storm06

It is a sad state of affairs when this type of behaviour is 'acceptable' or when nurses are encouraged to just deal with it - I know of no other profession that is expected to 'deal' with inappropriate behaviour like this. I remember being told during my training that being touched was going to happen and that we should accept it and deal with it. Again how many other people start a job and are told 'you may have your boobs grabbed but thats ok because the person is just demented?' As health professionals we encourage women/men to report abuse on all levels - physical, domestic, sexual and emotional. We should be teaching our students and ourselves that it is ok for nurses to report abuse of any kind. If you feel uncomfortable with the actions of your patients do something about it. If your workplace ignores it or does nothing to rectify the situation then surely they are in violation of occupational safety and health laws. The workplace has a duty of care to provide you with a safe workplace. It is easy to say 'oh well it was just one pinch on the bum/boobs. It bothers me - but I will let it go. The patient has dementia/is stressed/is out of it.' But is it ok to still be saying that after the 10th pinch? Or the 15th pinch? How long do you put up with that type of behaviour before it starts affecting you emotionally? I have had one to many inadvertant 'touches' or 'sorry my hand slipped' or 'how bout it love?' to ignore this type of behaviour any longer. And it upsets me to see other nurses putting up with it. On a lighter note - maybe if we all started wearing black belts with our uniforms patients would get the message and stay clear!

Crisis in nursing? How about a patient who died in the Ed because 2 nurses were looking after 17 pts? Patients waiting on average 8 hours to be seen in ED Small hospitals being closed (or the threat of closure) Regional hospitals being promised upgrades and 2 years on nothing has been done about it Less students going into nursing - you make more money spending 2 years on the mines than when you add up 3 years training, HECS, and a start pay of around $19 an hour and 3 years wage. I know this only touches the surface but this was all in the weekend newspapers! I love my job But it keeps getting harder every day End of rant Joecalifa - nuring 'protocals' are different from state to state. I can only speak from my experience in working in WA. I read these forums alot and have been amazed at the differences between US nurses and nursing here in Australia. I have worked in ED and remote nursing - and I enjoy remote nursing more. I imagine the basic nursing principles are the same where ever you are. But what might be different is what you can do to whom, and when you can do it!!! I have done things in a remote setting that i would not have been 'allowed' to do in ED. Remote (Mostly I have been in a single nursing post) allows me to make assessments, triage, treat and a whole range of things. I usually have a Doctor on the end of the phone. However if no doctor is available and it's an emergency, I think on my toes, am guided my own professional practice and have an emergency procedure manual that I follow (and I call for the ambos in a BIG hurry!). In a metro/regional ED you have a Dr already there (hopefully more than 1). If district or country ED's don't have a Dr on site the nurses are responsible for making the decision to call the patients Dr at home. WA is supposed to have nurse/patient ratios but these don't always apply in the ED. For that matter i don't think they always apply on the wards either! "Ramping" seems to becoming an increasing problem (ambulances that have to wait 'ramped' because there are no beds in the ED) and we are seeing an increase in the amount of time patients have to wait to be seen. Due to a shortage of GP's hospitals are seeing more people with a triage of 4/5 - and this is a nation wide problem. Politicians would be well advised to look after nurses in the here and now,,,, otherwise they may find themselves getting their own bed pans when the nursing workforce has decided enough is enough. Hope some of this info has helped! I can only relate my own experiences - others may have had different experiences depending on where they live and where they work.

