bigred

We had a doctor at a nursing home that I worked at refer to Trazadone as VitaminT. At the same home we would say that a resident was "tishy" as apposed to "shi__y" When I worked in a different nursing home and referred to a resident as being in a "tishy mess" I got a few looks!

I used to work in a dementia unit. It was not uncommon to see baby dolls on the unit. Many of the residents would be comforted by these dolls; call them their babies. One night we had a resident who ran out of her room and down the hall to the locked exit doors. She shook the doors yelling out "my baby, my baby." We were able to redirect her back to bed. I said to the staff that maybe one of those dolls would help. So I took a doll to her. When I showed her the doll she grabbed it from me and said "My baby's alive!" While throwing it back at me she said "That's a doll you damn fool!"

I work in a 60 year old nursing home. A few months ago on the evening shift a resident on G wing put on her call light. When the staff answered her call she said "Get that girl out of here" The resident was asked to describe her. She said that she was about 10 or 11years old with long blonde hair. On the same shift on unit H a resident put on her call light. When staff answered the call the resident said "A little girl had just come out of my bathroom and ran up to me with a ring in her hand. Then she ran out of the room". The resident stated that the whole thing happened so fast that she did not get a good look at her, except that she had long blonde hair. Staff asked her if she may have been dreaming. The resident stated that it was no dream. It really happened. A few hours later on the night shift I was on that night. About 3 AM one of the unit staff (on unit H) told me that another resident put on her call light and informed staff that a little girl came up to her and told her that she was going to come back sometime and when she does she will take her ring. That resident described the girl to be about 11 years old with long blonde hair. When the RN saw me later on that night she said to me "Well, I guess we have some spooks here!" I told this to my husband. He said that before the nursing home was built there was an orphanage in the same area. Evidently many children in that orphanage died of diseases as it was in the early 1900's. There have been previous reports from residents about seeing small children in the nursing home.

In my opinion, you did everything right. That Dr was way out of line to talk to you that way. I agree with the others who said report him/her. While I was reading your post I thought of a form of communication for healthcare professionals called SBAR. I looked up a website for you that you may find helpful: saferhealthcare.com/sbar/what-is-sbar/. You may have heard of it before. It stands for Situation Background Assessment Recommendations. You briefly describe the current situation of your patient. Then you give a brief background or history of your pt. Then you give your assessment of the situation. The last one recommendation is what action by the person you are communicating with you are looking for. Where I work my we will make recommendations to the dr especially at night because often we get them out of sleep. Besides, in many cases we know the pt very well. Hope that helps. It's a thought. Good luck and keep up the good work.

Where I work I often think of that game we used to play at birthday parties. Someone would whisper something in their neighbour's ear; that person would whisper what they heard to the one next to them until they got to the last person. The last person was to say aloud what her neighbour just said to her. Then the person who started the game had to tell the group what they had said at the beginning. Every time what was said at the beginning and what was said at the end were completely different. Just like at work.

Your post was excellent. Even though I have been nursing a very long time, your advice helped me. There were some dandy reminders for me in there. All the things you mentioned are bang on. For those of you who are new into nursing if you follow Sandandsandwiche's advice, when all is said and done you will probably come out in one piece and live to tell the tale. Good luck in your travels and in all you do!

When I was in high school, one of my class mate's name was Candy Cinnamon.

Hi Irock: Congratulations on your new job! I have worked in LTC for 25 yrs. I love it. I worked in LTC for awhile, then worked in a hospital for awhile. Then I went back to LTC because I really missed it. Most of the residents in LTC are elderly. My soft spot is with the elderly. You are asking for suggestions. What to do: Be kind and courtious to everyone in the facility. It sounds like a no brainer, but after a few weeks or months there will be times that won't be easy. The PSW's, front line workers, health care aides, whatever they are called in your facility are your eyes and ears. If they tell you that Mrs. XY has a bruise on her shoulder, check it out. That too sounds like a no brainer. One of our biggest problems where I work is when RN's and RPN's don't follow something up. Write it down somewhere if your are too busy at the time. If you can't get to it make sure you pass it along to the next shift. If you do assess the resident, document it. When I ask the PSW's to do something, I thank them afterwards. We had a RN who always said thank you when I did something for her. It made me feel good. So I do likewise. I also thank the PSW's at the end of the shift. I learned that from another nurse as well. If you treat the PSW's with respect chances are good that they will respect you too. So many times I hear PSW's state that this RN or that RPN looks down on them. That won't be said of you, will it?!! Learn from your mistakes. We all make them. I continue to make plenty. Admit them and carry on. Hard, hard to do sometimes. This is so true with med errors. In our facility we have a special form just for med errors. That means I am not the only one who makes them! Try to be punctual. Avoid calling in sick unless absolutely necessary. Accept call-ins whenever you can. If someone reports you to management, document everything about the situation that you can remember: date, time, who was there etc. I find it helped me to keep the documentation and also the meeting with management as objective as possible. It is tempting to be defensive. Try not to be. Sometimes I have said to management (especially if I had been involved with staff conflict)"There are 3 sides to every story: the other person's side, my side and what really happened." Right then I demonstrate that I realize management probablly hears some doozy stories from both sides. Smile! Even when it is hard. Sometimes it will be very hard. What not to do: Avoid small gossip as much as you can. In the long run it could really pay off. If a co-worker gives you a hard time try not to take it personally. Some of the staff that have worked at these facilities can be downright rude. If they lambaste you, no doubt you are not the first and you won't be the last. I know this is very long winded and wordy. I hope that it does help you a little. Great luck to you. Keep us all posted on how you are doing. Bigred

