[Grandmotherbear]

But it was the adult bagger at the grocery who added the final straw to the camel's back. I asked him for paper and he got out a paper bag and put the bread in the bottom, first thing.
While I was pulling it OUT of the bag, and saying PUT IN HEAVY STUFF FIRST he was pushing the blueberries in to the bottom. I Finally had him hand me stuff and I would say "Too light- it'll go on the top" or "Good one, it's heavy. I'll put it on the bottom". Maybe he's trainable.
But what am I going to do about the nurses working in the hospitals and nursing homes where I see my patients???
They have nursing degrees and licenses but I think they are no longer trainable.
You may remember my patient a few months back, in the winter with intractable chest pain?? Made it hard for her to breathe and she wasn't responding to any opiods or cardiac medications? When I came to see her I discovered her bra was about 5 sizes too small and was wearing grooves in her skin? When I took it off, it releived her pain and she could breathe again??

So today the floor nurse came to get me a panic because one of my elderly male patients had a mouthful of blood. I checked his vital signs- normal- his normally "white" skin pallor, not grayish...and it occurred to me that when I had my head down near his face I had NOT experienced that horrible stink of old nasty blood. (Anyone who has smelt old blood knows what I'm talking about) I asked him to open his mouth and let me look- looked at the brownish liquid smearing his dentures and asked "Did you have prune juice for breakfast?" He nodded yes, and his aide hovering anxiouslysaid "Why yes, he drank ALL his prune juice"...

Not to mention the time a floor nurse called me in a panic that my patient had a lung fistula about to fungate because she had developed crepitus. That's where air escapes the lung and migrates into blebs under the skin. I was asking about vital signs and respiratory distress and the floor nurse was saying "Hurry and get here! I just palpated under her arm and could feel the air in the tissues"!! When I got there I found the patient in the nursing station in no distress,, so I wheeled her to her room and disrobed her. The nurse said -"Under THAT arm!" What was underTHAT arm was a wad of kleenex tucked into her bra strap under the armpit. I looked at the nurse...while she helped her out of the bra and we stared at smooth skin and no distress on the patient's part...I said "Let me guess. You palpated THRU her clothing?" The floor nurse held up a crumpled tissue and said apologectically "I guess I really DID feel "air" in the "tissues""...

Or about the time I had to explain to a nurse with 20 years more experience then me that an old Chemo port was NOT a breast tumor...

I'm sure everyone else has dealt with people who jump to conclusions or who may not even know the basics of their jobs but yeesh!!!
Everone else is invited to share THEIR stories-maybe then I won't feel SO frustrated...

 

[suburbanite]

The attending who cleared his stroke patient with hemiparesis for a full diet without doing a swallow study first, whereupon the patient drowned in a can of cola after dinner.

 

[NickieL]

I understand...I'm not a nurse, I work in SPD, and I have to deal with nurses who quite frankly scare the crud out of me....

I've learned to fear getting sick and I don't go to the doc unless I'm nearly dead! I am now convinced you don't go to the hospital to get healthy...

One young woman came to get a rectal tube for a patient from me. She's worked in the hospital at least as long as I've been here (going on 4 years now) and she's had medical school. I've only been trained in SPD and took the test to get certified as I learned on the job. Anyway, she ASKED me how to put it in the patient............I stared at her a moment, biting my tounge with all the things that immediately came to mind. I finally said "There are pictures on the box" and handed it to her. I've seen MUCH MUCH worse around here...

 

[Alice In TX/MO]

Yes, I know whereof you speak. When I realized what was going on in the "skilled nursing center" where my mother was, I hired a protector for the last day she was there as I scurried to find her a safe place.

 

[mama2littleman]

From back in my EMS days ...

The call to a nursing home for a patient with critically low blood pressure, and falling.

Walk in, take vitals, look at the partner thinking Oh crap, this one is going south on us quick. Open her gown and see a big old fresh smear of nitro paste on the poor woman.

Nikki

 

[suburbanite]

btw, I'm not a nurse either...

 

[morrowsmowers]

I've met a lot of scary nurses, too. I wonder if they just teach them what they need to pass the test and nothing more? Seems that is what the educational system wants these days, no common sense, just get past the test.

Ken in Glassboro, NJ

 

[NickieL]

I've met a lot of scary nurses, too. I wonder if they just teach them what they need to pass the test and nothing more? Seems that is what the educational system wants these days, no common sense, just get past the test.

Ken in Glassboro, NJ

They need nurses so bad in some places, I wonder if they are just pushing them through...

 

[HilltopDaisy]

Not a nurse, but I work as a tech (Psych) in a hospital, direct patient care for many years.

Most of the "senior" nurses have terrible attitudes towards anyone who isn't as "perfect" as they view themselves to be. What is wrong with helping a less-experienced nurse/tech/whatever through kind words, and leadership, through good example? Personally, I'm quite tired of nurses who roll their eyes, throw paperwork, snip and snark at every little thing. I've met some wonderful nurses but they are the ones who show patience with EVERYONE they come in contact with.

