"seriously...do you really have to change out the freaking latex gloves at 1:40am?? i bet that freaking box can stay empty until 7am without any problems!!!!"
the replies:
"they do crazy stuff in the hospital to keep the patient and visitors from getting any sleep that's for sure. i hope your brother is getting better. thinking of you and praying for him and the family. hugs."
"oh i'm with you girl! you can not get rest in a hospital. it's either checking bp,or waking you up to give you meds come on people!"
i understand this person is distressed with their loved one in the hospital, but it is a hospital, not a hotel. ok, maybe changing out the gloves can wait, but you never know when there is an emergency, and people need them. and, we are required to make sure the patient is stable during the night and check in on them. at times, it seems you cannot win...either not doing enough or doing too much. we do some "crazy stuff" to purposely keep you awake, like checking bp and giving medications. i think the replies bother me more...so rude, unappreciative, etc... what happened to respect for caring for you or your loved one? guess they would have to walk in our shoes...hate that saying, but most medical staff have empathy, and we have also been in the hospital, and/or we have had a loved one there.
People do forget what the hospital is for. It is most definately not a motel. If someone is ill and in the hospital, then they get continuous 24 hour care around the clock. The hospital is not closed at night for a reason. I would be willing to bet that if no nurse came in at night to do their job and something did happen, then you would be singing a different song. We would hear how crappy the care was, and about lazy nurses not doing their job. You can't have it both ways. Nurses have care to provide at night just as well as the daytime. I really can't even believe I am hearing this! Complaints over getting too much care. So if this is indeed what you are complaining about, then your loved one if lucky. If it's because it's keeping you up at night, go home. It's the old catch 22 once again, danged if you do, danged if you don't!!!!
"Lord give me the patience to deal w these people at hospital. Its not my brother's fault they are short handed. You'd think they would make sure this flr is staffed.....Deep breath and AMEN!"
This seems to be constructive comment, even if the delivery had a tone of frustration. One can only hope that this lady goes straight to the offices to say something.
Specializes in ICU, Telemetry, Neuro, Ortho, Med/Surg.
This seems to be constructive comment, even if the delivery had a tone of frustration. One can only hope that this lady goes straight to the offices to say something.
I agree. That is why I did it seperately. What got to me was in the original post. I do wish we could explain to them we do not control the patient to staff ratios and other things that may be going on. Maybe, they were short-staffed. I do not know. Whatever the situation, it does not make it right to them why they feel they are not getting the care their loved one needed at that time. I do empathize with her stress of going through having someone close to her in the hospital, and I do believe her loved one is very sick, and he does need close monitoring regarding his condition, but I wish they could know the other side as well....
I agree. That is why I did it seperately. What got to me was in the original post. I do wish we could explain to them we do not control the patient to staff ratios and other things that may be going on. Maybe, they were short-staffed. I do not know. Whatever the situation, it does not make it right to them why they feel they are not getting the care their loved one needed at that time. I do empathize with her stress of going through having someone close to her in the hospital, and I do believe her loved one is very sick, and he does need close monitoring regarding his condition, but I wish they could know the other side as well....
Believe me, I don't disagree with your opinion about the first post, it's just that I have a tendency to see all sides. Because I'm a nursing student who has never worked on a floor, I usually refrain from posting on comments that patients have made about nursing-related care.
With great trepidation, I have to wonder a few things about the dreaded glove box changing incident. Why wasn't it changed earlier? Was it changed loudly? OTOH, was the sister so hypersensitive in these circumstances that the mere presence of a person in the room (even if the CNA or nurse had floated soundlessly in and changed it with a silent wave of a magic wand) aggravated her?
I do agree that gloves were needed in the room; I just wonder about timing and the sister's threshold for hospital activities.
I have to say I sit on the other side of the aisle on this one. I was a patient once too and I sat and wondered why they weigh the babies at 3 am in the morning. The answer is because that is what is convenient to the nursing staff. (and yes I complained about the nurse patient ratio)
As a nurse, I have seen way too many nurses that continue to believe that patient care is nurse focused and not patient focused. Similarly, there is a general lack of empathy that prevents lots (not all) nurses from actually having a working relationship with the patient.
For example, patients that are to receive antibiotics q 8 hours should know beforehand that there is a dose due at 0300 and that the nurse will have to access and assess their IV site and the pump. My experience is that patients are much more pleasant to deal with and much more understanding when they are included in the process. If you don't educate them about the administration of medications, they will be understandably annoyed.
