preparing to be one of them????????????

[RN2B73]

Hello,

I just want to express my frustration after visiting my grandma in the hospital tonight. I am a pre-nursing student just waiting to be called for the program and after my experience tonight I'm both scared and confused about my future occupation. My grandma was admitted this morning with pneumonia. She is 82 yrs old and has COPD. It seemed like there were an abundance of employees, more than I usually see (and believe me I've spent plenty of time in hospitals) but not once did anyone come in to even look in on either one of the patients in the room. She is on a step down ccu and I guess I just expected more. I realize that there is a nursing shortage and on top of that, the nurses are responsible for numerous patients at one time.

I can't imagine not being able to give each one of my patients the care they derserve and should be entitled too. I don't know how I will feel about it once I begin working in the field and I'm afraid I'll have a hard time dealing with it. I guess I was just looking for a little insight from someone who actually has real life experience. Do you ever feel like you aren't doing your job? Do you feel like you are being set up for failure? I realize that with every profession, there will be those who slack and those that exceed what is expected of them.

Is that just the case with what I encountered this evening, were the nurses slacking or is this the norm? I want to be able to help people but if I felt like I was neglecting my patients every day because of no fault of my own, I'm not sure how long I could take it!

[santhony44, MSN, RN, NP]

In my hospital, they could've been secretaries, case managers, chart reviewers, IV team, transporters, housekeepers, patient care techs, wound care, or lab techs.

Don't forget PT and RT. Oh, and nutritionists, dietary, and x-ray techs (who still occasionally do portables). Then too the folks who come up from pharmacy to load the Pyxis may be wearing scrubs too, along with the folks from laundry and central supply who are there doing their jobs, too.

When you think about it, you could conceivably have a large number of people at the nurses' station and not one single one of them is a nurse.

[santhony44, MSN, RN, NP]

There were alot of residents around too, not necessarily just nurses.

In my experience, residents tend to be pretty high-maintenance. They can take up a lot of nursing time and space. Too, it can be a real trick finding and getting your hands on a chart with residents around; some of them you practically have to wrestle to the ground to get a chart!!

Also consider that if there were a lot of residents around, there may have been a patient actively trying to die and most everyone's time and efforts were taken up with that.

[RN2B73]

1. Did you, your grandmother, or the other patient ever utilize the call bell as a means to get nursing staff into the room?

2. Did you, your grandmother, or the other patient ever yell out for nursing staff to come into the room?

3. Did you ever once approach the crowded nurses station to request to speak to your grandmother's nurse about entering the patient rooms?

The fact that no one came into your grandmother's room during that time frame is a strong indication that she was not critically ill. Please don't judge too harshly, because things are not always as they appear at the surface. If there was a drastic change in your grandmother's condition that her nurse needed to attend to immediately, you or your grandmother really needed to alert them.

It's simpler for people to complain about their present situation, rather than seizing control and actively changing what they dislike about their circumstances. Next time, please be proactive and speak up if you feel your family member requires more attention and much more frequent nursing rounds.

I hope your grandmother is doing well.

Actually, yes she did use the call button and the nurse did present herself. Not in a very friendly manner but none the less she did respond. I am not naive to the hospital environment and believe me if there is a problem, I do speak up. My father recently passed from lung cancer and I encountered it with him too. There are always times when the patient (even my dad and my grandma) are difficult and I point that out to them but my point or question rather was, when I do come across this is it because the nurse is slacking or because they are just given too much to handle. I am not trying to burn anyone on the cross but I'm sure there are those out their who slack. They exist in every type of work environment.

[RN2B73]

I'd also like to state that there have been times when I have spoke up, as you suggest, only to be given attitude back and my family memeber would suffer the consiquence once I left. I am a warranty manager and deal with unhappy people all day long but there is still a professional manner in which to handle yourself. Do unto others as you would have done unto you, that's all I am saying.

[cappuccino]

I'm sorry your grandmother didn't receive the care you thought she deserved. I've been in that situation myself. But what I also know is that some family members are unrealistic in their expectations. I've heard patients say they hardly saw their nurse on the previous shift. Who by the way I know had an unstable patient. Sometimes you just don't know the whole story and can't assume it was done deliberately......

[Altra, BSN, RN]

I'm not out to burn anyone on a cross either, but as you progress through your studies and see just how *sick* a really sick person can be, my guess is that you'll come to view this situation a bit differently.

From your posts: your grandmother was stable (not admitted to a critical care unit), it was during the time of shift change, and you were present visiting her. From what you've stated, if I were that nurse, I would have probably prioritized your grandmother lower on my list at that time as well. Vital signs on med-surg, progressive care, and step-down units are typically every 4 hours, though they may be every 2 hours or even just once every 8 hours.

Your grandmother has both an acute condition and an acute exacerbation and I understand your anxiety about the situation. But I'm suggesting that you use your previous experience ("considerable time spent in hospitals") and your interest in nursing to view this as a potential learning experience instead of assuming that someone was "slacking". From what you've posted here, I see no evidence of substandard care.

Good luck with your studies.