I am stunned. I didnt even think a concept like this existed. I opened the thread wondering what the hell it could mean. It must have taken 2 pages of posts for it to sink in. Now I may live in a small town and I know the hospitals I have worked in don't compare to the size of some American hospitals, but you have got to be kidding me. Tracking nurses?????? If there is an emergency you hit the yellow button, a siren loud enough to wake the dead goes off and a call light outside the room lights up. Trust me when that alarm goes off everyone drops everything. If there is a phone call for me then page me, otherwise if its not an emergency take a message. I havent had many problems getting staff assist when it has been required. Wow, I must really be niave to not know that this is going on. I wonder how long it will take before they try something like this in Australia (it may already be happening, I have just never heard of it) But then I have never worked anywhere that requires you to put a pin number and scan your thumb to get medication out of a drug trolly. (though I can see the benifits of having one) I feel like it is another 'paternal' method of keeping nurses in line. How dare we think for ourselves. That is a no-no. How can they simply look at the data and pull you up for spending 20 min with 1 client when 3 of your other clients were ringing their bells. How do they know what or why you were in one room for so long? Are you going to have to justify every action and defend every judgement call you make? As for tracking nurses on their breaks,, I tell you if I could swear on the board I would. :angryfire What right does anyone have to time how long it takes me to do a wee in the loo. Will they dock my pay if I spend more that 2 min in there? I have a right to privacy and as far as I am concerned to loo is the one place that is sacred. I am entiltled to a break. You are not going to say 'wow thanks for only having a 10min lunch break, thats very kind of you'. No what their going to say is 'how dare you take an extra 5min on your lunch break, this is your first and final warning' I can see the benifits in regards to large hospitals and finding staff. But overall this concept scares me. I am an independent free thinking professional who can prioritise patient care and assess the amount of time any of my patients need me. Someone said that this smacks of big brother, and I agree. Wow, I realy am stunned, and my post may not have made alot of sense(its a bit late or early,,, not sure which!) but I am truly horrified at the thought of someone tracking my every move. I would have to agree with some of the others, I would quit before being forced to wear a tracking device. I am not a criminal, you have employed me to do a job so let me do it; without being paranoid about taking 4 min in the loo. (besides any system can be beaten, people leaving thier trackers in patients rooms prove that. Will they require that this tracker be surgicaly attached to my ankle, and any attemp to remove it will have the federal police on my door to arrest me for unlawful tampering of a critical health data collection device?)

locked paper towels is nothing,,,, try locked up loo paper its a real bugger when u cant get into the secret cleaning cupboard on night shift for loo paper with out calling the nurse manager The sacred, secret, cleaners only cleaning cupboad, what I wouldnt give to find out what is in there

Wow, I wouldnt last to long in some of these work environments. I have a nose stud, ear rings and a small tatt (which no one can see). I have worn them at interviews and while I was at school. I wore them as a clinical instructor as well. I have only ever had one issue and that was with a clinical instructor who told me my ears and nose were a 'germ barn' with so much metal in them. I told her niether my nose nor my ears were going anywhere near a patient unlike the several chunky rings she had on her fingers. You really think my nose stud is going to infect a paitent more than your 'germ barn' rings? Never heard another word about it. I have worked with lots of nurses, allied health, teachers and admin assist who have body art, who am I to judge what they look like, or for that matter they me? Live and let live I say. But maybe I just work in a more liberal environment than some others.

GardenDove you have my sympathy. I dread taped handover. Face to face I am fine with. Taped; I trip over my words, say everting in big long sentences, and take huge gasping breathes. I had the very unfortunate experience of listening to part of a taped handover I had done. The look on my face was so priceless the room burst into laughter. I could hear the paper shaking in my hands! I sounded awful. The others had a laugh with it, they know I am not the best when taping, but I still get embarrassed. Try not to think that you are any less adequate than the other nurses. If you think your report is not good enough, or you are going to forget something chances are you will (because your more worried about making an eror) I try to keep my reports brief, if I am taping then the briefer (sp) the better! Go figure, I can lecture to a room ful or nurses, but cant give a taped handover without feeling like a real dope :sofahider

