"My Mom Can't Sleep!"

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Do people have any common sense at ALL? Seriously, this family, who is unhappy about EVERYTHING and lets us all know it, is really at the limit right about now! Last night "You've got to do something NOW. Mom is really tired, and she can't sleep. Something's not right here, you have to do something. There's no reason she shouldn't be able to sleep!" On and on and on. Finally the nurse goes in (not my pt) and asks them what's up. Family says "Look at her! She's been complaining how tired she is all day long, and she can't sleep!" Nurse asks pt what's wrong, pt just shrugs. Nurse asks pt if she wants a sleeping pill. Pt says no. Family jumps all over that "she has to take it! Mom you have to take it you need some rest and you've been trying to sleep for 2 hours and you can't!" Pt finally blows up and says "I can't sleep because you guys are in here talking! When are you going to leave???" Nice, huh??? Worst thing? Family still says it's our fault!

Well you shouldn't lock them in the room anymore :D

Oooooooohhhhh, let them LEAVE! Duh! I guess I had that all backwards, didn't I? :chuckle

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Specializes in Assisted Living, Med-Surg/CVA specialty.
I look young. It drives me crazy. I've got two kids and two bachelor's degrees, but I'm often mistaken for a teenager. Grr. I'll love it in ten more years though when I get mistaken for a 28 year old. :)

Dunno if it will help you, but I wear glasses and when I wear them families tend to think I am older than I am. It helps to avoid the "You're just a baby, you cant take care of my mother whos here with dehydration!"

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ED, ortho, urology.
I had a young guy on the vent the other night who needed lots of sedation. His family was very panicky and he wouldn't get agitated with them weeping over his every move. He started biting down on his tube and of course the vent started alarming. He still had good sats so I went and got some Ativan. While I was drawing it up and administering it, his brother started reading me the alarms from the vent. "It says to check the patient." I smiled and nodded. "Now it says circuit disconnect. Are you going to check the patient?" He said it real snotty like and then the rest of the family all gathered round and had a whispered conference and glared at me. "She's way too young to be a nurse and obviously doesn't know what she's doing. She didn't reconnect anything. Maybe we should find someone else." Yes, I can hear you clearly. I was so steamed that I couldn't actually say anything without cussing them out. :angryfire

I get the age thing all the time too. I'm pregnant at the moment, and when people find out that I already have a daughter (who is 4) and I have actually been married for almost 7 years they freak out.

I have been asked if I was still with my daughters father (assuming it was a teen pregnancy), then in a conversation I was asked how old my hubby was, and I told them (he is 31) they are freaking out, and said "But youre like 19??" "Um no, I'm actually 28"

And everyone assumes that this baby is my first, because I am too young to have another one.....

I was once referred to by a new grad (who was maybe 8 year younger than me) as "missy".

I just smile and let it go....of course the stuff I am thinking I can't print here :)

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ED, ortho, urology.
Meh, I dunno. I don't think "8 hrs is 8 hrs" when it comes to sleep. Think about it. 8 hours of peaceful, restful sleep is different from 8 hrs of light sleep where you keep waking up all the time. I know people can't get rest in the hospital, and I know they need it. I'm sorry it has to be that way, but I can't do much about it. Can you?

I do love the ones who sleep all day and then complain that they can't sleep at night. Those are my favorites, lol!

I like that nurse who taped him snoring. Brilliant!!!!!

We got a P-G survey back recently that rated our room decor at a "1". Why? According to the comments, "there was too much medical equipment in my room"...:icon_roll!!!!! I dare you to make that guy happy, lol!!!!!

I actually missed the point of what I was posting!! I meant to add that now when I do a day shift I'm not as anal about getting everyone out of bed and into the shower like I used to be. I have a 45 min commute to work, so by the time I get there, and have had handover I'm well and truly awake, and can be a little too excitable for that time in the morning! I now try to keep in mind that just becuase I am wide awake, these people aren't! :)

And we have that many people complaining about the food here. That is what really gets me, you get three meals, hot meals included, if you are on a diabetic, gluten free whatever it is catered for. There are also 2-3 snacks that come around as well. Plenty of food. So what if it isn't 5 star restaurant quality, heres the thing, you are in hospital to get well again, not to eat gormet food. And the kicker is that we have a universal health care system here, yes you can pay into a private fund and it does allow some extras (that you still have to pay for when you go to hospital - never really figured that one out!) but for most of the population, your stay is free, the operation is free, your food is free, get a life, say it with me, this is a HOSPITAL not the Ritz!

Ok, off my soap box!

