your very own personal crusade

[goats'r'us]

i think everyone has a personal little cause - that little thing that's really not a big deal, but is a huge deal to you - and i want to know what yours is.

mine's pads. pads, not nappies.

only babies wear nappies, and i think that saying an adult wears a nappy takes away so much dignity! it's not that hard to just call it a pad and let the person have that one little bit of dignity. i mean, heaven knows if you're in hospital in need of a great big pad, you probably don't feel that dignified, without being popped into a nappy like a little baby!

i used to work in disabilities, where i helped out in a group home with some profoundly disabled teenagers. they basically needed full assistance for all care, but it was so important that we were support workers, not carers, and they wore pads, NOT NAPPIES!! it just makes sense to me. i mean, you play down stuff all the time to save people's feelings - the lady hurling up her guts is 'feeling a bit off', the man covered in poo is 'in a mess' and just needs 'help to clean up', people who die slow painful deaths miraculously 'pass on gently' when their family ask if they suffered. i don't care if the person in front of me needs a big-mama super absorbant nappy-type creation, i'll still say 'i'll just grab you a pad' every time.

see - smallest thing to everyone else, huge deal for me! what's yours?

[elizabells, BSN, RN]

I'm still a student, so I can't go aggro on anyone yet for my personal pet peeve - I'm on a GI surgery floor, and the surgeons come in, open the curtains, throw back the pt's gown to assess, and then just LEAVE them like that, wonderfulness in the breeze. Makes me crazy.

And I've heard RN's refer to pads as "Pampers." Come on...

[lbennett_71]

yes, I prefer clothing protectors as opposed to "bibs' Briefs as opposed to "diapers". I can not stand when tooth/denture brushing is not a part of daily care. Dirty eyeglasses bug me too. I hate when I find that the CNA put someone who is totally incontinent back into bed after lunch and did not clean off the urine and you pull the sheet back to put on a duoderm and the smell knocks you out!! Here's another one, I have taken care of trach patients-with scheduled nebs. and I come back from a w/e off and none have been done!!!! or a new order for eye drops and the drops are not opened!!! Do they not realize that that is going to make everyone's job harder??? When the eye falls out or they go into resp. distress!!! It sounds like I have serious issues (and there are many more I won't list!!) but it's what we sigened on to do when we joined this field!!! Patient advocates!!! Thanks for listening folks!!!

[gypsyatheart]

Well, one of my pet peeve's at work, is when I come on and take over a pt's care and go into the room to find it left a complete mess! Not w/the pt's personal belongings, either! I mean empty IV bags, wrappers, empty bottles of saline (or whatever), strips lying around, linen tossed on a chair that's dirty. I mean I know we are all busy,and I know we all get those horrendous shifts, but I always make a real effort to "pick up" before the next shift comes on....unless some crisis is happening, kwim?

Anyway that's my little rant, all done now! :)

[casi, ASN, RN]

I totally agree on the diaper thing. They are always refered to as 'briefs', or for my more confused residents they are 'underwear'

Hmm so far I think that the only crusade that I may have is that fact that I am sick of the excuse "Well that just their Alzheimers." Yesterday they were completely find and today they are lethargic/can't walk/complaining that they're 'sick'/etc.... and that's just Alzheimers. Then when the family starts asking questions and getting concerned the resident ends up in the hospital, or has a couple of labs run and is back to their old self again in a week.

[JoBug]

Mine is BIB'S!! Urgggg, can't they call them "aprons" "Clothing protectors"!! Good grief, they are elderly, NOT babies....just one of mine, I have submittied it, but you know how traing an old dog to do new tricks goes....:angryfire

JoBug

[rach_nc_03]

it bugs the snot out of me when people- nurses, docs, social work, whoever- walk into a patient's room and say, 'hello....sir....i hear you're having trouble with your bowel movements!' ok, first of all, take TWO SECONDS to look at the chart or flowsheet by the door and at *least* get a last name. Second, you have a name- use it! If a stranger walked up to you on the street and asked about your bowel habits, how would you feel?

now, personally, I use first names with anyone under the age of sixty or so, unless i get a vibe that they like being called mr. or mrs. soandso. i hate being addressed as ms. or mrs. (ESPECIALLY MRS.) in a healthcare setting. I think addressing someone by their first name helps build a personal connection between you and the patient. and if I have to come back into the room and ask or tell them something, I use their name. patients (and family members) have thanked me for this little thing i try to do, saying it made their hospital stay a little easier. how cool is it that you could make someone's hospital stay better with something so easy to do?

another name-based pet peeve...before you touch your unconscious/sedated patient, address them by name, and tell them what you're going to do...'ok, carla, i'm going to suction your tube now, and i need for you to give me a big cough.' yes, carla is on enough sedation to kill a horse. no, her parents don't speak english, and maybe she doesn't (i work in peds). but how hard is it to say those little things, and it may not get through to a lot of these patients because of disease process or medications- but *some* of them will hear you. yes, in an emergency, you can't give a full narrative, I understand that. but when you can, try to be personal.

