Hi, everyone. I'm a first year nursing student and I know basically nothing about the nursing process. I've had a terrible start to my first semester. The night of my first day of class my husband ingested an entire bottle of tylenol. I called an ambulance and he was later admitted to the ICU. He was there from Monday night through today (Thursday). On Tuesday morning I went to visit him and he was sleeping the whole time. He woke once and vomited on himself. The nurses changed his sheets. The next day he woke and still had an IV but they had removed his NG tube. He was awake and aware. That night (Wednesday) he soiled himself twice through the night. Same thing, nurses changed his bedding. Thursday they removed his IV and he was later discharged.
My question is....why was he not given a bed bath? Is that a normal thing in these circumstances? I ask from two viewpoints, that of a student who is curious about typical procedures and that of a wife who is a little annoyed at the lack of attention.
An individual that injests that amount of tylenol on the night his wife is about to start nursing school.
The biggest issue here is not that he may or may not have gotten a bed bath. And he may be trying to focus attention on that aspect of nursing to divert attention from MUCH more pressing issues.
If he was completely cognizant and lucid, why would he have not been bathing himself? And if he was seriously debilitated to the point of not being able to do so, he probably would not be remembering very clearly.
And I might also have issues with his veracity, given the documented events and that he might be sedated or not thinking clearly.
That said, when I have CC pts, I may not give one big formal "bedbath", especially if I have: washed their back when they sweated out, changed the gown/cleaned them d/t vomiting 3-4 times, changed the brief/shifts 3-4 times due to incontinence/cleaned them, done mouth care with all that and washed their legs down for the TEDs. Add in monitor leads, peripheral lines, an art line/NIBP cuff, and quite bluntly, there isn't a whole lot left to wash if you do a thorough enough job with those.
If he was completely cognizant and lucid, why would he have not been bathing himself? And if he was seriously debilitated to the point of not being able to do so, he probably would not be remembering very clearly.
And I might also have issues with his veracity, given the documented events and that he might be sedated or not thinking clearly.
That said, when I have CC pts, I may not give one big formal "bedbath", especially if I have: washed their back when they sweated out, changed the gown/cleaned them d/t vomiting 3-4 times, changed the brief/shifts 3-4 times due to incontinence/cleaned them, done mouth care with all that and washed their legs down for the TEDs. Add in monitor leads, peripheral lines, an art line/NIBP cuff, and quite bluntly, there isn't a whole lot left to wash if you do a thorough enough job with those.
Ditto this! In my ICU, we do not have an aide or a secretary at all, especially during day shift. Now, I work straight night shift and at my small hospital, we don't even have a Respiratory Therapist at night. Or Housekeeping nevermind an aide or a secretary. We TRY to bathe the confused/intubated pt's at night. That doesn't always happen.
There are some nights where I'm doing all I can just to keep my patient ALIVE...forget about a bath, that's the LEAST of my worries! There are also times when a patient is just TOO UNSTABLE to be given a bed bath. Turning a patient for a bath can be deadly! Especially when I've got three patients, which is most nights. If a patient is alert and oriented and fully capable of washing himself, I'll gladly get the wash basin, soap and towels and set the patient up so that he may bathe himself. I encourage independance as much as I can in my patients. Especially the one's who are able to do for themselves.
I'd be willing to bet he was bathed on those times when he vomited or was incontinent. And as Caroladybelle said, chances are, he doesn't remember whether he was bathed or not.
I hope your husband is on the mend and good luck to you in nursing school.
Thanks everyone so much for the input. One response seemed a bit biting and I was surprised at the twinge of...ouch...it caused. I guess I better thicken my skin.
Is it appropriate to go back and thank the nurses? I kind of just want to give them a hug and let them know how much they inspired me. I know they are always pretty busy and I don't want to creep them out. I just don't think they'll ever know how deeply indebted I feel to them. I do feel as though they saved his life. Nor do I think I could ever convey how timely and profoundly they influenced me in my academic endeavors. I had told the day nurse that I had just started nursing school and it seems as the word got around because three of them asked me about it and spoke encouragingly to me.
Is it appropriate to go back and thank the nurses?
IMO, yes, they need some form of thanking. I have been a nurse for 7 years and being thanked comes so rarely that I remember every time a patient or family member took the time to express their gratitude. If I were you, I would write a letter to the head of the ICU using nurses names (if you can remember them) and praise them. I would also send a thank you note to their floor.
Good thoughts from all of you. I was so pleased with the nurses emotional support. They were so kind and helpful whenever I asked questions and did so much to reassure me. In fact, they inspired me to want to be able to do for someone else what they did for me and my family this week. I don't want to dwell on this tiny issue since I can't possibly have all the facts and the truth is that where it counted they excelled. I don't mean to sound ungrateful. Ugh, my emotions are still just really all over the place.
Apparently you do, since you brought it up as an OP. I know it is easier to dwell on a bedbath then deal with whatever it was that caused your husband to be in ICU in the first place, but I for one am tired of being bashed when a family member finds this site and unloads on us.
THINK before you post, and more importantly, THINK before you go ballistic on the nurse who is taking care of your loved one.. Your mea culpas don't really mean alot after you have made insinuations about hard-working professionals who saved your husband's life.
