Patients who are too lazy to open their own splenda packets

facetiousgoddess · May 14, 2008

This thread is making me so, so sad.
The person who was a nurse during the '50's....conditions were bad then and nobody complained. No one would dare.
The nurses of the 21st century....conditions are bad and now, much of the time, still nobody complains. Why not? Corporate management intimidation. Now, hospitals are a competitive business and the customer is always right. Different reasons...same result.
Nursing is the way it is because we have allowed it to be that way. IMO, that is nothing to self-righteously chirp about so proudly. I think it stinks for both the nursing profession, and the patients.
I have done this job since 1974 and I am still doing it.
By behaving like idiots, we have created the nursing shortage. Maybe if we lived in a society where personal responsibility was valued more than it is, people would take better care of themselves, care more about others, recognize real and necessary boundaries, and not treat those who try to help them like garbage.
Under no circumstances should a nurse ever take physical or verbal abuse from anyone. All working people are, by law, entitled to the proper breaks, and to reasonably clean and ergonomic working conditions. I don't care if they're nurses or not...it is both romantic and naive to believe and hold on to the old idea of sacrificing your life and your health because you think you are giving "service".
In a moral society, which we do not have, each person is responsible for his own life and health. Doctors and nurses can help, but they are not ultimately responsible. WE ALONE as individuals determine the outcome of our treatment. Health care professionals are just there to help.
There is nothing more destructive than that "Look how tough I am and how much I have done" attitude. It has been like a cancer in both the nursing and the medical profession for far too long. It's insane and violent in a subtly and sneaky and manipulative way. It still exists, even in corporate medicine. It is useless, egoic, immature behavior and it needs to stop.
I will celebrate its death, which I hope comes soon.

:yeahthat:

I just have this urge to jump up and down screaming "RIGHT ON!!!!" or in this case....write on....

I agree with you whole heartedly and wanted to say "Thank You."

Tres

Who is taking the summer off, so I don't go the martyr route.

lamazeteacher · May 14, 2008

JMGRN65:

No, I haven't worked on a med-surg unit in ages, as I'm an OB Nurse. We have a healthy respect for pain, especially when it's accompanied by "Aaaaarughhh", as that's the call of the pushing laboring woman.

I've never wanted a patient to say "please" or "thank you" when receiving medication - analgesic or otherwise. However in Canada a lot of Jamaican trained Nurses work, using ancient British practises to which they were subjected. Come to think of it, my exposure there to the Brtitish ways, have me saying it when I've been as patient asking for same. I was very pleased to have the PCA button last time, so I could give myself the analgesic after surgery.

George is not a person who would think twice about going to the top of any organization, as he was a vice president of a Canadian style Fortune 500 company (think Trump). The only rooms available in Canadian Rehab hospitals are 2 bedded, and he had to put up with a roommate in pain, and thought he had to do something about that.

However, his physician (and the staff, I'm sure) viewed his arrogance

negatively and thought they had him on their terms (vis a vis the splenda thing). He still has my sister buttering his toast for him. Once he asked me to do that, and I said, "I'm not my sister!"

It's not their routine to have motorized stretching equipment go home with patients, as that wastes money, so they keep them in facilities for 2 weeks after joint replacement surgery, sharing the equipment, and no HH PT visits are needed afterward. Let me tell you those facilities aren't pretty, as money isn't spent on decor, color coordinated lobbies and corridors....,..,. Essentials and necessary equipment, yes, extras, no.

JennaRN1006 · May 14, 2008

Your story reminds me of a guy I had once. I was a new nurse still on orientation and i swear this was the patient that almost made me quit nursing! He had abdominal surgery and sure enough developed complications, such as ileus and CDiff. He too demanded we do everything for him. He even went as far as screaming bloody murder because i wasnt in the bathroom fast enough to clean him up. However, he was able to dye his own hair on his own. Yes my fellow nurse, this man used Clariol during his stay! Still makes me cringe. hahaha :banghead:

You know what really galls me about this patient who couldn't open her splenda, couldn't put her HOB up, couldn't open her juice?
She had somehow managed to expertly put her eyeliner on!
:banghead:

jmgrn65, RN · May 14, 2008

You're right that in the past, especially in Canada people were less litigious. Nurses were more compliant then, too. An assignment was an assignment, especially while I was in nursing school and hadn't the luxury of refusing one.
At that time, we weren't allowed into hospital training programs if we were married, and or had children. We lived in Nurses' residences with curfews at 10 at night, when we sometimes had to sneak in when late.
People appreciated nurses' personal sacrifices and care more then, too. Lawsuits happen more frequently now, but unless actual harm occurred, there are no "damages", and the case is "thrown out of court" by the judge.

I don't know too many nurses that actually can refuse an assignment.

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · May 14, 2008

lamaze teacher

Working the ER people with drug addictions and the most common modus operandi is drama so they get the waiting room on their side. Then wait for nursing to respond to pleas from well meaning folk to treat their pain. It's pretty darn effective, especially if the nurse has a soft heart. More seasoned staff will prioritize drama towards the bottom of the list, and look like cold hearted burnouts. Without knowing patient history a roommate can easily get caught up in the game (the goal is to enlist the roommate's help), and the nurse has no legal way to explain his/her actions. If the roommate you speak of was having a drama-mama moment there isn't a good way to handle it other than giving him his own room. The doc's reaction makes me think this person has a history of stirring up problems.

