I'm on a rant!! Add to my list if you feel so inclined!
A book/pamphlet/note card in the style of "What to Expect When You're Expecting" needs to be written and given to anyone who is going to be in the hospital for any length of time. It can be written collaboratively by nurses, doctors and ancillary staff.
THE TRUTH MUST BE TOLD:
The H sign on the side of the road doesn't stand for Hotel.
Your _____ is broken or your _____ was just cut into. You will be in pain. 0/10 at this juncture is not really expected but we will do everything within reason to keep you as comfortable as possible.
Your family being demanding, aggressive, passive-aggressive, haughty and demeaning to those taking care of you and you thinking they are protecting you so that you'll get better care in the form of more attention is usually dead wrong. We stay away from patients like that unless it's absolutely necessary to go in. If three call lights are going off, yours will be answered last since it is absolute torture to deal with you and/or your family.
It's 7:00 am and yes, I know where your surgeon is, She's performing surgery just like she was doing on you at this same time yesterday!
allnurses.com is a forum by nurses and for nurses. One of the purposes of a forum like this is to allow vent sessions.
Go on any professional thread. On the teachers forum there is there version of a sticky dedicated to difficult parents. For a non teacher to be offended by the rant sessions is silly because the information is not objective.
I view the the rant posts on allnurses a a healthy coping experience and I would wager that many posters come here, vent, realize they aren't alone/crazy and go back to work and do their jobs.
Much healthier then some other coping mechanisms. And preferable to the eye rolling/passive aggressive attitude some burned our nurses have when addressing patients/families.
Part of the purpose of this forum is to help nurses as a preventative tool from burnout.
Its not not for the general public. The general public needs to realize the purpose of these forums. And if they don't? Someone will surely explain it to them if the situation warrants it.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
RubyVee, since you were good enough to address me, I have something to say to you in return. I recall a thread you started titled: "The Worst Family Member Ever." You seem to think "venting" about patients and their family members/visitors on the internet is an innocuous pastime. I am addressing my comment directly to you when I say that what you appear to consider harmless "venting" is actually often mockery of patients and their family members/visitors behavior (and, just to be very clear, I am not referring to the original poster's posts in my conversation with you; the OP has nothing to do with what I am saying to you). Of course some patients/family members/visitors are difficult, but as a nurse, one has other places to express negative thoughts about one's patients/family members/visitors, and to let off steam, etc. The nurse-patient/family relationship is based on trust. The general public can and do read what is posted on AN.
Oh I'm so sorry. I didn't realize you were related to Milton.
But thank you for reminding me of that hilarious thread. I needed a good laugh this morning.
From reading this topic, I gathered that there is a need in this sort of information for visitors and patients. Not all negative, and not all didactic, just a straightforward explanation.
So, why we cannot write down something like "A Total Idiot's Guide" serie book limited to adult acute care, for the beginning? If someone from forum administrators will lead the project in regards of trademark, editors contacts, etc., we even could make some money
I envision part of it as alphabet listing of things ("PICC line", etc) with one page info of what it is, why it is there and what it implies, so that pages could be copied and handed out as needed, and second page of FAQs. Second part should have some empty spots so that pictures of nurses, techs, etc. uniforms, names, working hours, phones, etc. could be filled to reflect the facility needs. Everything written using common English without scripting phrases and with as little of medical terminology as possible. Maybe some basic A&P ("air goes in and out, blood goes 'round and 'round") should be included as well.
If anybody loves the idea, PM me and let's try. There are some 800000 of us on this forum, this is a lot of brain power.
I am the OP. To clarify, I don't leave people for last who are in crisis or truly in need of their nurse being in their room. I prioritize my nursing care appropriately but I also prioritize the patient who needs "Two cans of regular Sierra Mist with ice, lots of ice." vs the patient who needs help walking to the bathroom appropriately too.
Quote from Susie2310:
The general public can and do read what is posted on AN.
GOOD.
I really like the approach of some of the posters. I'm going to give these a shot and see how it works! I expect some improvements but there are times when a patient/family will never be satisfied so I know it won't work in every situation.