[pinksugar]

Well shift change did occur while I was there. I arrived at 6pm and left at 8pm. Does shift change take 2 hours? There were alot of residents around too, not necessarily just nurses. I hope you are right!

Depends on the unit. Shift change takes 45 minutes to an hour where I work. Around 6pm day shift starts to 'wind down', and around 6am night shift starts to 'wind down'. This is when we do our charting, look over paperwork, do last minute things, etc. I work in an ICU and I see both of my patients literally 30-40 times per night (each). I am constantly in their rooms doing things for them, peeking on them, answering their bells, hanging meds/blood/whatever.

However, my goal is to have them both washed, foleys emptied, and the patients and their bedding 'fluffed and buffed' by 6:15am (I'm night shift). After that I try to avoid going in the patients' rooms unless I need to, because day shift will be coming for report shortly. Of course if there is an issue or the pt calls I go in, but I don't do rounding or peeking around that time.

[angel337, MSN, RN]

because you are a nursing student you are going to be more observant and critical than most. that's understandable, but i don't think 2 hours is enough time to assume that the nursing staff were not being attentive enough. once you become a nurse you will understand. 2 hours goes by very quick.

[RN2B73]

I'm not out to burn anyone on a cross either, but as you progress through your studies and see just how *sick* a really sick person can be, my guess is that you'll come to view this situation a bit differently.

From your posts: your grandmother was stable (not admitted to a critical care unit), it was during the time of shift change, and you were present visiting her. From what you've stated, if I were that nurse, I would have probably prioritized your grandmother lower on my list at that time as well. Vital signs on med-surg, progressive care, and step-down units are typically every 4 hours, though they may be every 2 hours or even just once every 8 hours.

Your grandmother has both an acute condition and an acute exacerbation and I understand your anxiety about the situation. But I'm suggesting that you use your previous experience ("considerable time spent in hospitals") and your interest in nursing to view this as a potential learning experience instead of assuming that someone was "slacking". From what you've posted here, I see no evidence of substandard care.

Good luck with your studies.

Perhaps you are right, I still stand firm though that there is no reason not to be pleasant to a patient. My grandmother was not rude or mean and the nurse was very stand-offish. She acted as if we were bothering her. Again, I'm sure the time will come when it is me who is being questioned as a nurse but I will always try my best to treat people with respect and kindness.:redpinkhe (I know...I sound like a hallmark card) I can honestly say that the phlebotomist who came in was sweet as could be and that's all I was hoping to see from the nurse.

[cpnegrad07]

There is no getting around it: If hospitals' main focus was curing/preventing, they would not be the way they are. Their main focus is making money so they can stay in business (to provide semblance of care). No rationalizing changes that underlying truth that we see every shift.

If we had laws requiring true nurse/doctor/patient ratios, all hospitals would be on the same footing, would provide the real care that we want to give, and would all survive.:cheers:

[EmmaG, RN]

Actually, yes she did use the call button and the nurse did present herself. Not in a very friendly manner but none the less she did respond.

Perhaps you are right, I still stand firm though that there is no reason not to be pleasant to a patient. My grandmother was not rude or mean and the nurse was very stand-offish. She acted as if we were bothering her. Again, I'm sure the time will come when it is me who is being questioned as a nurse but I will always try my best to treat people with respect and kindness.:redpinkhe (I know...I sound like a hallmark card) I can honestly say that the phlebotomist who came in was sweet as could be and that's all I was hoping to see from the nurse.

I'm a bit confused. In your original post you say "...but not once did anyone come in to even look in on either one of the patients in the room"; now you seem to be saying otherwise.

In any case, when I come in for a 7A or 7P shift, I generally don't hit the floor until between 7:30 and 8. After receiving report, I have to prioritize who I will go assess first; those patients who are the sickest or most unstable of the group, and often just attending to that can take up a lot of time meaning I don't necessarily lay eyes on the more stable patients until closer to 8:30.

Like it was pointed out above, once you've become a nurse you'll understand just how quickly a couple of hours can pass.

I do have a problem with you labeling these nurses as 'slackers' when you obviously have no idea what was happening on that unit and with the other patients (had a patient crashed or coded?), or even if all those people you saw were nurses in the first place.

[Virgo_RN, BSN, RN]

Perhaps you are right, I still stand firm though that there is no reason not to be pleasant to a patient. My grandmother was not rude or mean and the nurse was very stand-offish. She acted as if we were bothering her. Again, I'm sure the time will come when it is me who is being questioned as a nurse but I will always try my best to treat people with respect and kindness.:redpinkhe (I know...I sound like a hallmark card) I can honestly say that the phlebotomist who came in was sweet as could be and that's all I was hoping to see from the nurse.

It's very possible that the nurse being "standoffish" had absolutely zero to do with you or your grandmother. Nursing is a highly stressful occupation and it may just be that the nurse was in the middle of a tense situation at that moment. Don't be so quick to take it so personally. You didn't see how the nurse was with your grandmother when you weren't there. For all you know, she may have been very kind and respectful, but you just caught her at a bad moment.:redpinkhe