As for interruptions that are routine to us (ie a code in a nearby room), nurses should see the situation from the patients perspective. Its not a norm for them and they are typically unaccustomed to being in a world where someone literally has to be disturbed due to a life or death moment. Explain, apologize for the interruption and if they don't want to hear it, move on anyway because some people just suck.
People don't see "your side" of the situation until you explain it to them. Its our fault if we don't give them proper expectations regarding their stay.
Glove boxes are routinely changed out at night when staff have time.
Frankly, I no longer worry too much about family members. I know that they are upset and lashing out and I'm there. When everything is fixed they will be happy again and only rarely will the remember the patience and kindness we showed them. So I do my job and realize that it's largely thankless.
When everything is fixed they will be happy again and only rarely will the remember the patience and kindness we showed them. So I do my job and realize that it's largely thankless.
Long before I even thought about becoming a nurse, I heard wonderful stories about nurses and the patience and kindness showed to family members and patients. Unfortunately, you may not hear them, but they are said. :)
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
Strangely, I didn't find those Facebook comments offensive, I guess because everybody I've ever known who was hospitalized, including myself, complain about it. We shouldn't be slamming doors and engaging in loud gabfests, but unless you have a private room if it aint you it's Mrs. McGillicutty in the next bed over, who is hard of hearing and loses her stuff all the time.
I remember once I was in for asthma, and one of my 4-bed wardmates would take a bag of Doritos out of her drawer at about 0300 and I can tell you the sound of crunching Doritos is pretty jarring in a semi-quiet room. I probably should have said something. Yes, refilling gloves is a pretty inconsiderate reason to bother somebody, but if it wasn't that it would have been another equally annoying, yet necessary activity.
Perhaps the night shift was the only time to change gloves because the day shift techs were too busy providing patient care??
When I was a day shift tech, I worked my butt off the entire shift, running from patient to patient with a RN giving baths, changing dressings, feeding, helping to toilet, etc etc. There's absolutely NO WAY I could have changed all the gloves in the rooms either...and we had 3 techs for day shift, 2 for eve, 2 for nights.
That being said, when I worked nights, we left gloves on night shift until about 6am (shift got on at 7am). It was one of the last things we did before finishing the shift up.
I had a patient a few months ago whose relatives were all bent out of shape because we kept going in to give meds, BP's etc. Surprisingly when the relatives were not there I spoke to the patient show was fine, and said he wanted us to come in and give care.
When I go in to assess a new patient I always tell them the drill. You have meds scheduled at xxx and xxx, and I am apologizing in advance, but I will have to wake you up. The tech will come check on you every odd hour, and I will check on you every even hour. The tech will do vitals at xx and xx, and the lab will be in for morning labs at 4am, breakfast should be here at 7am.
If I have to hand a new bag or something and the patient is sleeping I try to be quiet and keep the lights low. I also use the low light when giving meds late at night, and keep my voice quiet so they can get their meds, and go back to sleep.
I also explain to them that they just had surgery, and its a very delicate time. If something goes wrong and we come in and see it we can correct it. If no one comes in for 3 hours then it may be too late to help you. They usually appreciate it after that.
Specializes in drug seekers and the incurably insane..
I think that too many hospitals and other healthcare facilities subscribe to the Burger King motto: "Have it your way", but we all know whose ***es are handed back when something goes wrong. *wine
This discussion reminds me of an old coworker I once had, who had an attitude of "this job would be a lot better if I didn't have all the customers/clients/patients around".
i think the replies bother me more...so rude, unappreciative, etc... what happened to respect for caring for you or your loved one? guess they would have to walk in our shoes...hate that saying, but most medical staff have empathy, and we have also been in the hospital, and/or we have had a loved one there.
sherrilynn90
1 Post
People do forget what the hospital is for. It is most definately not a motel. If someone is ill and in the hospital, then they get continuous 24 hour care around the clock. The hospital is not closed at night for a reason. I would be willing to bet that if no nurse came in at night to do their job and something did happen, then you would be singing a different song. We would hear how crappy the care was, and about lazy nurses not doing their job. You can't have it both ways. Nurses have care to provide at night just as well as the daytime. I really can't even believe I am hearing this! Complaints over getting too much care. So if this is indeed what you are complaining about, then your loved one if lucky. If it's because it's keeping you up at night, go home. It's the old catch 22 once again, danged if you do, danged if you don't!!!!