I usually ask the patient if they have any spiritual or religious needs that we can help them meet while they are in hospital. Best time is while you are asking the stock standard dob, adress, age, ect. No one has ever told me they have been offended by the question, they say no, I go onto the nursing assessment. They say yes, and I ask them what I can do to help. I am more than happy to make phone calls or track someone (or something)down for them. When I was a grad (such a long time ago!!) I had a Muslim patient who was palliative care. I developed a good relationship with the family. When she went into a coma I asked her husband what religious considerations did we need to observe when she passed. He took the time to explain what was needed and was happy to answer my questions. This was a very postive experience for me, and the family. If I had not asked, I would never have known. In this instance it was appropriate to talk about religion, to meet the need of my patient and her family. Religion can be a sensitive subject and sometimes its hard to know how to ask if a patient needs spiritual or religious needs while in hospital. But for me I would feel as though I was not caring for my patient if I didnt ask. You can ask with out being offensive or sounding judgemental. I ask about the patients about THIER religion, their pain, their condition, their surgery, their medications ,,,,,,, they don't want to know about my religion, my pain, my medical problems or the prescription medication I take. I get a bit hot under the collar with the subject of nursing and religion as I had a bad experience as a young adult. I have a strong belief, but it is my own, and while I dont agree with everything my chruch preaches, I do not want to be converted. I had a bad bout of gastro when I was 17 and was in hospital overnight. Mum had gone somewhere and the admit nurse was asking questions. I relplied Catholic to the religion question, and at that age I didnt really know that other religions existed. So I had no idea what she meant when she asked me if I could speak in tounges. Of couse I could speak with my tounge,,,,, I then got told that unless I could speak in tounges I would never get into heaven and would spend the rest of my life in hell. I was young enough to be saved and I should turn to Christ,, quickly.Then she left, never to be seen again (and at that age I thought it was because I was a bad person for not speaking in tounges, what ever that meant) This haunted me for years (very very very over it now) but the fact that I am over it now does not mean it doesnt get me steamed up at times. It made me feel my own faith was not enough, I was doing something wrong that would anger God; and having had the fear of hell beat into me as a child, I was teriffied. I questioned my own faith, while I was in hospital, sick, scared and that night, all on my own. I should have been worried about weather or not I was going to be able to eat breakfast in the morning. I was to scared to go to sleep in case I died, because I had to find out what speaking in tounges meant before I went to meet my maker. I believed in a physical hell,,,,, and was sure that I would spend eternal damnation in a fiery pit. I am not really sure what point I am trying to make. Just that I dont want to see sick venerable people feeling worse because their faith has been questioned in a hospital. Or the patient feels they have to listen to a nurse trying to convert/preach because they have to. I personaly believe that it is never ok to preach, convert, evengelise at the bedside. But,,, that is my belief. I know that that experience led me to investigate what 'speaking in tounges' meant and from there i developed a fasination with different religions. I enjoy learning about them, and ultimately it led to a stronger inner faith for my self and the religion I grew up with. For those who think it is ok to preach at the bedside; how would you feel if you or a family member was vulnerable, in hospital, sick, confused or emotional and someone told you that one of the things you most hold dear, your spirituality, your faith, was wrong. Would you feel hurt? Angry? Fear?Disagree? Would it make you want to question your own faith? Is this something you want to feel while you are sick in hospital? Nurses do not have the right to question their patients spirituality. There are other places and other times, outside of the hospital. If you feel the need to preach the word of God there are more appropriate places than the bedside of a hospital. Just remember that your word of God is not necessarily someone elses word. Wow this has been quite cathartic.:nuke: (I have written and re written and double checked like it was a uni assignment!) Maybe I still hold a bit of resentment towards that nurse and that is why I feel so strongly. I sincerely hope my comments have not offended anyone as this was not my intention.

I have heard of several patients who have dreamt of black crows, who then passed very quickly and quietly. From what I understand it's an old Eastern European superstition (can anyone confirm this?) If someone tells me they have dreamt of black crows I call the family ASAP. It is comforting to see a patient who is dying draw comfort from their dreams/visions. I have seen and heard of it often enough to believe that it is real.

I looked after an American guy who kept asking all the nurses to "say G'Day" It got a bit dull after a while,,,,:zzzzz I have to admit one thing that has always scared me about working in the US is I have no idea what '1cc' amounts to in mls or how to convert pounds, miles, grams, kg's ect from the metric system. And I even watch ER, with out fail,,,,,, and I still don't get it. My worst nightmare is someone asking me to convert from metric,,,, stress material! Also the difference in spelling - does my head in,, esp when my uni books are American, I have problems spelling Australian without getting big red cricles on my work and "you are not American" written on my assignments. :chair: If I have difficulty understanding an accent, I simply say sorry, no worries, she'l be right mate, whatcha want again?, I'll throw another shrimp on the barbie for ya hay? I dont think its a hanging offence to have difficulty understanding accents. As long as people are polite about it I can't see why admitting that you can't understand what is being said should be a problem. Agree with UKRN about having a healthy sense of humour. I am sure there are just as many people who couldn't understand me as i coundn't understand them.

