I may get a lot of flack for this from the more experienced nurses, but I would like some help in understanding this situation.
Today, I walked by a patient's room in the hallway. Keep in mind she is not my particular patient today. She calls out to me in a frail voice for help, and sounds like she is in very bad shape. I go in to see her and she is crying, and very frail. She must have been in her 80s or even higher. She stated that she could not move her arms, and that she was desperate for some water. My first thought was that she might have been having acute MI or something similar because she couldn't move her arms, I really didn't know. I held her hands quickly and asked if she could feel my hands in hers. She said she could, but that she can't move her arms, and continued to cry and beg for water. She kept saying that she did not know where she was or why, and to please help her.
At this point, I noticed the restraints. She was strapped into her bed, this is why she couldn't move her arms. I was horrified. This is a med/surg floor, not a pysch ward. I asked one of the tele people what was going on and they stated 'it's just some crazy old woman, she's weird don't worry about her'. I asked her nurse and this was the same answer I got from her, again. She stated this woman had previously tried to pull out her IV and so they restrained her.
So...
Help me understand. They clearly had to get an order for these restraints. Why did they not choose a chemical restraint or sedative instead of strapping her into the bed? Why does no one care about this woman, writing her off as a crazy old lady; when she is, in reality, a frightened human being who was strapped into her bed in a strange place and scared to death. Not to mention thirsty, as she was apparently NPO and no one would explain to her why.
I went into the stairwell and cried for about 5 minutes. This is not why I wanted to go into nursing. I see things like this every day, but never this bad before. Restraints! They strapped this poor woman down and wouldn't explain anything to her. I spent some of the rest of the day talking to her and trying to help her relax even though all she wanted was to get out of bed and get some water.
It broke my heart. And if this is what nursing means, that eventually you become so burned out that a fellow human being suffering in one of the worst possible ways becomes just some 'crazy old lady', then I want no part of it.
My understanding is that the OP is not a nurse nor an employee of the facility. As a student, she is a guest there with certain restricted privileges. If the patient and/or family did not approve the student taking care of the patient, then that would be a violation of privacy in the facility I work in.
I mentioned it because I had a student in my facility once, who decided that a unassigned patient down the hall was suffering too much, and removed the patient's sling to readjust it. She was kicked out of school and some other nasty things happened with the family. I was not trying to scold the student but protect her from unintended consequences.
True that, when I was in a hospital as a student, we couldn't take care of anyother patients but the ones assigned. We could notify the charge nurse or the primary nurse assigned to that section and if necessary to go to our clinical instructor who could also help with the issue.
My daughter who was 2 years old at the time, suffered a broken leg as a result of my being in a hurry to get somewhere.
As a result, she spent 3 weeks in the hospital in bryant's traction (this was 24 years ago) and 3 weeks at home in a spica cast.
Anyway, I had absolutely NO problem with nursing students "visiting" to see the set up and how it worked as it was a pretty rare occurence to use that modality.
The instructors came to me first and asked if it was OK. No prob. They are there to learn. I even had some students assigned to us. Problem came when I had a student who also worked psych (mini shrink). She started out asking the usual questions that we all ask our patients then it took a turn. The way that she was phrasing questions insinuated that I (or someone in my family) had abused my daughter. Please!
I had no sleep in 3 nights because Sarah was having muscle spasms in that leg and guilt over the whole thing. To come into a situation like that and start the abuse crap really topped it off. I had enough guilt, recrimination and everything else to go around! I was in tears! Thank God it didn't happen in this day and age! I probably would have had charges brought, lost custody of my daughter and lost my nursing license as a result a moment of stupidity.
Anyway I asked her if she had researched the chart. She said yes. Told her about being awake for 3 days, I was wore out, then told her that I was an RN too, that I worked in that facility and I wasn't ignorant about the way the interview was going. I then requested that she leave and talked with her instructor (who was also my peds instructor 8 years prior) Never saw her again on that rotation. She probably got sent back to the other hospital in town to finish her rotation.
Same hospitalization, had a really nosy resident who was doing his rotaion on the tele unit I worked. When he saw me over on peds which was on the same floor, he asked why I was there and not working. Told him what had happened and that I would be spending the next 3 weeks with my daughter. Why he thought he could go through her chart I can only guess. I caught him at the nurses station asking to see her chart. I reminded him that he had no right to see the chart, that it was a breach of confidentiality and that if I chose I could sue his butt. The nurses were great and protected our privacy. This was before HIPPA but we did have rules that limited access to patient's information. I went to Dr. So and So the attending cardiologist, told him about Dr. X being nosy and attempting to access Sarah's chart. Dr. X got his butt chewed and had to apologize to me. Hope he learned his lesson.
blueheaven
832 Posts
True that, when I was in a hospital as a student, we couldn't take care of anyother patients but the ones assigned. We could notify the charge nurse or the primary nurse assigned to that section and if necessary to go to our clinical instructor who could also help with the issue.
My daughter who was 2 years old at the time, suffered a broken leg as a result of my being in a hurry to get somewhere.
As a result, she spent 3 weeks in the hospital in bryant's traction (this was 24 years ago) and 3 weeks at home in a spica cast.
Anyway, I had absolutely NO problem with nursing students "visiting" to see the set up and how it worked as it was a pretty rare occurence to use that modality.
The instructors came to me first and asked if it was OK. No prob. They are there to learn. I even had some students assigned to us. Problem came when I had a student who also worked psych (mini shrink). She started out asking the usual questions that we all ask our patients then it took a turn. The way that she was phrasing questions insinuated that I (or someone in my family) had abused my daughter. Please!
I had no sleep in 3 nights because Sarah was having muscle spasms in that leg and guilt over the whole thing. To come into a situation like that and start the abuse crap really topped it off. I had enough guilt, recrimination and everything else to go around! I was in tears! Thank God it didn't happen in this day and age! I probably would have had charges brought, lost custody of my daughter and lost my nursing license as a result a moment of stupidity.
Anyway I asked her if she had researched the chart. She said yes. Told her about being awake for 3 days, I was wore out, then told her that I was an RN too, that I worked in that facility and I wasn't ignorant about the way the interview was going. I then requested that she leave and talked with her instructor (who was also my peds instructor 8 years prior) Never saw her again on that rotation. She probably got sent back to the other hospital in town to finish her rotation.
Same hospitalization, had a really nosy resident who was doing his rotaion on the tele unit I worked. When he saw me over on peds which was on the same floor, he asked why I was there and not working. Told him what had happened and that I would be spending the next 3 weeks with my daughter. Why he thought he could go through her chart I can only guess. I caught him at the nurses station asking to see her chart. I reminded him that he had no right to see the chart, that it was a breach of confidentiality and that if I chose I could sue his butt. The nurses were great and protected our privacy. This was before HIPPA but we did have rules that limited access to patient's information. I went to Dr. So and So the attending cardiologist, told him about Dr. X being nosy and attempting to access Sarah's chart. Dr. X got his butt chewed and had to apologize to me. Hope he learned his lesson.