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Families never realize how exhausting it really is for patients to have visitors all the time. I'm glad the patient spoke up!

A nurse I was working with the other day was not so nicely informed by her patient's husband that he was staying with her all night and we needed to find him a bed. Um, no. You can stay, but this isn't the Hilton. We're at capacity and the only way you're getting a cot or a foldout chair bed thing is if someone dies and leaves it to you in their will. And if a family member of someone who IS dying needs it, they get it first. And the only reason you don't have a roommate and we're letting you stay is because she's a rule out c-diff and in precautions. As soon as it's ruled out, she's open to admit.

Ugh. I hate being a jerk when people just don't get it.

I had a pt family that made themselves at home in the clean "room mate" bed when we had an admit on the way.

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........So, by now, it's ten o clock and I'm doing my ten o clock med pass, am behind on charting, and it looks like I may be staying late to finish up. Another nurse approaches me and tells me that the family in room ### is wondering about the dressing change.

I ended up asking another nurse who was all caught up if he could do it, and he did. But I learned my lesson. Never EVER comment that something needs to be done in front of the family. Make a mental note, put it on my brain sheet, but never utter the words aloud.

I had to read this twice to make sure *I* hadn't written it, LOL! I once got caught in the "when are you going to do that dressing change, you said you were going to do it, you said it needed to be done, if it needs to be done, why haven't you done it, what are you waiting for....she NEEDS to have that CHANGED!!!!"

Sigh. The dried ss drainage wasn't going to kill her, but I suspect her family's nittiness might.

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Specializes in Staff nurse.

I tell my patients very kindly some of the following when they state they can't sleep on night shift in the hospital:

Yes, it is difficult not being home in your own bed.

Yes, every little noise may cause you to wake, those are IV pumps, call lights, phones. And I am required to check your IV every 2 hours, I will use a flash light but you may hear a light knock on the door before I come in.

In the hospital, you will get your medications and your tests and treatments...that may also interrupt your sleep, as doctor has vital signs every 4 hours for you right now. Let's turn off some of these lights and put the volume of the tv low, that may help...

Would a warm blanket help?

I have also asked visitors to leave as the pt. is overstimulated by all the activity/talking/tv/telephoning, etc. No matter what you do, someone will be irritated about it.

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No matter what you do, someone will be irritated about it.

You got it, on the nose! Remember when Oprah gave away all those free cars and people got mad 'cause they had to pay like $7k in taxes? Wow, a brand new car for $7k...seems like a pretty good deal to me! And, if you don't want it, you don't have to take it! But still, people were p*****!!!!!

I'm all for being nice and actually get a lot of compliments about my "customer service" (a term I object to in a hospital setting). When people yell, I do the stony face thing. When they're done, I try to explain why things aren't going the way they want them to. Sometimes that doesn't work. You can only do so much.

I have never had anyone ask that I not take care of them, but once I refused to take care of a pt after her husband yelled at me and moved toward me with an outstretched hand. Charge RN took over for that pt after that. Why was he mad? The 7a-7p RN had told the pt she could have a sleeping pill at 930 and nobody would bother her after that (could have happened if a 7p-7a RN had followed, assessed at 8p gave the pill at 930, cancelled mn VS, and just peeked into room w/o waking pt the rest of the night. I, however, am not a 12-hr RN. I picked the pt up at 7 d/t census change. Therefore, another RN was to follow at mn. I, not knowing about the whole pill discussion, suggested that she wait until the mn RN came in - that way she could assess and the pt could sleep with no disruptions for the rest of the night. That didn't go over well. When I explained why the change, she said, "Oh, ok. No problem. That sounds fine." He, however thought there was a problem. That was when he began screaing at me and moved toward me like he was going to hit me. I told him to step back, gave his wife the pain pill, and calmly informed them that I would not be back and would be getting a differnt nurse and the charge nurse would be in. Charge happened to be a 12 hr night, and was going to pick up said pt at MN anyway, so she just took him (no assignment otherwise and this pt had no meds or anything scheduled). I have no doubt in my mind that if I had stayed in that room any longer than I did, he would have hit me. He was very upset over something I had no control over. He did apologize to me when he saw me in the hall a few days later, but still unacceptable.

I know what you're thinking - abandonment - but no, I got the pt covered by another RN right away, and with the threat of bodily harm, don't think I was about to stay there and take it! What if he had done that to a McDonald's employee??? He would have been asked to leave on the spot and escorted by the police if he didn't go willingly! Why are nurses/assistants the only people expected to take this kind of abuse????

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