JudyPRN

Thunderwolf, I think you've gotten the impression from all of the posters that this nurses' comments are unacceptable. He apparently thinks that as a guy you have the same feelings. (Maybe he thinks all men have the same thoughts and feelings and that expressing them is normal behavior. Wonder what home was like?) I definately would report his comments as well as the docs who engage in the same behavior. It is sexual harrassment with huge lawsuit potential. If your management team isn't interested in your feelings, I'm sure they will be interested in the lawsuit a visitor files for tolerating his behavior. He really sounds like a time bomb. Where are you working? I want to avoid your hospital til this guy is under control.

I have never been able to handle vomit. If I hear/see someone vomiting, I have to move them over so I can join them. Cleaning up after one of my kids threw up was just as bad. I hate it so much I haven't vomited in years. But one of my jobs was on a cardiac step down unit. I discovered that my head nurse hated mucus so we worked a trade, I suctioned her patients, she cleaned the vomit for mine. It worked well for as long as I was there. Even after 33 years in nursing, I can't stand vomit.

Once upon a time, a nurse's job description included scrubbing the floor of her ward, and in her spare time she was to knit socks for her patients who may not have any. She was to wear black skirts, shirtwaists and a white apron. Her hair was covered by an acceptable cap, also black. Her shift ran from dawn to dusk or dusk to dawn. She got 1 day off and could be excused to attend church services. Does it sound like we've gotten very far? Our mode of dress has changed and we do get 2 days off a week. We don't have to knit socks, tho I like doing that personally. In my facility, a 300 bed state psychiatric hospital, the housekeeping staff do the bathrooms, halls and 'public' areas. They wax and buff the day rooms and the activity rooms as well as the halls. They do not touch a patient's room, nor do they clean walls or window sills. Nursing does all the rest. If there is something on the bathroom floor that resembles body fluids, nursing must clean it up before housekeepers go in and clean the room. Now I have complained to all and sundry for the entire 23 years I have worked here. I have been told that they don't touch body fluids. They are trained in universal precautions just like I was. They control the cleaning supplies, which means that while I may be responsible for cleaning the walls, I don't have the supplies to do that. I have also been told that the supervisor of housekeeping believes that since they don't get paid too well, they don't have to do a very good job. I will work to keep my patient's environment clean and safe but I also keep on asking, 'If you want to pay me $25.00 per hour, are you sure you want me to mop this patient's room?' The answer is always 'Yes". I am now in an office position, and have learned that I must empty my own trash, sweep my own office floor and keep my space tidy. I understand my doing this for my own personel space, but I still wonder just what housekeepers do. Maybe they need to change their name to floor polishers. I have been a nurse for 33 years and have always had to clean body fluids up. Excuses are excuses no matter where they originate. My time in a general hospital showed that housekeepers can actually clean a patient room from top to bottom. But in my present facility, that would take an act of congress. That may be more than $.02 worth, but I wanted to jump into this discussion.

Yes. I've never wanted to be anything but a nurse, and even in my darkest hours, I still don't want to be anything but a nurse. The only thing I would have done differently is to pursue my BSN immediately after graduating from my 3 year program. I may or may not have gotten a Masters. I know I would definately not have married the same man, tho I wouldn't trade in my kids for anything. JP

Used and Abused,I spent 31 years working the floors, and gloved up and wiped as many butts as anyone. I don't think I could ever forget how it feels. I don't belong to the union, because there isn't enough nurses to make a large voting block. The union delights in telling nurses that we can't tell the QMAs and attendants what to do unless it relates to patient care. I stood up and said things and did things that marked me as a big, smart mouth. I ran my units my way and if people complained I was sure to show them the vacant positions postings. My patients were clean, fed, went to clsasses, had no sores etc. cause I helped bathe. My paperwork was done on time and so were progress notes. I'm in Quality Management now, but will always stand up and be counted as a nurse.

Wow, what a hot topic! There is a PHD here who tells me and any one else listening, that there is no real shortage of nurses. There are enough who have a license to fill the needs of my state, IN. She maintains that we have a bunch of nurses who have a license, but due to the lousy working conditions, do not practice as nurses. I had wondered about that and now I will be able to read these reports and see if she's right or not. She believes that surveys are done by hospitals. If there aren't enough nurses they don't have to employ enough of us. That way they don't have to make the changes which would attract and hold nurses. I have to agree that some hospitals are probably saying this and using 'the shortage' to excuse the fact they don't have enough nurses. The general hospital here in town is my facility's biggest recruiting factor. They 'pride' themselves on not paying a competative wage, they treat their nurses badly, and have expected nurses to pay 100% of their health/dental/vision insurance. My facility has full benefits, they pay 98% of my health insurance, and all of my dental, stuff and the facility has a union in place for public employees. My job is protected. (Even when we try to fire someone who has blatantly violated policy, we can't hardly do it.) I have worked in many settings and have stayed in this mental health facility for 22 years. While not everything is hunky dory, it is better than the local. I hadn't thought about facilities wanting to dump the highest paid folks, but that does explain all the ads in the paper. I'm looking forward to retiring, but wonder who will be there to care for me when I fall and break my hip?