Chaya, I can understand that you want to be there for your family. And it is natural to want to get your relative a blanket if they are cold. Through your training and as you get more experience you will find family and friends will take great comfort if you are there for them in the ED. So don't let that deter you from not going to the ED or even having a prac placement there. Then you can compare the two experiences. I have taken friends and family to the ED many times, mainly as a comfort to them. It is easy to have someone interpret medical jargon that understands it. I have an 'emergency' bag in my car that has a jumper, change of clothes, toiletries, a book and some dried food (usually BBQ shapes, and its all for me!!) It doesnt hurt to have a bottle of water and a blanket in the boot of the car just in case. (also because I live in the country, miles from anywhere!) Try to understand that those of us who have worked in emergency departments dont see a request for a blanket as a priority. Its just that simple. I have been abused left and right by family members for not doing this or that, when I really just want to say a cough/cold for 4/7 is not an emergency, take a panadol and go home. Its not being nasty, its just that you cant drop everything in the middle of a resus to grab a blanket. You can do alot of things to help a relative in the ED and not use the "I hate to bother you but,,," sentence. Really only 1 relative should be with the patient in the ED, and never in a resus. Keep other family members informed so that there is 1 contact person. Family can contact you and not the hospital. If you are taking a relative to the ED (obv not in an emergency) take a spare rug or cardi just in case. Even a soft pillow can help in those hard backed chairs. You can explain to your relative that ED can get really busy, and that they really shouldnt eat or drink until they get the ok from the Dr. Sympathise, say 'I know its a bugger you cant drink but better to be safe than sorry hey?' (or does that really sound occa Ozzy?!) Give them some reasurrence and hold their hand. Make sure you have a list of their medications/medical problems/allergies ect to speed up the triage process. And always explain that a 2 hour wait in the ED can quickly lead into a 6 hour wait if there is a priority. Are they happy to wait that long? Being a nurse your family may expect alot of you. Anything from explaining medical jargon, to maybe knowing the right things to say to get into ED quicker. (My advice, never tell anyone that chest pain will get you seen quicker. If you havent got it then God help you!) I have been on both sides of the fence as have many other nurses. But I have trained my family and freinds quite well. If you are not dying its not an emergency and dont dare yell at the nurses or you will have me to answer to. ED's get clogged very quickly, and I have told off a few relatives (in jest) for wasting 'the good nurses time' (Sorry Uncle Bob, dont care if your ingrown toenail is giving you curry,,,, will you die from it? No? Then take a panadol next time and you wont have to whinge about waiting in a hard cold ED for 6 hours,,, Serves you right. But then he gets up big hug, so all is forgiven!) Good luck with your studies, have faith and confidence in yourself. Be there for your family, ED can be a scary place, and I am sure they will need you. Give ED nursing a try. I never thought it was something I was cut out for but it turns out I am. Though I dont fluff as many pillows in ED as I did on the wards, my patients get their treatments and their care on a priority basis, and in the ED it shouldnt be any other way. Good Luck

A very old Aunty of mine (now passed) had a GA for a knee arthroscopy. She was fit and healthy, a real bright spark. After her surgery she complained that she felt pain and could hear the Dr's and Nurse's talking during the surgery. She tried to tell them what was going on but she couldn't move. She said the Dr was talking about his overseas holiday that was coming up. To be honest no one really belived her (I was about 10 years old at the time and didn't really understand what she was talking about) and the family kind of brushed it off telling her she just had a dream. Imagine the families suprise when they found out she would have to see another Dr for follow up as her's was on an oversees holiday. She talked about other things she had heard and one of her daughters tried to get some answers but she was brushed off. She was told 'your Mums getting old and confused, she neither heard nor felt anything'. She lost her spark after that and never fully recovered from the surgery. I was only young but I was terrified of having surgery in case I woke up or felt pain. I can't imagine the horror of realising what was happening to you during surgery. Nor can I imagine going thru that and having no one believe you. Aunty died a year or so after the surgery, but she was never the same person again. She became a very frail and frightened old lady. I hope that anyone who has been thru something like this has been able to get good counselling, that they feel like they have been listened to and that someone validates what they have gone thru. Nothing anyone says can erase the experience some of you have had, but I hope you have been able to work thru it with love and support from your family and friends.

