Nasty ....

AceOfHearts<3 · Mar 30, 2017

First off my name is Mickey, not 'bud', and I guess the issue boils down to personal time management. What you are willing to forego (breaks, lunch, chat, etc.) to get the job done. Pretty simple to me.

Oh please, get off your high horse. I would have done my patients no good if I'd passed out because I hadn't eaten anything. Most days when I took my lunch I sat in the breakroom charting while eating and getting multiple phone calls at the same time.

I had to delegate (and the aides are great on the unit) because most of the time my 5 patients were very sick (I was a tele unit with very high acuity). Should I ignore the 10 beat run of VT the patient just had plus all the frequent PVCs instead of notifying the doctor and getting an order to hang IV mag since their morning labs just came back and their mag level is only 1.6. Should I then make brushing their teeth a higher priority than making sure pharmacy verifies the med and getting it hung ASAP? That's why there are aides- I do the things they can't and they do the things I don't have time for (but wish I did). I put patient care before charting (no other choice really) and that's why I'd often get out late (and it wasn't due to poor time management- most nurses on the unit don't leave on time).

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Mar 30, 2017

Administration doesn't value nurses' time because we don't value ourselves. Take your breaks, eat your meals, take the time to complete tasks without hurting yourself. The time of nurses sacrificing health and sanity should be OVER.

RNperdiem, RN · Mar 30, 2017

Luckily in ICU, we often have the ability to do some great hygiene, and I love washing hair.

How much gets done depends on what is happening that day.

I have a mental priority list were "have-to's" like assessments, meds, treatments and dealing with the unexpected are at the top of the list. When those are done I work on the less critical things like beyond the basics hygiene, tidying the patient room (I can't think straight in a cluttered environment), and talking with families.

On a good shift, I can get all the top priority things done, and a lot of the less critical things done as well.

On a crazy day, the high priority list keeps growing and after trips to MRI, codes and everything else, the day is over.

NicuGal, MSN, RN · Mar 30, 2017

So, I had a pretty extensive surgery about a year ago, I had my right liver lobe resection. I remember that first day they had those swabs for me, I may not have had my feet pampered (they were prior lol) but my aides made sure I had mouth care while my ng was in and NPO. Only takes a moment to help someone clean their mouth.

DeeAngel · Mar 30, 2017

First off my name is Mickey, not 'bud', and I guess the issue boils down to personal time management. What you are willing to forego (breaks, lunch, chat, etc.) to get the job done. Pretty simple to me.

One does not forego lunch or breaks to take care of patients. You may do that, others choose not to do so because carers must care for themselves. This principle doesn't seem like rocket science to me.

LovingLife123 · Mar 30, 2017

I do oral care religiously to prevent infection and not wanting to risk making my patient's condition worse.

But seriously, foot care? And I'm supposed to skip my lunch to accomplish this? Let me explain something Mickey, I often don't get a lunch because I'm worried about making sure my patient lives. Now, if they have a gaping wound on their foot that needs addressed, I'll do it, but I'm not in the business of giving pedicures. It's also against policy to trim nails on my unit. Only a podiatrist can do that.

You are complaining about the wrong thing on here. Oral care is important and should be done for infection prevention. And if I'm lucky enough to get 2 stable patients, I may offer to wash hair if they need it, and I always give my daily baths. But I'm not a pamperer either. The hospital is not a spa.

djh123 · Mar 30, 2017

Oh yeah ... both are not done enough in my facility. It's both a factor of some staff not doing as much as they could, and not enough time for some others of us. At least we have a podiatrist who comes in now and then, so we usually have a running list of people for them to see.

AceOfHearts<3 · Mar 30, 2017

Oh please get off your high horse. I would have done my patients no good if I'd passed out because I hadn't eaten anything. Most days when I took my lunch I sat in the breakroom chatting while eating and getting multiple phone calls at the same time.[/quote']
I just realized autocorrect on my ipad got me this morning. My original post was supposed to say "Most days when I took my lunch I sat in the breakroom charting while eating"- not chatting

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Mar 31, 2017

I just realized autocorrect on my ipad got me this morning. My original post was supposed to say "Most days when I took my lunch I sat in the breakroom charting while eating"- not chatting

Edited to reflect the correct word. :)

Purple_roses · Mar 31, 2017

First off my name is Mickey, not 'bud', and I guess the issue boils down to personal time management. What you are willing to forego (breaks, lunch, chat, etc.) to get the job done. Pretty simple to me.

I think nurses should have enough respect for themselves to take a freaking lunch while on a freaking 12 hour shift. If you'd like to pretend you're an angel, go for it, but others would like to keep their sanity.

I'm not usually this abrasive, but really. Have a little respect for yourself. If patient care isn't getting done and you're not taking any breaks on a 12, then management needs to bite the bullet and hire more staff. Let's not blame the short staffed nurses here.

Workitinurfava, BSN, RN · Mar 31, 2017

Well the toes can be a huge problem and nurses aren't allowed to trim nails etc. Other things of course can be an issue.

BSNbeauty, BSN, RN · Mar 31, 2017

I was known to give foot care and rubs in CVICU and mouth care. Just depends on the nurse, I guess.