Re: Re: Frustrations when dealing with medical needs

[Guest guest]

> Tami wrote:

> I am sure plenty of us have nightmare experiences to share.

Tami,

Oh, the classic story on the psych ward was the patient who was not

attending group and singing carols for Christmas. This was at St Jewish

hospital. Now, if did not attend group, he would not get to go home and

was singled out.

Well, Mr. Joh GOLDSTEIN was my patient and I nicely went in there and said, Mr.

Goldstein, are you depressed, I had report you did not want to go to group. He

said to me " Bennie, I am Jewish, I do not want to sing Christmas carols, or cut

out Santa Claus " . I almost laughed but it was not funny. So Mr. GOLDSTEIN got

to go home and if the other Nurses spent the time to talk to him, he might have

shared with him.

The greatest Nurse we had who trained us was Charlie on the Psych ward and they

got in Matilda who was a retarded 49 year old lady who hallucinated things also

and always saw bats in the room. The psych books say not to feed into the

patients delusions (no monster spray that was water in the bottle, no swatting

spiders and telling patients they were dead when they hallucinated spiders, no

telling them the person they saw trying to get them was taken out by the

security police at the hospital).

, a good nurse, had been off and we had been using our techniques saying,

" Matilda, there are no bats in this room " .

Well, comes in, sets a styrofoam cup in the room, and then comes back

two hours later. He says to Matilda, " Now Matilda, I have been off for two

days and there should have been a lot of bats in here and they poop, and this

cup should be full and it is not, so there are no bats in this room. "

Needless to say, was our hero, we did not tell on him in report to our

instructor, and that phrase. " What you read in the Nursing books are not always

the way you do it. There are happy stories like that all the time and many of

the inventions that help have been made that way : )

I know we all have stories but some things are so simple, every morning after I

got report, i put warm washrags in a zip lock bag and would go in and great my

patient without slamming the door open and flipping the light on bright (there

is actually a softer one above, beside, and you can turn the bathroom door and

open it) Once I let the patient get awake their vitals and did the assessment

with a smile on my face (rather if I felt it or not).

Many patients have sensitivity to light and sound and cannot see up close but

they will give you THEIR number to dial on a phone you first of all can't reach.

and then can't see the numbers or drop the phone trying to get it.

The other pet peeve I have is the elderly patients or surgical patients that are

cold, that with one of my elderly patients, I went and bought knit caps that are

soft, for them to wear, as it hold the heat in, and the hospital does this first

thing with babies are being born. This lady and her family thought I was a

genius but I just do the things I would like when I am sick. I also do not like

the covers tight against me feet.

I know these things sound stupid but I also have has nurses who know better than

to put the tray with stroke patients on the side they had the stroke and that is

their weak arm, side, and can't lift things. Also the not putting the tray close

enough.

I have turned my own IV off before as it was out and I had to wait so long so I

would not have air in my veins when they start it again, which has happened,

turned my oxygen on right, and wrote in my own chart on the wall of my output

because they forgot.

I know that Nurses are busy and I worked years ago in the field and thought I

would go back but I don't like what I see and the great Nurses get so burned out

as they care and get stuck with staff that doesn't want to be there. The

computers are great to save time if they work all the time, well those were my

frustrations and I also hated that they could not get in the closet for supplies

until someone came up and you could not get lemon sticks for dried lips, you

got a q tip with a paper cup with vaseline that is left out instead of something

that is sterile.. Well, enough of that . There are wonderful nurses and techs

working out there to help and I have been lucky to get some. The last nurse

that stuck me five times got a chewing from my Doctor and said, Don't ever do

that, we will give her an injection to sedate her, then look for veins, I was

never more thankful she walked in the room.

I hope everyone that has a date in the hospital has great nurses, but arrange

for family and friends to be there to watch over you to make sure you get you

pain meds when you ask and you procedures done in a caring manner. The worse

thing you can do is not report it as you think it minor or you don't want to get

anyone in trouble as if they have to address complaint forms and quality

assurance monitors the problems and if they don't correct them it may effect

their accrediation. Bennie