Pet Peeves

Nurses General Nursing

Published

What is your pet peeve? With everything a nurse has to deal with in a day, the one thing that gets on my nerves is someone who takes the garbage bag out of the can but doesn't replace the liner. It makes me psycho. How bizarre is that?

Do we work at the same place? :devil: I HATE empty glove boxes, especially when a pt. is in a big mess and about ready to fall out of bed and there's NO GLOVES!! Urinals full of pee on the table. This is off the subject, but we had a pt. who was on a fluid restriction take his pee, empty it into the empty glass on his table and drink it :rotfl: . Seriously, does this count against the amount of fluids he has left??

Oh lets see I just got off work so this could be dangerous :wink2:

Full sharps containers

No gloves in room

Overflowing garbage and linen receptacles

Unused tubing draped over the pole with uncapped ends

Nearly empty drips with no replacement on the way

Anything less than perfect waves on the monitor (unless there is a good reason of course)

And last but not least................IV locks that don't flush because the IV is no good especially when it is charted off neatly every two hours as intact.

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Specializes in floor to ICU.

how about a patient in isolation and there is no disposable equipment in room for vital signs?

When pedi patients come up from the ER without a Buritrol on their IV and it is taped down with tiny 2 pieces of tape

The STUPID gowns that do not have snaps or tele pockets- just makes more work for the nurses when the patients comes from ER in those gowns.

Every single young healthy hydrated pateint coming to the floor with an IV in the anticubical- especially when you see large pulsating veins in the hands/arms. I realize the a/c is a quick fix but not very practical when they are positional or if the patient, let's say, wants to bend their arm during their hopitalization

Patients who brag about how well "that lab girl" could get blood on the first stick and why can't we call her to start the IV?

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Pet Peeve: Clueless Visitors

Recently, there were 2 men in a room. Pt. A has a serious eye disorder due to MVA. He is dizzy alot and moves slowly so he doesn't get anymore dizzy. He really needed silence and a dark room. Not gonna happen. Pt. B was out of it with pain meds. Still he had 7 visitors and 10 standing out in the hall. Talking loudly, having a mini reunion. They weren't speaking to the pt they were visiting, they were talking amongst themselves. I was with pt. A and I asked him what he needed. He responded "peace and quiet". He said it loud enough that everyone in the room could hear. Did he get peace and quiet? No. I wish visitors used a little common sense when it comes to visiting a hospital. Some of my rules:

1) Don't bring sick kids. People here already have a weakened immune system and don't need what your kids are bringing.

2) Don't sit on beds, whether made or unmade. Don't use pts. bathrooms. Worse than public restrooms.

3) Don't bring itty bitty babies that are 4 days old to see grandma who has gastroenteritis and pnuemonia.

4) Put yourself in the pts. shoes. Does the pt. really want 10 visitors after receiving a shot of demerol and phenergan? Probably not.

1) Doctors who tell you to only page them with emergencies.

2) When you call housekeeping for a mop-up we have to have a 20 minute discussion of what they're moping up, where etc before they'll even come up.

3) Family memebers of patients with MRSA who let their babies lay in the bed with them and use the pts bathroom. This after being told that the patient has an infection and should maintain precautions.

4) Med rooms not stocked with syringes or alcohol pads on nights after the day charge nurse has sat on her butt the whole entire time night shift is taking report.

And this is a new one, I had just come into work and none of the day shift nurses were at the desk so I had to answer the phone when it rang. Well on the other line was a guy looking for a friend of his that might be visiting her father on our floor. Said the father's name was "Billy" and that's all he knew. Then proceeded to give me a description of his friend to see if I had seen her. Like I have time to search for visitors.

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It might be me, but that chronic complainer brings me down. If it isn't the continous, day after day complaints of sickness, then it's how crappy she's being treated. Oh, get over it already. Her complaints of sickness start about 3 days before she calls off. Unfortunately, she never feels good and has nothing good to say.

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Who the heck keeps putting that ghost call light on. Is there an eletrician in the house that can finally fix it? Oh, heck. Fire him, pay me $20 bucks and I'll rip the wires right out of the wall. That'll fix 'er.

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"JUST PRIORITIZE AND MANAGE YOUR TIME BETTER".

OHHHHHH....how I hate that line.... :angryfire

Annor

:confused:

Yes, you run all shift and every time you try to take your break, someone

throws up or needs something for pain. If you did what they told you to do,

you'd tell the poor patient "Well just keep throwing up and hurting for 30 min-

utes so that I can take my break"!! There's not really an answer and they know it. They couldn't do it either, but the answer is always "JUST PRIORITIZE AND MANAGE YOUR TIME BETTER". The problem with that is that

for the amount of time that you have, there is too much to do for the amount of staff you have.

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Specializes in Cardiac/Telemetry, Hospice, Home Health.
Pet Peeve: Clueless Visitors

Recently, there were 2 men in a room. Pt. A has a serious eye disorder due to MVA. He is dizzy alot and moves slowly so he doesn't get anymore dizzy. He really needed silence and a dark room. Not gonna happen. Pt. B was out of it with pain meds. Still he had 7 visitors and 10 standing out in the hall. Talking loudly, having a mini reunion. They weren't speaking to the pt they were visiting, they were talking amongst themselves. I was with pt. A and I asked him what he needed. He responded "peace and quiet". He said it loud enough that everyone in the room could hear. Did he get peace and quiet? No. I wish visitors used a little common sense when it comes to visiting a hospital.