I learnt this from an old boyfriend who used to get work calling him anywhere between 0100 and 0500. Phone rings - pick it up but dont say anything. Usually the caller will say "hello? um hello???" You say "what time is it?" While they are saying "it's 0500, sorry to call so early but,,,," you just hang up. I only tried it once and felt really guilty,,, lol But I have a really low ring tone on my mobile for work so most of the time I don't hear it. I refuse to give out my home number any more. I understand it must be a nightmare for the roster office/nm, and I am sure they don't enjoy calling people at all hours of the day or night. But when I have split days off and have worked 8 nights in a row I dont want a guilt trip for enjoying my day off!

You are all welcome to come and nurse in the great Land Down Under. I promise not to be nice to your face and then stab you in the back. I promise that regardless of any mistake u might make you will be listened to with compassion and empathy. I promise not to accuse you of breech of your nursing practice while u are away on your honeymoon. I promise not to write you up for unauthorised use of the computer. I promise not to sack u for spending an extra 10 minutes in the loo because you have worked 10 hours short staffed, underpaid, dealing with demanding paternalistic doctors, dealing with families,,,,, and you really just need to sit and contemplate why u r a nurse in the first place. I have never experienced nor to the best of my knowledge worked with anyone who has been written up in the way u guys describe. It sounds just awful, and my empathy to those of you who have gone though it. I made an error a few months ago. There was never any talk of writing me up or reporting me. The nurse manager and staff were very supportive, I was allowed to have a cry, explain what went wrong and then talk about ways to prevent it from happening again. I think if I had someone ranting and raving at me it would have been enough to make me quit. Hang in there guys. Remember if it gets to much we can always use more fantastic nurses like yourselves in Australia:beer:

During a run of flu shot vacc before winter a student RN came to tell me he had drawn up his flu shot. Acting macho he then preceded to tell me he was brave enough to give it to himself. I told him to stop being a show off, that I would do it. So I took the syringe, prepped the arm and in it went. While I am giving him the needle, I'm thinking this is is a big dose (back in the days before pre packaged vacc shots). I suddenly went cold and asked him what was in the needle,,,,,, "My yearly vaccinations, I only wanted to have one needle". The student had loaded the flu shot, hep b + c, mmr and someother one I cant remember, into 1 needle. I got hauled over the coals by the Sr Nursing Officer and got a written warning (didnt check the 5 rights, could not document which muscle contained which vacc and therefore it would be imposible to know which vaccine may have caused an adverse reaction, didnt check that the drug has been stored correctly before giving it, didnt explain the side effect of the vaccinations, allowed a student to draw up a medication with out checking it and behaved in an unproffessional way). There was a huge drama about wheather they could all be given in the same shot, pharmacy was called, Doctors were called and the Poisons line were asked for their opinion. This was during a time when troops were being delployed oversees so we were giving a lot of nasty vaccinations, thank the Lord he didnt draw those up,, I shudder to think was the results could have been. Needless to say the student was fine, didnt have a reaction, didnt faint and thought the whole thing was rather funny. It took me a while to pick up what was left of my self respect:chair: It was also an important lesson learnt, and though I can laugh about it now, it was fairly serious when it happened(about 12 yrs go). Never give any medication you havent drawn up or dispensed yourself!!!!!!! I just thought is was bizzare giving yourself an injection when there were at least 5 people qualified to do it. It never occoured to me that someone would draw up all the vacc's in one needle, especially since we had a strictly adhered to vacc policy. So if someone whats to give themselves a shot, I say GO FOR IT!. Just dont ask me!!