"Wasteful Nurses"

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Apparently, my new patient's mother thinks we're all "wasteful nurses". I already bring my own hand sanitizer and hand towels for my own use, now I have been informed that I must bring my own hand soap and toilet paper. She says we're all so wasteful and will no longer let us spend her hard earned money.

I'm starting to rethink staying on this case. I accepted the no TV/internet use rule and the bar stool to sit on in the kitchen alllll night long, but no there are more rules. I would never treat nurses like this if they were in my home caring for my child.

Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.
My current case - mom set up a coffee bar area for the night nurses. They are people of limited means, but there is a cute little tray, coffee supplies and a mini Mr. Coffee machine for us. And we all get a thank you every single shift.

I hear ya!

I have an upholstered chair, a mini-fridge, and a microwave in my client's bedroom for my use. There's also a fold-up "tray table" and a separate folding chair (I use it as either an extra side table or for a footstool, depending on how my feet/legs feel at any given time). And a stereo system in the room for listening to the radio (only request is to turn it back to their preferred station before I leave).

They can't offer me wi-fi, but they are totally fine with me bringing a laptop to watch movies, a tablet to play games, a Kindle to read, etc.

There is a bathroom three steps from the bedroom door that is pretty much for my exclusive use while I'm there (they have a master bath on the other end of the house that they use).

They are always available if I have questions or can't find something or need to discuss treatment options.

There is always a "hello" at the beginning of the shift and a "have a good day / seeya tonight" at the end of the shift.

Best of all, I always know that they appreciate the fact that I am there to take care of their child, because they would be the one staying up all night long if I wasn't there.

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LOL at the running jump onto a bar stool... I'm 5'4" so I know the feeling.. I'd rather sit on the floor, but what is funny is a case I'm on now has HUGE recliners that are soooooooo comfy, but my feet don't touch the floor so for the first week or so I was really uncomfortable because I felt like I was sitting in a Giants chair... they finally said to me that I could fold me feet up in the chair with me.. haha I must have looked very uncomfortable, but now it's heaven! This same family always offers me dinner, has a keruig (sp) that we can help ourselves too and wifi that they don't mind me using at all. Love it on that case.

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Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.

Yep.... I always feel like Edith Ann from Saturday Night Live in pretty much any grown-up chair! ;)

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Yo brill....wasn't that Laughin?

Yep.... I always feel like Edith Ann from Saturday Night Live in pretty much any grown-up chair! ;)
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I admit to being flabbergasted by families that have so little respect for the nurses providing care for their loved ones. I just got "released" from a situation that left me feeling like I was holding my breath for 10 hours twice a week. I am so relieved to be rid of that feeling, although the lack of $$ is painful. I hope you are able to set something else up instead.

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Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.
Yo brill....wasn't that Laughin?

Good lord but I'm old... yep! LOL

And according to IMDB, she did it even more often on Sesame Street! LOL

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and who was the actress, hmmm????

Good lord but I'm old... yep! LOL

And according to IMDB, she did it even more often on Sesame Street! LOL

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.
and who was the actress, hmmm????

Lily Tomlin

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Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.

Lily Tomlin is amazing to this day!

"One ringy-dingy..."

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Specializes in LTC, Memory loss, PDN.

i wouldn't sweat the hand soap and toilet paper

it's a minimal expense and honestly, i often prefer not

to use the community stuff

i would tolerate the crappy tude while finding something else, but

the bar stool would be an absolute deal breaker

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I work with actual wasteful nurses. I think they put on gloves to hand the kiddo a sweater. 3 boxes of gloves gone in one week of 8 hour a day nursing, no vent.

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Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.
I work with actual wasteful nurses. I think they put on gloves to hand the kiddo a sweater. 3 boxes of gloves gone in one week of 8 hour a day nursing, no vent.

I do wonder how many of these kids never feel human skin over the course of an entire day.

I understand that the risk of infection/cross-contamination is higher for "home health visits" where you see multiple patients and are in multiple environments throughout the day, and could understand excessive gloving in those situations.

But in PDN, as long as you washed up when you entered the home at the beginning of the shift and as long as you wash your hands after using the toilet, you're not gonna infect your kid with anything that isn't already part of their home environment, and unless they have an active infection going on, you're not gonna get contaminated with anything from them, either.

I glove for mucus, mouth, and diapers, and not much else (I don't do any IV/blood exposure stuff with my client... oops, I take that back, every now and then I do a weekly blood glucose prick, but even then I never actually touch any blood).

Sometimes at night I'll hang over the side of his bedrail and just rub his bare arm or leg for a while, just because. We all need human contact once in a while.

Oh, and we'll get a month's use out of a box of Mediums and a box of Larges, and that's with 12-hour nursing seven days a week!

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