When I was a nurse, I used to invest 10-15 minutes at the beginning of the shift in my most challenging patient/family, discussing what the goals were for that shift, dealing with pain and answering questions. No matter how demanding they were, it always seemed that doing this reduced the amount of time I had to spend in that room, and often I was left in peace to take care of ALL of my patients. It also helped the patient/family to have confidence in me, because they felt they had been heard and their concerns addressed. So simple.....and yet so complicated at times when I had more than one "problem child".
I agree.
Now, I don't work in an ICU but if other coworkers give me a heads up about a 'problem visitor', it always works in my favor when I approach them, opening the door to answer/rectify their many, many...many...questions and concerns.
It's not really a customer service type thing. It's more, like..this: You can have an easy shift or you can have a hard one. You can have a hard day or you can make your day that much harder.
Your choice.
But, you don't hide from "problem family members". They'll just find you and raise hell because they had to, in the first place. Try to get through the shift, then. You won't be able to do your work in peace ... for them hovering on your shoulder being bothersome. I've learned as much via observation that's why my tactic is proactive.
"Problem family members" love a proactive nurse/MD/aide, etc....
So, go to them. Introduce yourself.
Open ... that ... door. (LOL)
It'll save a lot of headaches, energy and time down the road.
I do agree with the OP in a sense. I don't like it when people come to the facilities treating the staff like we're the enemy. It gets under my skin. We, my nurse and CNA coworkers, run hard for these pt's. Really ticks me off when people who don't get what we do waltz in looking for things to complain about.
The important thing is to be polite and not snub the patient or their family. Yes, you are a professional and worked hard to pass exams. Patients families are anxious when their dear ones are in hospital. Trust me when I say this.
Again, it's only some nurses that are rude. As a result of the snub the patients never ask for more information and feel that they're being treated unfairly. Nurses are healers of the mind, body and soul.
I want to add that when I could tell a pt or family membe are the type to complain no matter WHAT, I would give my manager a heads up on it. Just a quick little "hey just to let you know the pt/family 301 is pissed off/complaining/cranky about......I'm handling it fine right now, but...."
Much easier for management to be in your corner if they know ahead of time about a potential issue
In that case, how does a manager distinguish between a genuine and not so genuine complaint ?
It's really easy. A good manager knows his or her staff and therefore has a good basis to determine if a complaint is valid. Also, when one patient complains about multiple staff members, either the entire staff is terrible or, much more likely, the patient is just complaining to complain.
It's really easy. A good manager knows his or her staff and therefore has a good basis to determine if a complaint is valid. Also, when one patient complains about multiple staff members, either the entire staff is terrible or, much more likely, the patient is just complaining to complain.
I understand the need to vent and I agree that aggressive people make me not want to go in that room at all. However, it is time to accept that building a positive professional relationship with the family spokesperson is part of the job. Ignoring someone is very disrespectful. It's really
pretty simple in the ICU setting. Provide exceptional care, educate and do at least one nice thing for that visitor per shift whenever time permits. This is what they will remember and it will go a long way
in most cases to maintaining a calm harmonious environment throughout your shift.
IHeartPeds87
542 Posts
To susie2310:
allnurses.com is a forum by nurses and for nurses. One of the purposes of a forum like this is to allow vent sessions.
Go on any professional thread. On the teachers forum there is there version of a sticky dedicated to difficult parents. For a non teacher to be offended by the rant sessions is silly because the information is not objective.
I view the the rant posts on allnurses a a healthy coping experience and I would wager that many posters come here, vent, realize they aren't alone/crazy and go back to work and do their jobs.
Much healthier then some other coping mechanisms. And preferable to the eye rolling/passive aggressive attitude some burned our nurses have when addressing patients/families.
Part of the purpose of this forum is to help nurses as a preventative tool from burnout.
Its not not for the general public. The general public needs to realize the purpose of these forums. And if they don't? Someone will surely explain it to them if the situation warrants it.