curlyfry17

I work on an acute floor in a hospital with a vast variety of patients, though mostly 65 and older. I have noticed on several patients what can I can only conclude as "liking to be incontinent." Im serious. Patients who can walk faster than I can & patients who are extremely alert & oriented, patients who if and when the staff "make" them adhere to a timed toileting schedule never, ever have an accident. Patients who on the call light if they need a pain pill, need a Diet Coke not a regular, fluff a pillow, change the channel, etc. But leave toileting t up to them.....they will wet the bed all day. And not only do they wet the bed but they do not use the call light to alert us they are wet and not only do they not alert us but they cry and throw a fit if we encourage them (upon being incontinent) to get up & walk to the toilet so hygiene & linen/clothes changing can occur easily. They want to be changed in bed. What??? You walked 300 feet this morning!! Or at the very least, they want to stand besides the bed and get changed and cleaned and then go back to be and pee themselves all over again. The excuses they give range from they forgot to call us, they were really into the show, they were just tired, and sometimes they say things like "well i might as well just go here in bed..." WHAT? and the expressions on their faces, it is hard to articulate. It is so blatantly obvious they like it. I thought I read that incontinence is NOT a part of getting older?! Why does it seem like I work in an environment where incontinence is not only a part of getting older, it is expected?

This is just the thing I was wanting to know!! I love allnurses.com. Thanks nurses!!

it is like this at work too. It is the "i am the smartest nurse & i am the hardest working nurse" mentality. i like to just tell them: "you are obviously the smartest nurse & the hardest working nurse in THE UNIVERSE....could you lower yourself to my level & grace me with some advice for five minutes please?"

@notflo. You sound like you would fit in perfectly on my unit. Looking for a job?