To Angelbear and Fab4fan, We do medicate with non-addicting meds. We know that pain is what a patient says it is. As a facility, we tend to either give everything or nothing. We have experienced patients who get surgery to obtain pain meds, and who have set fire to their legs, with cool deliberation on just how long to let it burn to destroy nerve endings, and then request the meds due to (our perception of) burn pain. Our chemical dependent units have substance abuse counselors, psychiatrists, and medical docs to help the patients. The Substance abuse counselors either buy the whole story and make sure that the guy who is drinking a coke and eating chips and claims a level 10, gets pain meds. Then other substance abuse counselors who the medical folks see (as being in great pain) who insist that 'He's drug seeking'. We were sent a patient who was on Duragesic patches, for treatment of his "prescription pain med abuse'. Can you see our dilemma? Our chemical abuse units wrestle with this question on a daily basis. We appreciate any thoughts on making an objective determination about pain.

I am glad for the opportunity to read experiences with pain management. Angelbear, I also have chronic pain and have always kept my personal experience in mind when dealing with my clients. Now my question; We have been 'burned' on more than one occasion by chemically dependent clients who are drug seeking. We tend to take a patient's word for it that they are in pain. There is little literature on judging the truth of what is and what is not pain. The problem lies in our complicity in continuing a client's addictive behavior, not to mention their habit, while trying to help them get free of their addiction. Would appreciate any comments on this subject. JudyP :confused:

Hooray for every nurse willing and able to stand up for themselves! My epiphany came when I worked a CCU step down unit. We had one attending who treated all nurses as silly nincompoops in awe of his magnificence. We all ran out of the nursing office when he approached. He even followed people to the lounge and waited for them to come out of the bathroom. So, one day we had new chart racks, which sat lower to the floor. The office was full of doctors, nurses students, when this idiot gets down on the floor to get his charts. Suddenly I feel his hairy fingers around my ankle and he's 'No edema here, heh, heh,' I said out LOUD "Get your hand off of my leg. Last week you were feeling up my arm and now it's my leg!" So he does. I turn to the next doc for rounds, and 'say are you ready?' and we leave the office, which is absolutely silent. Suddenly Idiot comes running up to the Doc I'm making rounds with (who was Chief of Staff) and says 'Now Jim I don't want you to get the wrong idea about this sex stuff.' And bless his heart Jim says 'I don't want to hear it Morris'. I never had to run again cause the idiot never spoke to me again. After that I protested when I was being mistreated and everyone listened. I only had to say something once and never had problems again. And still don't 20+ years later.

Undertaker, I have been a nurse for 32 1/2 years. I have worked in hospitals, nursing homes, private duty and have been at this psych facility for 22 years, (as a nurse!) I graduated from a diploma school of nursing and went back to get my BS. Being a nurse is my defining character. I don't remember wanting to be anything else. (Except when I was 4 and wanted to be a ballerina and my gramma talked me out of it). Some of my jobs I loved and some I didn't. I never approached it as a 'good' job. In the Dark Ages when I started, I got paid $3.50/hour. I think that the desire to be a nurse must relate to who you are, what you are about. Your experience as an undertaker will be helpful. If you want to be a nurse you can. It is hard work, not glamorous, stressful, demanding, challenging, dirty, dangerous. But it is also uplifting, lifesaving, soul satisfying, spiritual, life changing, and eminately portable. In my years, I have always encouraged students, shown them everything I can, helped them in every way I could. Lord knows I needed all the new nurses I could get to come help me. I have also actively pursued the students who didn't care, who just wanted a job, who cheated on the work they handed in, and made sure they didn't come help me when and if they graduated. Nursing is one of those professions that defy a simple explanation. It is too many things to fit into one defination. We have not worn nursing caps for years because we don't have room for all of the hats we must wear on any one day. Give it a try. You will have ample opportunities to change your mind during your education. It's not engraved in stone once you get started. If you want a taste, get a job as a nurse aid, QMA, CNA, however they are designated. Investing a little time in that area will let you know if it is what you want. In the meantime, keep your day job.

I'm a new nurse on the list so please pardon my ignorance. I was quite interested in the pain links and explored several and probably will use some for staff training. I did not see any mention of dealing with chemically dependant people who may or may not be having pain. I work in a mental health facility which also serves chemically dependant people. We have a constant struggle with determining who is in pain and who is drug-seeking. We have isolated a few cues, but over-all are probably treating the wrong patients. Does anyone on this list have ideas on this subject, who can steer me to a few resources? I appreciate all the help offered.