Walking into a mess

jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B · Jun 14, 2015

I don't blame you for being angry about this. I am assuming that you are the night nurse, and the parent(s) take care of the child during the day...and have the child more "full time" on the weekend when they do not go to school?

Perhaps there needs to be a weekend day nurse. Doesn't sound to me as if the kid is being taken care of during the day if you come in to a hot mess, and a dirty diaper, and a full suction container. If this is a pretty common thing with this patient, I would speak to case management about it, as clearly this family needs more support.

Some would say that in fact leaving the child in a dirty diaper is neglect. If this is what you are thinking, then as a mandated reporter you have a duty to report.

Adele_Michal7, ASN, RN · Jun 14, 2015

I hate when parents do that. Not in PDN anymore- couldn't stomach it after 3 long years- but def saw this more than once.

SDALPN · Jun 14, 2015

Yep, that aggravates me. It is annoying when the parent does it. Its worse when a nurse that knows better does it.

I work with both now. The parents are messy and figure we'll clean up after them. The nurse just screws up everything and leaves a mess, while telling the parent is was a rough day. The problem is that every day is a rough day for her!

I love the nurses and parents that have things clean and ready to go for the next shift. I will bend over backwards to help them with whatever. I'm also more likely to cover them if they are running late or whatever. I speak highly of them to the boss too.

Personally, I almost always make sure the room is cleaned, restocked, and ready to go for the next shift. If its actually a rough day, the next shift understands because they know I normally don't leave them with a mess.

RNCourt · Jun 15, 2015

Boy do I know the feeling. I get aggrevated too coming on to a shift and trying to get caught up with everything that could have been done throughout the day. As time went on with my case I came to realize the time that my patient spends with their family is just as important as the maintenance issues. I am thankful that the parents of my teenage patient are able to care for their son in a safe manner until a nurse can come to relieve them. Yes, it may take me an hour to get caught up with everything but it keeps me busy. If it doesn't impede on the safety of the patient, I think parents should be just that, parents.

SDALPN · Jun 15, 2015

I disagree to an extent. Parents should be parents. But as parents, they accept that they must meet the needs of their child. If they are leaving milk in the tubing and then using it hours later, they are risking the childs health. If the parent doesn't change a diaper, the kid can have skin breakdown possibly leading to infection. So they need to be keeping things clean for their child. That is part of being a parent.

caliotter3 · Jun 15, 2015

While it bothers me when parents do this, it positively angers me when I relieve a nurse and s/he does it. No way are they going to stay and fix things because you just happen to say you aren't accepting the patient that way. So, eventually you have a talk with the nursing supervisor, and voila! Nothing!

Adele_Michal7, ASN, RN · Jun 15, 2015

While it bothers me when parents do this, it positively angers me when I relieve a nurse and s/he does it. No way are they going to stay and fix things because you just happen to say you aren't accepting the patient that way. So, eventually you have a talk with the nursing supervisor, and voila! Nothing!

Right. Plus I've only worked one case where I could legitimately see the nurse not having time to get everything done.. And even then not really.

nicole anne, BSN, RN · Jun 16, 2015

Sadly I feel your pain. It's very frustrating when I come in for my shift and the nurse before me has left the suction machine full, no suction catheters in the bag, no gloves around, etc. One of the nurses likes the rearrange things so some days I spend half my shift looking for things that have been moved!

allnurses Guide · Jun 16, 2015

Most of the maintenance can affect the kid's health if not done. My personal observation is that parents who spend genuine quality time with their child also understand the rationale behind keeping skin clean and dry, etc.

I think we all understand that a family just getting home from an outing or who has visitors or whatever will not always get to the restocking and changing tubing etc. -- without common sense and flexibility in PDN, we'd probably all sink fast!

If a nurse habitually leaves things undone, I would take a different approach.

realnursealso/LPN, LPN · Jun 16, 2015

My last Peds case, before I retired was like that every single day I was on the case, about 18 months worth. The little one only had day shift nurses. What was even worse was the lazy nurse that worked opposite days from me. She never restocked the cans of tube feed I carefully put in the cupboard in the kitchen, nor restocked the pile of bags I kept in there. Mom always left the bag with tube feed in it from the night before, always had to throw it away. The other nurse never checked to see if the patient needed scripts called in, or checked the bottle to see if a new script was needed from the doc. The little girl was always wet, sometimes with dried on bm, on her skin and in her diaper, Mom just figured I was getting her up, so it was up to me. I loved the little one so, but wanted to grrrr at the Mom.

Adele_Michal7, ASN, RN · Jun 17, 2015

^ That's the worst! Ah I don't miss PDN!