Room mate acceptance - something I noticed?

i honestly think it's a psychological reaction.

that a pt will get their 'order' in while the nurse is there.

afterall, the beds are full and she'll be busy.

when only a couple of beds are filled, you know (either consciously or subconsciously) the nurse will have time...

and so, there is no sense of urgency.

that's my take on it.

and yes, it happens quite often.

hang in there and be well.:)

leslie

Yeppers. Most of our rooms are semi private and we have a few 4 bed wards.

They recently did some room changes and put some more alert and talkative pts together....Good for them, bad for us. We have one resident that was always content, didn't ask for much, got her needs met, etc...now that she is in with a "complainer" she's turned the corner too. As soon as you walk in the room, they both attack and we become the personal servant for that room.

yep...it happens. Sometimes they might just be trying to be nice and save you a trip back and all ask at once.

We had a couple of pts that were something else. They were co-dependent. lol.

One would ring the bell and ask for us to give pain meds to the other patient,, and the other patient would be zonked out from the last time she got her pain meds. lol It was endless.

Oh, those rooms can be nightmares. I'm glad I don't have them where I currently work.

And yes, it can be irritating when you're doing a procedure and someone yells from behind the curtain "When you're finished with her I need X, Hilda needs Y and Edna doesn't look so good"

I'd rather they pressed their call bell, that way someone else might answer it.

LOL....codependant...that is the word I was looking for.

... It's an issue of presence. They wouldn't have likely bothered had they been the only one wanting something- but "since you're there anyway..."

But- wouldn't you rather they ask while you're there than to each ring for their own requests? And- wouldn't it be better for them to ask you for water/ice/mags while you're there than to get up and become fall risks themselves?

I"ve recently been on nights. I noticed something, and was wondering if anyone else had as well.

We have a six bed room and I've noticed that when its full and someone rings, then eventually everyone seems to ring for the most mundand things, yet, when the room is only half full or perhaps just one or two patients, the they were less likely to ring. Now, a few of the pts in that room have been there for a good week, during which that time there have been two people in the room, up to the full 6.

Is there some kind of mindset amongst pts in large capacity rooms that if someone else rung their bell, then they'll ring it too?

Furhtermore, I noticed that while dealing with other pts in the room, others will demand my attention -for example, one of the elderly ladies had a fall while getting out of bed while half asleep, while I was assessing her, making sure she'd hadn't sustained a # NOF or something, another pt called out "Nurse, can you get some ice for my water... and is there any lemon slices you can add?" (SERIOUSLY!!!!) After I told her politely "I'll be with you in a sec, I'm just gotta deal with this first", another pt called out "Oh, and can you get me a magazine".

It was 0200hrs.

When the room only had two pts (and those two who were there the whole week) those two pts were quiet and had nothing they needed.

Maybe someone shoudl do a study on it.

i tend to believe that it lies somewhere between the mindset of not wanting to be a bother (since you're here, could you get me x,y, and z) and jealousy and the need for attention. It's like if i send one of my students home, undoubtedly, at least 3 more students will come into my office complaining to be sent home. or if one child gets a band-aid (especially the popular kid) then i have a parade into my office for bandaids on non-existent cuts and week old scabs.

Honestly I would think that because someone is ringing their bell, it wakes the others up. They're upset they're awake at 0200, and they feel like being a little demanding as well? Otherwise if they were the only person besides one other in the room then they would probably be asleep all night and not being woke up. This seemed to be the case when I worked Psych as an aide at nights. If someone was awake (they had shared rooms) then the roommate was awake, then if they were in the hallway talking it woke everyone else up. And people want their SLEEP and they would get upset.

I thank God for a hospital with all private rooms!!!!!

I completely agree!! We only have a few double rooms on our unit, but whenever 1 patient needs something, the second patient always needs some attention, too. It's kind of like having two kids - you can't give one something without giving the other something too. The worst is when you have a ****** off patient in a double room that keeps vocalizing his complaints, it just gets the other patient all riled up. And don't even get me started on the TV's in the room.....

By the way, 6 patients to one room??? What kind of unit is that?