jmgrn65, RN · May 14, 2008

JMGRN65:
No, I haven't worked on a med-surg unit in ages, as I'm an OB Nurse. We have a healthy respect for pain, especially when it's accompanied by "Aaaaarughhh", as that's the call of the pushing laboring woman.
I've never wanted a patient to say "please" or "thank you" when receiving medication - analgesic or otherwise. However in Canada a lot of Jamaican trained Nurses work, using ancient British practises to which they were subjected. Come to think of it, my exposure there to the Brtitish ways, have me saying it when I've been as patient asking for same. I was very pleased to have the PCA button last time, so I could give myself the analgesic after surgery.
George is not a person who would think twice about going to the top of any organization, as he was a vice president of a Canadian style Fortune 500 company (think Trump). The only rooms available in Canadian Rehab hospitals are 2 bedded, and he had to put up with a roommate in pain, and thought he had to do something about that.
However, his physician (and the staff, I'm sure) viewed his arrogance
negatively and thought they had him on their terms (vis a vis the splenda thing). He still has my sister buttering his toast for him. Once he asked me to do that, and I said, "I'm not my sister!"
It's not their routine to have motorized stretching equipment go home with patients, as that wastes money, so they keep them in facilities for 2 weeks after joint replacement surgery, sharing the equipment, and no HH PT visits are needed afterward. Let me tell you those facilities aren't pretty, as money isn't spent on decor, color coordinated lobbies and corridors....,..,. Essentials and necessary equipment, yes, extras, no.

What are you talking about?

hotmama2be · May 15, 2008

Oh man!!!!

this thread is crazy I couldn't imagine if everybody on this thread got together in person the **** would hit the fan !!!! It seems old school is clashing with the new era of nursing .....I don't know if this is a correct observation, some have quite a temper or lack for a better word compassion about venting etc. I am just spent an hour reading every single post on here lets just say totally fascinated to say the least. I am pre-nursing and 8 months pregnant and I just get a kick out of this stuff. I am hearing some interesting perspectives on patients etc, and how they can be a pain . But I just love this site and what it offers vents and everything in between .....I start my pre -req for the LVN program this summer so EXCITED!!!!!!! and I am due in 4 weeks

ShifraPuah · May 15, 2008

To the poster who waxed nostalgic for the good ole days (daze?) of nursing and advised us humble folk to Cheer Up and Do Something Positive...this thread IS that something positive.

We are telling our tales of woe and receive a kind of understanding that can't come from family members or friends. :icon_hug:

We are telling our "war stories" to fellow vets and see that nodding head of "yes I know what it's like" coming back to us. :cheers:

We are telling accounts of patient and patient family encounters that at the time, were horrible and awful but prove the truth of that old adage: "Most comedy equals tragedy plus time." :bugeyes:

It is threads like these that makes us survive and thrive in a profession that is becoming more and more like a bad remake of Lord of the Flies.

lamazeteacher · May 16, 2008

"There is nothing more destructive than that "Look how tough I am and how much I have done" attitude. It has been like a cancer in both the nursing and the medical profession for far too long. It's insane and violent in a subtly and sneaky and manipulative way. It still exists, even in corporate medicine. It is useless, egoic, immature behavior and it needs to stop"

Your view of my comments (which you haven't substantiated by any expert reference or researcher), make it seem that assertive experienced Nurses, who give their backgrounds to demonstrate knowledge necessary to support their viewpoints, threaten you.

You have hurled insults, assumed things that are untrue, and generally sullied the efforts of those wishing to contribute to this thread! It is important that those reading your contribution understand the lack of rationale/evidence behind it, and the anger motivating such fury.

Virgo_RN, BSN, RN · May 16, 2008

Lamazeteacher, who are you quoting? For future reference, there is a "quote" button at the bottom right of every post. If you would like to quote a post, just click on that button in the specific post.

As for the rest of your comments in the post directly above, the saying "Hello pot, meet kettle" springs to mind.

lamazeteacher · May 16, 2008

What are you talking about?

I guess jmgrn hasn't read the response to which I answered. I was talking about a Nurse who wouldn't see what a patient wanted, as she assumed it was the need for pain relief that motivated him to push his button for assistance. He was repeatedly told that it wasn't time for his pain med, over the intercom.

When the time came to administer that med, she shuffled into the room saying she didn't come before (to assess his needs), as he hadn't said "please" and "thank you" when that med was given before.......

The typr/dose/time for that PRN med was obviously in need of revision, as the patient was writhing and crying in pain by the time an hour elapsed between his call, and the delivery of the (wrong) med. My brother-in-law George called the hospital when his call for a nurse also wasn't answered. When he overheard the Nurse telling his roomate of HER need for better manners (in 2007), George, who was not without influence in that place, called the administrator the next day, to report the incident.

Apparantly his action threatened some responders to this thread, and I became the object of their anger!

squeakykitty · May 16, 2008

To the poster who waxed nostalgic for the good ole days (daze?) of nursing and advised us humble folk to Cheer Up and Do Something Positive...this thread IS that something positive.
We are telling our tales of woe and receive a kind of understanding that can't come from family members or friends. :icon_hug:
We are telling our "war stories" to fellow vets and see that nodding head of "yes I know what it's like" coming back to us. :cheers:
We are telling accounts of patient and patient family encounters that at the time, were horrible and awful but prove the truth of that old adage: "Most comedy equals tragedy plus time."
It is threads like these that makes us survive and thrive in a profession that is becoming more and more like a bad remake of Lord of the Flies.

This is a good thread to vent in and has been interesting. It's also been rocking and rolling lately, and I definitely would hate to see it get closed, or worse yet deleted. I don't see why a debate should get personal. Every one has a different viewpoint, and while I may not agree with it, I don't see any reason to flame someone for it.