctors who did not have time to clearify orders, or family members thinking they were the patients and bothering them for silly items. Since I am a nurse, I had no problem with the nursing staff, due to my respect to them and relating my understanding of the stress they were encountering. . My wife had great service, I believe due to respect and general couresty afforded to the nurses. I first hand have seen the attitude women nurses get, as oppose to me, when family believe I am a Doctor. I truly believe if you walk a mile in their shoes, the understanding will come quickly, the stress they live with on the job each day. It is always easier to destroy, than to build.

mattsmom81 · Jan 31, 2004

Originally posted by tckoolaid
It is always easier to destroy, than to build.

So true.

jnette, ASN, EMT-I · Jan 31, 2004

Very sad, indeed.

Do you not think that nurses, too, are saddened, even heartbroken that it has come to this? Do you not think that they would FAR prefer to be and do all that they had envisioned while still in school?

What you saw was the very direct result of being overburdoned. It WILL show in our everyday interactions with our patients... you can FEEL the heavy air, the stress crawling on your skin.

No.. it is NOT the patient's fault. No, the patient should not have to be the victim.

Rather than telling US, the everyday floor nurses, what you experienced, you should be sending a wake-up call loud and clear to your fellow administrators... how their practices are affecting the NURSES who are to provide kind, compassionate, and competent care to the hospital's "CLIENTS".

Ainz, in the end, (sorry to diappoint you) it IS about the NURSE... if the patient is to receive the care which he or she deserves. A broken nurse cannot repair a broken patient.

A content, satisfied, and respected nurse is ABLE to give of herself because she HAS something left of herself to give.

Happy nurse=Happy patient.

Not that it is ever acceptable to be rude... but we might as well be prepared to EXPECT it, given the current conditions.

PatientInput · Feb 1, 2004

My experience has been ... I was a good patient so I had good nurses.

Question, and observation ... we as a society should do something about this ... ?

As an engineer ... we in USA are a "commodity" ... out when there are no contracts (Houston ... sets the trend) ... and line up for your number to be called when the Engineering companies come out on the street corner to recruit.

That is STRESS ... families get uprooted ... one does not know whether to set roots in one place ... society does not congeal ... no social fabric exists to call it a society.

So all comes down to respect for what people of different vocations have DEVOTED their LIVES to become... study ... college ... heartaches ... sacrifice ... if there is no nurturing culture from the money wielders then there is no respect from the top ... and there is no SELF-respect from the self ... so any vocation one chooses just becomes a stop-gap venture on SURVIVAL.

When moneywielders learn to "walk with God" so that, as long as they have atleast a dollar to put in their or the investors' pockets they should not let that "demean" people in THEIR care then we will wake up this society to be a compassionate, caring, learning, disciplined, ...

Start from the perspective of "dollar comes second to humanity" and we will have nurses who live for values of Anne Nightingale and patients and administrators who "value" them.

more ... later:kiss

PatientInput · Feb 1, 2004

Hi again ....

That was in reply to AINZ ...

Its sad when you have to become a patient ... for you to get the other perspective.

These nurses and the PATIENTS are in YOUR care ... by grace of the nurses.

Thank you.

:kiss

Frenchy01666 · Feb 18, 2004

Being a RN, hospital administrator, and relatively healthy, it has been quite some time since I experienced being in the hospital as a family member where no one knew me or what I did.
What an eye-opener!! I just spent 3 days with my wife while she was a patient. I sat back and observed and was the "family member." I could go on and on but will make some general statements about this experience. It started with the nurse who was starting my wife's IV and dropped the sterile IV site dressing on the floor, she picked it up and proceeded to place it on my wife's IV site. When I kindly and gently asked her not to do that her reply was "well we do clean our floors." I thought she was joking but she was not.
Generally, the nursing staff was rude. All but 2 of the nursing staff that worked with us behaved in a way that communicated to us that we were an irritant and a bother. I was appalled and disappointed in my chosen profession. Everything was about the nurse, how busy they were, how overworked they were, how short staffed they were, how they insisted we must follow the hospital policies that no one bothered to explain, etc. etc.
During the few explanation of procedures that we received, when we attempted to ask a question the nurses would talk over us and seemed annoyed that we had interrupted their lesson to us. They talked down to us. I could go on and on.
Nurses--it is not about us, it is about the patient. It costs nothing to smile, have a good attitude, and focus on your PATIENT'S needs and not your OWN while you are at work. What is going on with healthcare in this country?

:crying2: I do not understand a response as the one you received. Manners!! A simple Oh I am sorry I will go get another IV kit. Courstesy

Frenchy01666 · Feb 18, 2004

Ainz is in administration. I did not know he was a male. But it IS obvious he/ she is quite critical of floor/bedside nurses in general, from my observations at least.

He should be critical. It is in a sorry mess. He is a consumer and purchasing medical care. If your car was repaired poorly and a loved one was injured you as a consumer would be furious. :angryfire :angryfire