Today I Witnessed Something That Upest Me

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i am a pre-nursing student finishing up my prerequisites before i start actual nursing school this summer. part of the prerequisites for the school i hope to start this summer is being a cna. the cnaschool i am attending has 3 clinical days at the end of the class. today was my second day at a ltc assisted living home.

today i was shadowing a cna "mary" who worked at this facility. we were in a pt.'s room getting him cleaned up and ready for breakfast. the lady who shares a room with him told us that she had been trying to see the nurse for 2 hours. mary told her the nurse was making her way down and she would be in just a few minutes. this was true as the rn was just in the room next to hers.

when the rn entered the pt. was clearly frustrated and could go either way as far as temperament goes. the pt. told the rn she needed pain meds. and the nurse told her "you show no signs of pain, i'm not giving you any". of course, this infuriated the pt. which escaladed the conversation. the pt. said the rn was calling her a liar that she was refusing to give her pain meds. etc. and was emotionally distraught. the rn said in a condescending tone: "turn over i will put pain meds on your back" (i'm not sure what she was referring to, cream of some sort i'm guessing). the pt. told her to stick it where the sun don't shine along with a whole lot bunch other rude comments. the rn had comments right back for the patient. the rn said ok, i will put down you are refusing pain meds. this infuriated pt. and she said she wanted to talk with rn's boss. rn said "ohh you betchya, i will get your doctor and the don, for you" walked out laughing and continued on her rounds.

what upset me was the tone of voice and attitude behind words this rn was using towards this pt. i viewed it as passive aggressive. the pt. was annoyed before rn entered, but after rn left, she was very upset. i felt she was antagonizing her and not handling the situation professionally.

about 15 minutes later that rn and i crossed paths and she said to me "you know, i'm not usually that mean" which shows me that she herself knew she was in the wrong. i just smiled and kept my mouth shut. i didn't feel it was my place to say anything either way.

in my cna class, we were taught to not push pt.'s buttons, even if they are in the wrong. everyone has bad days and feelings can be hurt, but i think it's important to be the better person and *walk away* from escalading situations. i just felt like the rn could have handled it in such a more respectful manner. as a student, maybe i am naive to the real world, and with no experience as any kind of nurse i don't know how to react. just had to vent, if you made it this far, thank you for reading.

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Specializes in Ante-Intra-Postpartum, Post Gyne.

that Rn was wrong right from the start...pain is what the patient says it is, and if she was on PRN or had meds that were due it is not up to the RN to decide if the pt "looks/appears" to be in pain. The attitude...yeah that was wrong too, but she made her mistake the moment she walked in that door...if I was the pt I would have given her attitude too. :no:

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Not to excuse the nurse, but I have worked in LTC and it is very possible that this resident is constantly demanding attention and meds. The nurse might have just had it up to here with her.

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Specializes in Cardiology, Oncology, Medsurge.

it appears that the rn was looking for a fight from the get go!

i never deny pain meds to my patients in pain: even if they have no apparent sign, absence of grimacing face, and a pain rating of 10/10 to boot. i have had my share of sickle cell patients and you want to talk about starting a fight...don't you dare try them!

shame on this unprofessional behavior by a nurse! did you mention this behavior to your instructor????

in my cna class, we were taught to not push pt.'s buttons, even if they are in the wrong. everyone has bad days and feelings can be hurt, but i think it’s important to be the better person and *walk away* from escalading situations. i just felt like the rn could have handled it in such a more respectful manner.

:yeahthat::yelclap::yelclap::yelclap:

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Specializes in Perinatal, Education.

This appears to be abuse to me. This patient is being verbally abused and denied pain relief. Both are against the law here in CA. As a CNA you are a mandated reporter. You should call the ombudsman and discuss this. I understand that there are patients that are very demanding and maybe she was even a bit demented, but that is no excuse to treat her like that. What if that patient was your mother? :scrying:

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

No matter how crotchety the patient is, we should never engage them.

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I am very sorry your experience was so negative. I am glad you came away from it able to find some positives in class to compare.

I have worked LTC and know that some people can get to you at times. That does not excuse the type of behavior you saw. Almost every elder has pain just gained by life experience. I try to medicate everyone unless there is some reason not to do so. A couple of Tylenol routinely can help the person stay off narcs. that might be given as prns. I would rather avoid narcs. because of fall risk and constipation.

You saw a great example of what not to become. Thank you for sharing it.:bow:

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

What's with the "You show no signs of pain".. Where did she go to school? Because I'd like to know if they taught her that pain is what a patient says it is. She should have been reported.

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Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, ED.

Wait a minute...they had a male and female sharing the same room?

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.
Wait a minute...they had a male and female sharing the same room?

:eek::eek::eek:

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You were right, TWICE! As a nsg student you got to see the worst in nsg, and you were smart enuf to keep you mouth shut. I've seen lots of nasty nurses do some ugly things, but it is usually best to try to comfort the pt and ignore the nurse. Everyone has bad days but always remember the nurse can turn and walk away, the pt can't.

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Specializes in LTC.
Wait a minute...they had a male and female sharing the same room?

Could be a husband and wife - that happens pretty often. Or a really laid-back facility.

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