BricMSN

"Nobody has ever stopped me in the store to ask me to look at their skin problem, does that really happen to you all?" Yes indeedy it does. I once wore my scrubs on my way home and ran an errand to get my cell phone fixed. A fellow shopper who was an exotic dancer dropped his trousers to show me a large bruise on his hiny. That was the last time I made that mistake. 😯

Nursing: -Bilingual families who ALL speak fluent English who choose to chat in another language in front of me. -Nurses who are aware of the problem, have the solution, have time to implement the solution, and choose not to. -Massive numbers of family members trying to crowd into tiny rooms. General: -Bad phone etiquette (my own father is one of the worst offenders!) -People who ignore you when you say something; when you repeat yourself, they say, "I heard you the first time." THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU RESPOND. 😡

Workloads in most nursing homes are pretty similar. What is your exact ratio? How many techs do you have to assist you? $28 an hour for a new grad is pretty good--my bigger concern is that you claim you are working without pay. If you're at work working, you should be getting paid for it. A couple of things to consider: almost everyone feels overwhelmed in their first nursing job; and, the grass is not always greener elsewhere.

This is ridiculous. I work in a small facility as well, and I do triage/labor/PP/nursery. If you're well trained there's no reason why this can't be done. It sounds to me like you need to settle in to one thing, get good at it, and manage your anxiety. If your anxiety is such that it causes you to call in, it is time for professional intervention.

I always have to balance in my mind whether it is going to be more trouble than it is worth to ask a family member to leave. Will the family member cause a huge stink? Will they escalate from verbal abuse to physical? Will asking a patient's family member to leave undermine my therapeutic relationship with the patient? I weigh all of these factors before I ask anyone to leave the hospital. In my opinion, enough is enough when the family member erodes my patient's confidence in my care, causes me to feel unsafe, or causes my patient to be unsafe. For example: I had a sixteen year old preeclamptic patient on magnesium who delivered a 35 week newborn who was transferred to the NICU almost immediately after birth. The patient's mother (i.e. the newborn's grandmother) was constantly trying to force me to schedule procedures around her meetings with her parole officer. She would grab my clothes and shake me while demanding updates on the newborn's condition (mind you, I wasn't caring for the baby and she had been provided with NICU's phone number). Every time they did get news of the baby, she would throw herself on her daughter's chest and sob dramatically, then pop a Xanax and pass out on the floor. She did all of this while expecting the sixteen year old on a magnesium drip and bedrest to care for her six-year-old sister. I asked her to leave because 1) she was grabbing and physically assaulting me, and 2) her antics were stressing her daughter, who had high blood pressure and a low seizure threshold. I informed her that if she returned to the hospital before discharge I would call the police and press charges.

Tell them to bug off! They don't own you or life choices. (And congratulations on going back to school.)

Visiting policy at my hospital (L&D) is no more than 4 visitors in labor, and postpartum visiting is at the nurse's discretion. If there are too many people or any of them are being inappropriate, we boot them out!

I work in L&D, and there are certain families who think the labor process is a spectator sport. We sometimes have 10-15 people trying to cram into rooms. They want extra tables, chairs, food, televisions, cots, linens... The list goes on and on. I don't tolerate it in my labor rooms; we have four visitors, max, and I will ask everyone to step out if I need to perform any kind of invasive procedure that will expose the patient (lady partsl exam, Foley insertion, etc.). If the families don't like it I inform them that the patient's safety is my number one priority; if they are still problematic I call security and have them removed as a danger. It has gotten to the point that my colleagues are asking me for help in managing THEIR visitors--families making themselves comfortable in acute hospital settings is inappropriate, and nurses being afraid (or unsupported) to enforce safe standards is even worse!

I'm doing a paper for evidence-based practice and need some feedback. If you've got a minute please answer these 3 questions: What is the most traditional nursing practice being done in your clinical area? What is the least logical nursing practice happening in your area? What is the most time consuming practice in your area? Thanks in advance!