[chadash]

I have found this nappie diaper brief pad conflict to be a bit of a riddle wrapped in an enigma. If I call it a diaper, I am told adults don't wear diapers. If I call it a brief, I hear "you mean a diaper?" if I ask for a pad, I'm told, a pad's not big enough: you'll need a full diaper. If I ask for a nappie, well, I'd get a strange look or be accused of being an anglophile. You just can't win this one.

But I do agree, we should call them something other than nappies or diapers. Maybe we need some kind of universal code word...how bout bum covers?

[LydiaNN]

I have found this nappie diaper brief pad conflict to be a bit of a riddle wrapped in an enigma. If I call it a diaper, I am told adults don't wear diapers. If I call it a brief, I hear "you mean a diaper?" if I ask for a pad, I'm told, a pad's not big enough: you'll need a full diaper. If I ask for a nappie, well, I'd get a strange look or be accused of being an anglophile. You just can't win this one.

But I do agree, we should call them something other than nappies or diapers. Maybe we need some kind of universal code word...how bout bum covers?

Does anyone object to the term "Depends"? I know that they come in other brands, but the term is sometimes used the way "Kleenex" is used to refer to any brand of tissues.

[chadash]

Does anyone object to the term "Depends"? I know that they come in other brands, but the term is sometimes used the way "Kleenex" is used to refer to any brand of tissues.

Works for me.

[grinnurse, RN]

I have a few "minor" crusades, but a couple of things that make me cringe....many of our younger (and some older!) CNA's/RN's call our patients "Honey" or "Sweetie"....sounds so disrespectful! From CNA class I was taught to always call patients/residents "Mr.", "Mrs." or "Ms." so-and-so.....and 13 years later I still do until the patient tells me different. I also hate it when they just call the patient by their first name without permission. Now, I'll do if I have an 18 year old patient (I'm 33), but some call people in their 80's and older by their first name!! Especially if the patient is confused. Just doesn't seem right to me.

Me too!! I hate that when they talk to them like that with those terms b/c usually when they are speaking to them like that they are also talking to them like children instead of adults which also unnerves me!! Another thing is when another one of the teammembers don't introduce themselves when entering the room. I always address my pts by Mr/Mrs such and such. I have had a couple of the ones in the older crowd tell me to call them by their first names and it is so hard for me to do. I usually blame my mother for giving those manners to always show respect.........LOL If they are younger than me I also will use the first name cause they won't answer to the other or they will say oh-you mean my Mom/Dad???

[chadash]

Does anyone object to the term "Depends"? I know that they come in other brands, but the term is sometimes used the way "Kleenex" is used to refer to any brand of tissues.

Booty bracers, exit strategy, posterior provisions,

Excretory absorption products. Protection de la derriere, paper pants,

[grinnurse, RN]

Other things that are my personal crusades are empowering the patient to tell health care providers no if that's what they choose. I had a pt a couple of weeks ago that had 3 NGtubes dropped on him in the matter of 6 days!!! They would put it in, tummy would drain and they would take it out again only to have it but back in a day and half later. This pt and I had a long talk b/f I left for my 2 days off and he was telling me that he didn't want another NG tube and asked me if he could tell them no. My response was yes, you have every right to tell them no more. The doc's couldn't figure out what was causing him to retain fluid. food, etc. For goodness sakes, send him to a hosp that has a specialized gastro floor to figure it out.

It is also my mission to make sure that my pts, when able, know the medications they take on a daily basis and the reason they are taking them.

Another is to fill out the surveys that the hosp gives out b/f the pt is discharged. Especially if they have had bad service with any member of the staff. I tell them we need the good and the bad so we can make improvements in those areas. Hopefully to get rid of the "bad" apples. And I know the higher powers that be read these things b/c we had one of docs called into the office this past Thursday b/c of several pts comments on his rudeness!!