Norma in 302

[HeartsOpenWide, RN]

HOW'S NORMA?

A sweet grandmother telephoned St. Joseph 's Hospital. She timidly asked,

'Is it possible to speak to someone who can tell me how a patient is doing?'

The operator said, 'I'll be glad to help, dear. What's the name and room number?'

The grandmother, in her weak tremulous voice said, ''Norma Findlay, Room 302.'

The operator replied, 'Let me place you on hold while I check with her nurse.'

After a few minutes the operator returned to the phone and said, 'Oh, I have good news. Her nurse told me that Norma is doing very well.. Her blood pressure is fine; her blood work is normal and her physician, Dr. Cohen, has scheduled her to be discharged on Tuesday.'

The grandmother said, 'Thank you. That's wonderful! I was so worried! God bless you for the good news.'

The operator replied, 'You're more than welcome. Is Norma your daughter?'

The grandmother said, 'No, I'm Norma Findlay in 302. No one tells me s**t.'

[mama_d, BSN, RN]

Sadly, this rings true.

I was giving a patient insulin the other morning, and prior to giving it, told her "Your sugar was 277, so I have six units of regular insulin to give to you." Just my routine way of doing it. She thanked me and told me that I was the first nurse to actually tell her what her sugar was and how much insulin she was getting without her having to ask...and she'd been there for three days with accuchecks ac & hs. Made me stop and think for a minute about all the stuff we do that we don't tell the patients about.

[lamazeteacher]

Sadly, this rings true.

I was giving a patient insulin the other morning, and prior to giving it, told her "Your sugar was 277, so I have six units of regular insulin to give to you." Just my routine way of doing it. She thanked me and told me that I was the first nurse to actually tell her what her sugar was and how much insulin she was getting without her having to ask...and she'd been there for three days with accuchecks ac & hs. Made me stop and think for a minute about all the stuff we do that we don't tell the patients about.

Whatever happened to "explain the procedure to the patient"?. I never thought of calling the operator to find out how I was, and would have liked to do that, as I kept abreast of my labs while having an upper GI bleed, by going into the nurses' station at night and reading my chart. Doctors were telling me that my H&Hs were going up, when I knew they were going down....... So much for the patient being "the most important member of the team".

While hospitalized, I realized that the reasons for some things done and said are non existant to ridiculous, so a lot of nurses just don't bother explaining anything - such as the RN who kept gloves on "whenever I might touch

someone." I never saw her take them off or put them on, or wash her hands.

I brought all my current meds to hospital with me, for listing and continuance of them. They were duly listed, but none of them were given to me, such as Maxzide, despite the same nurse who wrote them down

commenting on how high my B.P. was getting......... D'ya think the med would change that? I had to resort to taking my own antidepressant, rather than go through withdrawal after 20 years on it, and the nurse said, "I'll lose my license if you do that!"

My GI doc told me I'd be getting a "nuclear bleeding scan" the day after admission, to find out where the bleeding was happening (I'm allergic to the dye used in other studies). What he and everyone else didn't know, was that scan can reveal the source of bleeding, only when 2cc/min, is being lost (now how do you count that?). I just found that out, talking to the GI doc I'd had in Los Angeles 30 years ago, from VA where I am now. He's scheduling a "double balloon" endoscopy there, as soon as I can travel...... Meanwhile a sore throat and nasal congestion started last night.... I'll call the PHD to ask where I get tested for swine flu......

So the first 2 hours in ER when I was close to exsanguinating went by without the scan being done as I wasn't seen, altho the EMTs who brought me there reported 8 hours of weakness at home when I had no phone to call 911, (my land phone had been disconnected and my cellphone was in my car in the garage below my bedroom); and I was so weak I couldn't stand, upon waking up that morning, having to crawl to my bathroom 4X to have melena, diaphoresis and weaker and weaker rapid pulse. Finally I slid down the stairs on my bottom to open the front door and yell "Help!"

The other thing was discharge prescriptions. The hospitalist came in to ask me if I wanted a "foul smelling and tasting form of K, or a large capsule", since my lab report indicated its need. I asked for the large capsule and whether there would be a foul aftertaste. He said he'd never taken it........ I wasn't given the med or a prescription for same at discharge, and nothing was mentioned about it in the discharge instructions.

C'mon, people!

Now I have "lifeline" telephone service, but not without a huge argument with the (illegal monopoly)of a telephone

company that couldn't comprehend why a 70 year old, broke retiree wasn't able to pay the long ago past due bill.

It must be illegal not to turn the telephone on in those circumstances, as a few hours later, not only did I have dial tone, but TV, too! The same company controls those services, plus internet access. You don't want to know how I've been able to be at allnurses.com, but let me tell you, it's been my only entertainment, and for that I'm extremely grateful!