Nurse reality show

Nurses General Nursing

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I often visit the "All Nurses" website and I think the general public would never believe what we face as nurses. Often at work I say I wish there was a camera crew because some of what we do would make an awesome, eye opening reality show. It could have lots of drama as well as comedy. I sit here today with my bones aching from my 16 hour shift yesterday. I lost track of how many times in those 16 hours I pulled up my 300 lb confused, trying to get oob the bed with NGT patient, with just me and 1 other person, but my left lower abd is telling me I pulled her up quite a few times. I lost track of how many times my totally withit 78 year old patient put on her call light or screamed out help but I remember by 10 pm I was telling I am sorry but I have had enough, she then called me a "nasty b****" and believe me I used every therapeutic tool available to me. Trying to meet her needs before she even thought of one, nothing worked. I told the physician she was extremely anxious but instead of giving her anything for anxiety he told me her "bottom was sore" and I should turn her more often....If I had turned her anymore often I would have been the first human automatic patient turner. Then again, if we should have a reality show I don't think anyone would go into nursing........:banghead:

I love SCRUBS, but I hate it when I see the docs setting up IV's -- has anyone EVER seen a dr do this? I'd fall over dead myself if I saw such a thing.

There are so many cool plots one could use for a show ....

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Specializes in Telemetry, Med-Surg, ED, Psych.
I've always thought Dirty Jobs should do an episode on nursing. L&D would be especially appropriate. Of course the audience would miss a lot unless they invent"smell"ivison.

Try GI lab or C-diff/Mrsa med/surg

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Specializes in tele, oncology.

Oh my! I'd love to have had that guy from Dirty Jobs with me the other night...out of five patients, I had a combination of four with c. diff, two with VRE in their stool, and two on Kayexalate. One of the ones with Kayexalate had what became known on the floor as the incredible exploding colostomy. I swear, those bags should be able to handle more than 350 mLs of liquid stool...or else they need an industrial version. Oh, and I had one of them decide to pull out their line (of course, she was on anti-coagulants) and bleed all over the place...and was fingerpainting with her c. diff/VRE stool while I was holding pressure.

I also love the idea of being able to vote patients "off the island"...bet you we'd get some of the best behaved patients around if they knew that was a possibility!

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

If they ever did a Reality Show, you can bet the "reality" of it would change. Suddenly you would find fully staffed Units, lower Nurse to Pt ratios, 1 on 1 for the non-compliant pts, Management On The Floor Actually Working, Dr's being kind & helpful, Nurse's being able to have breaks & lunches, CNA's doing thier job w/o problems. People would see the direct opposite of what we go through everyday.

However, I have to say, I too would love to be able to vote pt's off the island. Or better yet, how about having the hospital calling us to get our opinion of the pt's and families treatment of us! And then grade the Unit on that!!

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Specializes in Stepdown, ECF, Agency.
If they ever did a Reality Show, you can bet the "reality" of it would change. Suddenly you would find fully staffed Units, lower Nurse to Pt ratios, 1 on 1 for the non-compliant pts, Management On The Floor Actually Working, Dr's being kind & helpful, Nurse's being able to have breaks & lunches, CNA's doing thier job w/o problems. People would see the direct opposite of what we go through everyday.

However, I have to say, I too would love to be able to vote pt's off the island. Or better yet, how about having the hospital calling us to get our opinion of the pt's and families treatment of us! And then grade the Unit on that!!

Spot on, gentlegiver, You know that would be so. I think the undercover documentary would be way more effective. Only if it were a coordinated effort across several facilities, and then one would have to find a distributor who's parent company had no vested interest in health care.

My apologies for off-topic, but I am sorry to see you leave, G., where are you headed? (I threaten to defect to starbucks about every other week).

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Unfortunately, I think if there ever was a REAL nursing reality show, people that aren't nurses wouldn't believe it. But then again, if a reality show was made, there would be great staffing, etc. like gentlegiver mentioned above. But, that wouldn't be REALITY would it?

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Specializes in Stepdown, ECF, Agency.
I love SCRUBS, but I hate it when I see the docs setting up IV's -- has anyone EVER seen a dr do this? I'd fall over dead myself if I saw such a thing.

There are so many cool plots one could use for a show ....

Like what? I am serious, we must have some good writers among us! What sort of plot do you think people would watch? What would you watch?

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If they ever did a Reality Show, you can bet the "reality" of it would change. Suddenly you would find fully staffed Units, lower Nurse to Pt ratios, 1 on 1 for the non-compliant pts, Management On The Floor Actually Working, Dr's being kind & helpful, Nurse's being able to have breaks & lunches, CNA's doing thier job w/o problems. People would see the direct opposite of what we go through everyday.

However, I have to say, I too would love to be able to vote pt's off the island. Or better yet, how about having the hospital calling us to get our opinion of the pt's and families treatment of us! And then grade the Unit on that!!

I totally agree.

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If they ever did a Reality Show, you can bet the "reality" of it would change. Suddenly you would find fully staffed Units, lower Nurse to Pt ratios, 1 on 1 for the non-compliant pts, Management On The Floor Actually Working, Dr's being kind & helpful, Nurse's being able to have breaks & lunches, CNA's doing thier job w/o problems. People would see the direct opposite of what we go through everyday.

Totally agree. This happens whenever there is a whiff of a state inspection where I work, so I'm sure if TV cameras ever were to be put into hospitals (or nursing homes), there would always be plenty of staff available.

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A reality show, hmmmmmmm........

Let's see....we'd need a catchy title. How about "**** Happens?" Or "Bedpan Stories". Or, "Nurse in White Satin"......(my apologies to the Moody Blues).

We could have an episode about what happens when rednecks and rattlesnakes encounter one another in the wild, complete with the subplot mystery of the mysterious disappearance of the tupperware in which the snake was transported to the ER!

Or an episode about the relative idiocy of removing a VP shunt with a pair of Stanley pliars.......

Or, it could be more reality based. Think "Cops".

"You have the right to remain silent, sir.....and you will soon have the ability, as soon as I load you with Haldol!"

Or, they could just follow one of us around with camera for 12 hours as we demonstrate the triumph of modern medicine over natural selection.

Perhaps they'd even let us vote our least favorite (or compliant) patient off the unit........

Ah, the possibilities abound.......

sounds just like what I had in mind!

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Specializes in Management, Emergency, Psych, Med Surg.

When I worked in the ED I always wanted to have a video camera so that I could film these people when they were drunk or high and making as A$$ out of themselves and make them watch it with their family after they got sober.

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Specializes in Geriatrics.
When I worked in the ED I always wanted to have a video camera so that I could film these people when they were drunk or high and making as A$$ out of themselves and make them watch it with their family after they got sober.

ROFLM*O!!!!!!! :yeah::up:

That would be great!! I love this idea!!!

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