Patient NOT a nurse with a ???

[JWFeeII]

I do not wish to complain I have found most nurses the most kind, sensitive, caring, people I have ever known. I want to know if I'm being overly sensitive or if my nurses (this time) were a bit out of line? I was in a rehab hospital for a hip replacement. Getting from bed to commode to toilet was an issue, but once there I had grab bars and felt myself quite safe. I assured the nurses that I would obey the rules and not get up on my own. I was extremely constipated and wanted some time and privacy to force a bowel movement. Time and again I had to specifically ask that the nurses leave and close the door. Often I was popped in on and asked how I was making out. Quite frankly the interruptions stopped the process in its tracks, I had to ask the nurse to leave, to close the door and begin my efforts all over again.

Am I being an overly sensitive prude or did I deserve a little more consideration?

[the_murse_factor]

I work in a rehab facility so I can attest to the annoyance you might have felt for the lack of privacy you may have felt when trying to do what I think we all will consider a private matter.

However, even though you may know your own limitations the nurse's and aides have the obligation to make sure you are safe during all aspects of your stay in the facility, yes that does include using the bathroom as well. Many patients who say they are "ok" will slip and fall or sometimes the straining of a bowel movement during constipation can elicit a vasovagal response and you can pass out on the toilet. I seen it happen TWICE. So why you do need your privacy the nurses and aides have to make sure you are safe and ok during you very private matter and they will interrupt you occasionally to make sure you are still alive and breathing.

[NotAllWhoWandeRN, ASN, RN]

Just curious-

What kind of nursing do you do?

Clearly not ortho.

I worked ortho. We did not leave patients alone. One patient was verbally abusive until the nurse left; He then fell and popped his pretty new knee back open and required several reconstructive surgeries.

I cannot tell you HOW MANY people stood up on their own (after promising to high heaven that they would not) while I kept a subtle view through a cracked door, requiring me to dart in to aid them. Eat some high fiber foods and ask for a laxative; don't snark at the staff who are held responsible for your safety.

I'm sorry you find receiving medical care so inconvenient.

[NotAllWhoWandeRN, ASN, RN]

A bit overdramatic, perhaps?

I tend to agree with you, that in many cases, the nurse could stand outside the BR, and knock periodically to check on the pt.; however, if I am outside the room and hear something (such as the pt. grunting to produce a BM, something dropping on the floor, etc.), I am going to give a quick knock and go right in and not wait for a reply.

In addition, in my facility--per facility policy--a nurse, tech, etc., must remain within arm's length of a pt. in the bathroom if that pt. is a fall risk. This is written as policy. If that pt. falls because I left to give the pt. time to his-/herself...well, it's my butt on the line. I feel bad if it "hampers" his/her efforts, but it is really not up for debate that a staff member must be in there.

I understand that people wish for more privacy, but joint replacements are high fall risk. Always. Period. The short-lived awkward situation doesn't begin to compare to a fall injury.

[JWFeeII]

I'm sorry if I don't belong here, or if I angered some of you. I just wanted some insight, and THANK YOU, I think I got it. I never gave any thought to the fact that my straining might cause me to pass out. That IS a piece of the puzzle that was lacking.

To explain further, yes I was a fall risk, for more reasons than one. I am diligent about NOT moving without staff present. I had also gotten permission from both the Doctor on staff and the PT department to use the toilet for BMs.

In reply to the harassment comment: I surely WOULD NOT call it that. They were doing their job and I better understand why now. Yes, it was more than one nurse, more than once, but again, I GET IT NOW.

And as for laxatives, stool softeners, and enemas. I have to take some responsibility for the fact that its just NOT that simple. I have a neurological condition that renders my abdominal muscles all but useless in the act of defecation. I can't bear down. I manage the situation quite well on my own at home by using my elbows, jammed into my lower abdomen, to facilitate bowel evacuation. When that fails I use a warm water enema with enough volume to literally flush out my lower colon. Unfortunately this information was not in my records and no one seemed willing to believe it or seek it out. I was given laxatives, stool softeners, and enemas (Fleets) all of which fail to solve the problem. Thus I was left with the intense need to strain, fortunately SOME of my nurses were willing to manually disimpact me.

I assure you all that next time (and I'm expecting to have the other hip replaced soon) I will be more considerate of my nurses' dilemma

and there need for more information.

Thank you for your help!!

[LadysSolo]

I don't mind the OP (information-seeking) as much as I mind a non-nurse giving nursing advice (posing as a nurse.) In my state that is criminally actionable (a non-nurse posing as a nurse.)

[Sour Lemon]

Im a student but in my line of work right now I do much the same thing. I'm in child care, and no matter how loudly a preschooler may complain that they don't want me in the bathroom with them, that's too bad.

It's all perfectly understandable with a preschooler ...but a grown adult might wonder why they're being treated like a preschooler on the rare occasion that it happens.

[Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN]

A patient told me this once, and I have used it many times since, because it is so true.

"when you enter the hospital, you check your dignity at the door. And puck it up as you leave to go home"

[heron, ASN, RN]

Sorry, but I think an honest request for more insight into why nurses do what we do the way we do it is perfectly ok as long as it's not an excuse to pick a fight just because. OP's subsequent posts make it clear that this was the intent, so I think we should wish him/her well and let it go.

I'm far more offended by someone pretending to be a nurse and giving truly stupid advice or being deliberately confrontational.

But ... Just how would AN screen them out?

[TiffyRN, BSN, PhD]

When I was orienting as a new graduate nurse (way long time ago), I had a patient that had a tracheostomy and was on a ventilator (life support). He had been in the hospital to have his hip replaced when he coded (stopped breathing and his heart stopped) while on the bedside commode trying to have a BM.

That might affect my tendency to check on you frequently if you were my patient (if I ever left baby land that is!).

Oh, and my patient (I actually had a kind of affection for him), he never got off respiratory support and didn't leave the hospital alive. I had a real affection for the old guy. He had a lot of spirit and taught he so much.

Including how much I should trust a post-surgical patient straining to have a BM!

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Multiple posts have been deleted as off topic. Debate the topic not the poster.