Apparently you do, since you brought it up as an OP. I know it is easier to dwell on a bedbath then deal with whatever it was that caused your husband to be in ICU in the first place, but I for one am tired of being bashed when a family member finds this site and unloads on us.
THINK before you post, and more importantly, THINK before you go ballistic on the nurse who is taking care of your loved one.. Your mea culpas don't really mean alot after you have told a hardworking profesional that she is a coldheated ***** who will be fired if YOU have anything to say about it.
Did not intend to hit the kudo button here!
Maybe you need to take your own advice and THINK before you go ballistic!
To any thinking person it shold be obvious that the OP is hurting badly and is focusing on a small minor issue possibly because at this time it is too painful and overwhelming to focus on the big hurts.
I get indignant also and do unload to my coworkers but would never dump such a diatribe on the hurting spouse of someone who just attempted suicide. Perhaps you momentarily forgot that this is who the OP is.
Maybe you need to take your own advice and THINK before you go ballistic!
To any thinking person it shold be obvious that the OP is hurting badly and is focusing on a small minor issue possibly because at this time it is too painful and overwhelming to focus on the big hurts.
I get indignant also and do unload to my coworkers but would never dump such a diatribe on the hurting spouse of someone who just attempted suicide. Perhaps you momentarily forgot that this is who the OP is.
The place for the hurting spouse to take out her anger is with the nurses she has issues with, her spouse, her counselor and her spiritual advisor. This is a place for nurses to talk to other nurses; not a place for anyone who wants to unload upon the medical community to do so. Remember the name? AllNURSES.com?
I come here to have professsional discussions with my colleagues, not to get bashed by family members and wannabes who like to use this forum to vent whatever frustrations they have with nurses and /or thier care. It's just too bad that the managers of this site have forgotten thier mandate.
So I guess I can forget about posting here again, I might upset somebody with a reality view
of nursing practice.
Gee, I thought that is what we were all about when we came here .
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
Steelydanfan- I totally agree with bagladyrn. The OP has long since stopped using any tone that could have been interpreted as accusatory, and she never went ballistic on anyone. She asked a question. It got answered multiple times, and her last few posts have been very gracious.
Dang if we don't have enough people here who go off in a huff when they get negative feedback, full of the dreaded "NETY" stories. I can't even bring myself to type out that phrase I hate it so much!! But aem really wasn't like that. Edit to add: she's a nursing student - so it wasn't quite like a random member of the public at large coming in to bash us- at least that's how I saw it.
As to the thanking the nurses question- I think a letter or card with a short heartfelt note would be great- the kind that looks good oin a break room or nurse's station bulletin board. Best to you aem.
Specializes in Recovery (PACU)-11 yrs, General-13yrs.
ICU is such an overwhelming place that it can be easier to focus on the little 'everyday' things rather than face the big picture.
Many years ago my father had AAA repair, and I swear he thought the list of complications was a menu and he ticked every box!
He was looked after by fabulous nurses, and is still alive 16 years later because of the care they & the doctors gave him, but......one day when I visited him he hadn't been shaved and I felt that if the nurse hadn't bothered to shave him then they hadn't bothered to look after him properly in other ways.
Realistically I knew that shaving was a long way down the list of essential care to ensure his recovery, and that there was far more important things to be done for him, but it's funny how outward appearances can take on such importance. (I never said anything to the staff, thank goodness, and gave myself a stern talking to about being so silly).
It's not just in restaurants where it's all about presentation!
To the OP, I hope that things improve for you and your family.
And it is always appropriate to thank the nurses, we love that!
I work in SICU. Our baths are done on night shift (I work days) at very odd hours and are preferably done when family has stepped out. That being said, our patients are cleaned up more than just during the bath at night for various reasons... incontinence, leaking rectal tube, leaking tubes & drains, oozing wounds, etc. I can't imagine that any nurse would just yank the sheets out from under him and not clean him up as well.
I should also mention we actually don't give the traditional bed baths,we use wipes specifically designed for ICU type patients which create a barrier that help prevent/ decrease infection. The effectiveness of the wipes is decreased when lotion, soap, etc is applied. Ovbiously we clean our patients the traditional way when they are soiled, but I have had our patients state that they were not given a bath because they had not been washed with the expected bed bath, or allowed to travel to the full shower with their many drips, drains, etc.
Best to you aem.
caroladybelle, BSN, RN
5,486 Posts
An individual that injests that amount of tylenol on the night his wife is about to start nursing school.
The biggest issue here is not that he may or may not have gotten a bed bath. And he may be trying to focus attention on that aspect of nursing to divert attention from MUCH more pressing issues.
If he was completely cognizant and lucid, why would he have not been bathing himself? And if he was seriously debilitated to the point of not being able to do so, he probably would not be remembering very clearly.
And I might also have issues with his veracity, given the documented events and that he might be sedated or not thinking clearly.
That said, when I have CC pts, I may not give one big formal "bedbath", especially if I have: washed their back when they sweated out, changed the gown/cleaned them d/t vomiting 3-4 times, changed the brief/shifts 3-4 times due to incontinence/cleaned them, done mouth care with all that and washed their legs down for the TEDs. Add in monitor leads, peripheral lines, an art line/NIBP cuff, and quite bluntly, there isn't a whole lot left to wash if you do a thorough enough job with those.