7 visitors IN the room? With the other patient needing a quiet environment? As a nursing student I have learned that advocating for patients by ensuring a healing environment is considered an intervention. That means making these visitors leave is our responsibility. Is this actually practiced in the real world? Is there a reason why we wouldn't intervene? I am confused as to why your patient A did not get the peace and quiet he needed? I know I am only a student but I need to ask these things

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7 visitors IN the room? With the other patient needing a quiet environment? As a nursing student I have learned that advocating for patients by ensuring a healing environment is considered an intervention. That means making these visitors leave is our responsibility. Is this actually practiced in the real world? Is there a reason why we wouldn't intervene? I am confused as to why your patient A did not get the peace and quiet he needed? I know I am only a student but I need to ask these things

And when we do, we get written up for being rude. You know I've asked visitors who arrive in groups of 10 to only have 2 at a time in the room, and even when asked repeatedly and politely, I will be ignored. I've asked people to leave when the groups of visitors in the room is past 3, and I will be ignored. I've even had to call security to get rid of disruptive visitors who refuse to leave. Assault on nurses from visitors is also an increasing concern. I've certainly been threatened a few times. There are visitors who believe we do not have the right to ask them to be quiet, limit their numbers, or if necessary leave.

With the customer service trend, nurses are reprimanded when visitors complain about the rude nurse who asked them to leave. This trend doesn't factor in the responsiblity of the patients or their families in regards to hospitalization, and yes they do have responsibilities:

1. Following the health facility rules and regulations affecting patient or resident care and conduct.

2. Being considerate of the rights of other patients or residents, health facility personnel and property.

Most hospital administrators look at nurses who do advocate as a problem employee and are treated as such. We can be disciplined for unprofession/abusive conduct and having a visitor file a compaint against us can put our license in jeopardy. What constitutes unprofesional and abuse conduct at times can be how the situation is interpreted.

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Specializes in Cardiac/Telemetry, Hospice, Home Health.
And when we do, we get written up for being rude. You know I've asked visitors who arrive in groups of 10 to only have 2 at a time in the room, and even when asked repeatedly and politely, I will be ignored. I've asked people to leave when the groups of visitors in the room is past 3, and I will be ignored. I've even had to call security to get rid of disruptive visitors who refuse to leave. Assault on nurses from visitors is also an increasing concern. I've certainly been threatened a few times. There are visitors who believe we do not have the right to ask them to be quiet, limit their numbers, or if necessary leave.

With the customer service trend, nurses are reprimanded when visitors complain about the rude nurse who asked them to leave. This trend doesn't factor in the responsiblity of the patients or their families in regards to hospitalization, and yes they do have responsibilities:

1. Following the health facility rules and regulations affecting patient or resident care and conduct.

2. Being considerate of the rights of other patients or residents, health facility personnel and property.

Most hospital administrators look at nurses who do advocate as a problem employee and are treated as such. We can be disciplined for unprofession/abusive conduct and having a visitor file a compaint against us can put our license in jeopardy. What constitutes unprofesional and abuse conduct at times can be how the situation is interpreted.

Thanks for the dose of reality. Perhaps I should start a thread on the topic as I know my inquiry strayed from the original post.

I love this website and love reading everyone's views and stories and experience.

Thanks - suninmyeyes aka Lisa Marie

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My pet peeve is nurses who are critical of other nurses. Get real people. Tangled tubes, messy bedside tables....You know how crazy shifts can be. If your PATIENT is in good condition and comfortable when you arrive, that's the important thing. I am a per diem nurse. I work every shift. I have found it so amusing to see a nurse who I know to be hyper-critical at the end of a crazy shift. She's glassy-eyed and can hardly tell you the details of her patient's condition. (I'm not saying always, but I have seen it happen.)

WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER, PEOPLE. 98 percent of us approach each shift with the goal of perfection. Are you critics saying you achieve this perfection consistently?

You might be interested to know, that sometimes the nurse who leaves tangled tubes or messy bedside tables is one who spent her shift working out issues more important--like listening to patients, taking the time to hear them and to respond to them. There was once a nurse on our floor who never failed to get her work done on time. Neat rooms. Perfect charting. We wondered how she did it, and started observing her. We thought maybe she was skipping on care. No, she was giving "perfect" care. She just never talked to her patients.

Yes, sometimes a nurse is incompetent. Somewhere there is an incompetent nurse. I've never worked with her. I've worked with nurses who run marathons, work their little a---s off and yet may not get it perfect.

We need to be loving and understanding of each other.

That's what nursing is about. Isn't it?

What's wrong with offering the same compassion and care to one another that we offer our patients.

A truly good nurse is one who understands and supports her "sisters".

Give it a try. You may find you get some love and support from your co-workers.

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You folks have said it all and what you have said is soooo true!

Sometimes I have gotten to work and find all this and that the over all attitude seems to be get the job done and never help the "other guy".

Empty BG supply kit is another. Use up all the Lancelets and strips and don't take the time to restock.

Wonder whatever happened to the "team work" in the team.

macspuds30

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Oh, this has been so therapeutic. There are somethings I just can't get excited about. VITAL SIGNS. I must be whacked. It is the basics of nursing assessment. I do them all the time but i hate it. I want a vital sign elf :spam: ....Where can I find one of those. I love it sooooooo much, I'd rather manually remove stool. Other nurses think I need some rehab.

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