Hi Shmily: You make some excellent points that we as "seasoned" nurses need to remember at all times. I try to remember when I was new. It was some initiation. I kept saying to myself when one of the been-there-forever nurses would delight in mopping the floor with me: 'This teaches me how NOT to treat new coworkers'. The one thing I do suggest is document the hotile incidents: date, time, if any witnesses etc. The documentation may come in handy. Most of all,hang in there! It will pass. Just think how encouraging you will be to the newcomer down the road because of what you are enduring. Best of luck to you. Bigred

Re; Funny things pts say: One night on our dementia unit, we had a a 94 year old pt. who ran to the exit door shaking it wildly. "My baby, my baby!" she shouted. We reassured her and took her back to bed. I said to the staff, 'I know what I could try; I'll get one of those baby dolls they use here. It works great for Mrs. J.' So I took a "baby" to the pt and presented it to her saying "Would this babyhelp?" The pt looked right at me and stated "My baby's alive. That's a doll you damn fool!"

Hi, Lolipop! 'Fraid so!! Care plans are going to be part of your existence if you work in a hosp. or nursing home, LTC etc. At our facility, ours are on the computer and are pretty well mapped out for us. Gone are the days when we had to comply our own. Now we click on this or that in the library section and it is a done deal. In school we had to do care plans from scratch, and my first years of nursing. Just one of the reasons I am glad we use computers at work (until they go down for a spell!). Hope that helps. In the meantime, it is a good idead to get used to doing them now; it will help you in the long run. Best of luck to you in school!

The 2 previous stories take me back to my student nursing days. I was in the consolodation part; what I called the 'home stretch'. I was on a very busy surgical floor of a big hospital. Unfortunately, many of the nurses on that floor were past burn-out. My pts. often commented on that. I had a full pt. load and just never stopped. (In 30 years, nothing has changed!). Anyway, I had this pt. who may have been in her early 30's. She had sinus surgery and was a few days post-op. It was almost the end of the shift and I went in to check on her. Before I left, she took my hand, and I will never forget what she said:"Don't ever change. Stay the caring gentle nurse that you are right now." I told her I would do my best. Certainly over the years I have changed. I have to change to meet the ever changing needs of nursing. Thank God I haven't stopped caring. I know that hasn't changed. I guess that means I have kept my promise to that wonderful lady. What a wonderful topic this is. I love positive stuff!

Merry Christmas everybody!! It is 0745 Christmas Morning in Ontario, Canada. I have enjoyed reading the previous Christmas messanges. Our children are grown now, so it is quiet around here. That is ok though. The Christmas tree lights are on and I am listening to beautiful Carols while logged onto Allnurses with my cup of coffee in my favourite Christmas mug. I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas whether you are working or are off. All the best for 2007. P.S. I love Allnurses. I cannot think of a better way to begin Christmas morning than to log into this site and read your great messages!

I too think that you did the right thing, Dutchgirl. This new RN has a lot to learn IMO. One thing that stood out was she would not accept any of the blame....it was someone else's fault. As mentioned already, checking your patients at the beginning of the shift is just plain common sense. I learned that in nursing 101. Keep up the good responsible work, Dutchgirl!!:) :)

This happened to a nursing friend years ago in a LTC facility. She and another RN were each feeding a resident. My friend noticed that the resident the other RN was feeding had his mouth wide open and the food was runnining out of his mouth. The other RN then said to my friend "I just don't understand why Mr. C. isn't eating." My friend said that she took a really hard look at this resident ... the man was dead. Very calmly, my friend asked the other RN if she thought this resident was any longer with us. The other RN looked at the resident again and exlaimed "omygosh, omygosh!!".