oh- the nurse at the gps office is of questionable skill!!
i went in due to bad gi distress from a round of antibiotics that tums and zantac otc wouldn't touch....the "nurse" did weight, temp, bp..... no hx....am i on meds, allergies, what am i doing there....nothing. i let that go cuz i can tell the dr. so...she leaves.
comes back in 5 min and asks for a urine---hands me a cup seal broken, open, lid off........i say eeeww and ask for another cup, sealed please.....i don't know what's been in there or who's been using it! okay...
comes back says "the dr wants a fsbs, i guess because your stomach hurts...and i just have this old pricking thingy..it hurts more than the new one but i ran out of the lancets." i was speechless! why is "guessing" at the dr's intention???..and too much info on the pricking thingy! then when i say for her to prick my left hand because i'm used to those fingers being stuck everyday--she says " why? are you diabetic"? yes yes yes
shouldn't she know that already by looking at the chart??????
she's had it in front of her face for how long??? do you walk into a room without important info like the patient is diabetic!!
i told the dr (who i love and adore) all about it and he said they he was trying to find new help......he's had other such complaints.
maybe i'm being petty..am i being too harsh? i mean she didn't endanger my life or anything but..........2 years ago i went into the office with terrible lrq pain and nausea---after taking hx the nurse got the dr right away & i went in for emergency appendectomy. i'm glad i wasn't depending on her!!!
read the chart, take the hx, know your patient....geez!
it's people like that who motivate me even more to be a great nurse!
btw--got a ppi for distress and already feel better:)
She's a nurse....sad to say. BUT even an MA or assistant should be trained in vitals, hx, basic skills...right????
Maybe she's just having a hard time right now, stressed, over-worked or something. I feel kinda bad for talking about her but I was mad and concerned. I didn't say anything to her, or act badly toward her..
Am I being too harsh? I would hope the nurse or assistant would at least read the chart and ask why the pt is there. Anyway, thanks for listening!
My favorite part of your sgtory is the part about the "old lancet." Made me laugh. She sounds lke a really scary lady!
Specializes in Gen Surg, Peds, family med, geriatrics.
OH- the nurse at the GPs office is of questionable skill!!
Well, I'm an office nurse and have been for over 10 years. I can tell you that not all of us are dunces like the one you encountered. Like many said, there are stupes in every profession and you came face to face with one of them.
I'm glad you told the doc about her. Hopefully he will find a good nurse to replace her.
Ten years or so ago I had day surgery for a hernia repair. The next morning I woke to abdominal pain (I mean I had a really awful bellyache!). I called the advice nurse and said "I had a hernia repair yesterday and I seem to have developed an ileus". She said "What's that?" I said "Never mind," hung up and treated myself with a Fleets and clear liquids. It took about 2 days to get back to normal.
I've often wondered if she ever found out what it was.
:roll Aw Gee....you're all nurse!! :rotfl: I think we've ALL done that! It's a running joke at work. A few weeks ago I had a sinus infection. My doc told me to try Flonase for a few days and if it doesn't work then here's a script for Zithromax. I told one of my co-workers what he said and she asked "What does that mean to a nurse?" To which I answered "Give me some water for me to take the Zithromax." :chuckle
OH- the nurse at the GPs office is of questionable skill!!
:)
I understand that doctors are busy, everyone is busy, that's the way life is nowadays but my doctor doesn't order any tests until he himself has seen me. Is this a usual practice to get orders from the doctor before he's even seen you? I could understand if you came in with for instance c/o bladder infection and the nurse (whatever) asked for a urine specimen.
This problem of having unqualified people working in doctors offices is riduculous. I would be willing to bet a months pay that at least, if not more, than 50% of the patients think they are talking to a qualified nurse.
There should be a law against doctors being able to hire unqualified personnel and/or at least they should wear a name badge with their title clearly visible!!! :angryfire Is there something we as nurses can do ?
Maybe I'm being petty..Am I being too harsh? I mean she didn't endanger my life or anything but..........:)
No, you're not being too harsh! SHe might not of endangered your life, but it could very well happen at some point in her career. It's a shame! I love that part of an assessment! I was able to do some volunteer work through nursing school where I was helping do assessments to migrant workers at a free clinic. I loved the assessment part, asking the questions. I like to solve puzzles, so trying to figure out what was wrong was kinda neat.
Luckily, not all nurses are like this. I have had to go to urgent care for awful bacterial infections (tonsilitis!) in the past year or so, and there is an AWESOME nurse there! She makes sure I get a warm blanket and tylenol for the fever before I even leave the room where she does assessment in. She makes sure the lights were low and I was a comfortable as possible (had a killer headache), and got me a shot of toradol for the pain. One of those moments where you go "I want to be like her!".
I hope you get better treatment next time you have to be seen!-A
Specializes in Gen Surg, Peds, family med, geriatrics.
I understand that doctors are busy, everyone is busy, that's the way life is nowadays but my doctor doesn't order any tests until he himself has seen me. Is this a usual practice to get orders from the doctor before he's even seen you? I could understand if you came in with for instance c/o bladder infection and the nurse (whatever) asked for a urine specimen.
That depends on the office. Where I used to work I wasn't allowed to order any tests. That was up to the doc. Where I work now we have a fair amount of autonomy and can order some tests without the doctor seeing the patient first. For example, I can do a throat swab, urine culture and a lady partsl swab if I feel it's necessary. I even have standing orders to treat if they come back positive. Some docs also allow me to order routine pre-physical blood work for patients if they ask.
This was my question too....was this person an RN/LPN or were they an MA.....HUGE DIFFERANCE. I'm not even sure if MA can take detailed hx. In my NP/MD office there is only ONE LPN who basically supervises and the MAs do all the clerical stuff, venipunctures, U/As, etc...Sorry this happened though, feel better! :)
oh- the nurse at the gps office is of questionable skill!!
i went in due to bad gi distress from a round of antibiotics that tums and zantac otc wouldn't touch....the "nurse" did weight, temp, bp..... no hx....am i on meds, allergies, what am i doing there....nothing. i let that go cuz i can tell the dr. so...she leaves.
comes back in 5 min and asks for a urine---hands me a cup seal broken, open, lid off........i say eeeww and ask for another cup, sealed please.....i don't know what's been in there or who's been using it! okay...
comes back says "the dr wants a fsbs, i guess because your stomach hurts...and i just have this old pricking thingy..it hurts more than the new one but i ran out of the lancets." i was speechless! why is "guessing" at the dr's intention???..and too much info on the pricking thingy! then when i say for her to prick my left hand because i'm used to those fingers being stuck everyday--she says " why? are you diabetic"? yes yes yes
shouldn't she know that already by looking at the chart??????
she's had it in front of her face for how long??? do you walk into a room without important info like the patient is diabetic!!
i told the dr (who i love and adore) all about it and he said they he was trying to find new help......he's had other such complaints.
maybe i'm being petty..am i being too harsh? i mean she didn't endanger my life or anything but..........2 years ago i went into the office with terrible lrq pain and nausea---after taking hx the nurse got the dr right away & i went in for emergency appendectomy. i'm glad i wasn't depending on her!!!
read the chart, take the hx, know your patient....geez!
it's people like that who motivate me even more to be a great nurse!
btw--got a ppi for distress and already feel better:)
shouldn't she know that already by looking at the chart??????
BETSRN
1,378 Posts
My favorite part of your sgtory is the part about the "old lancet." Made me laugh. She sounds lke a really scary lady!