If I make a small mistake, help me, explain a better way, remind me, etc. It will make a big difference down the road, when it counts the most. I'm sure some of you are very skilled nurses, no doubt, but it's unlikely that you graduated with the skill and experience that you now possess.

Flame away..........

 

[big rockpile]

All I know is I never want to spend the entire Deer Season in the Hospital with a Antihunting Nurse again.Talkingt about pure torture :Bawling:

big rockpile

 

[DaveMac]

What about the patient arriving via EMS to the ED post falling off his bicycle? First off, the police officer on the scene stated he had been drinking. The ED doc ordered chest, arm, neck, and head x-rays, along with a series of labs. Well the doc admitted the patient to the med-surg floor with minor contusions. Well the next morning when the radiologist read the x-rays, the patient had a fractured C5, fractured radial head of the humorous, along with 4 fractured ribs. The doc in the ED has many times told the nursing staff that he does not make mistakes. Needless to say, this patient was shipped from our small community hospital to a specialist in another city.
Nurses can sometimes do some stupid things, but when a doc does it, they do it right.
In case you can’t tell, I am a Nurse and proud of it. By the way, I am not a male nurse, I also take care of females and children. As a male we like to be called men in nursing. A doc that I know who is female, told me one day that she felt like I do and does not like the term female doctor. For the same reasons I have, she takes care of men, women, and children.
The doc’s will rant on the nurses and the nurses will rant on the doc’s.
:dance:

 

[HilltopDaisy]

And another thing............

I've watched some very caring people leave nursing because of some very nasty nurses. Maybe that's why we're seeing some less-than-desirables?

 

[DaveMac]

Not a nurse, but I work as a tech (Psych) in a hospital, direct patient care for many years.

Most of the "senior" nurses have terrible attitudes towards anyone who isn't as "perfect" as they view themselves to be. What is wrong with helping a less-experienced nurse/tech/whatever through kind words, and leadership, through good example? Personally, I'm quite tired of nurses who roll their eyes, throw paperwork, snip and snark at every little thing. I've met some wonderful nurses but they are the ones who show patience with EVERYONE they come in contact with.

If I make a small mistake, help me, explain a better way, remind me, etc. It will make a big difference down the road, when it counts the most. I'm sure some of you are very skilled nurses, no doubt, but it's unlikely that you graduated with the skill and experience that you now possess.

Flame away..........

One of my favorite things to do is to take a nurse or tech who need some guidance and help them out. I love to teach and help new nurses or techs learn. There have been a few times where I did not know the answer. Well we went together and found the answer. Being a preceptor is something I like to do.

 

[trappmountain]

Here's good one that puts the dr's in bad light and the nurse in good light.

Years ago I was getting terrible pain in my back. I felt like I had to urinate all the time but could only trickle. I was throwing up and dry heaving so hard I had broke all the blood vessels in my eyes. I had terrible fever. I went to the hospital. They couldn't tell what was wrong with me. sent me home. A few days later it was getting worse. Went back to the ER. Nothing wrong, sent me home. A week after that getting wayyy worse. Walked in to the ER and the nice lady that takes your info and your vitals asks me about my symptoms and says "you have kidney stones". OK She knew what it was, why didn't the Dr's? Thanks to her I was diagnosed, got something for the pain, something for the nausea and I knew what to expect and what to watch for!

KUDO"S to Nurses!!!!!!!!

 

[suburbanite]

trapp--you also had pyelonephritis, likely.

 

[Fujiko]

My mom's a nurse. One night she started her shift and did her initial exam on her patient, only to discover that the patient had been laying on a bedpan for 8 hours. Ouch.

 

[NickieL]

There are of course some really good nurses out there, but the bad ones just really stand out!

 

[big rockpile]

Did bring DW in one time kid coming out.Nurse was :dance: but the Aid was going nuts.deliverd DS in the Hallway.

Had a stupid Doctor about kill me in the ER.

big rockpile

 

[Pigeon Lady]

I worked in a nursing home and overheard the nursing home administrator -RN with lots of other letters behind her name- in conversation on lunch break about one of the CNAs who'd been bitten by a possible rabid dog.

"I didn't know you could die from rabies, did you?"

P.

 

[akhomesteader]

And another thing............

I've watched some very caring people leave nursing because of some very nasty nurses. Maybe that's why we're seeing some less-than-desirables?

And I'm one of those nurses that left nursing because of all the awful people involved in healthcare. The hospitals don't care about patients. They only care about money, which makes it harder for good, caring nurses to do a good job. There are also some very horrible "doctors" out there, and some horrible techs (nursing assistants or whatever they are called in various places) who either make it nearly impossible to do a good job, or make you hate doing it. There are also some horrible nurses. There are also excellent doctors, nurses and techs.

I remember reading a nursing magazine shortly before graduating from nursing school. One of the article titles was "Why Do Nurses Eat Their Young?" That certainly raised a red flag for me, as a new nurse. I found that article to be terribly true, and it has become much worse over the years. Thankfully, I am no longer a nurse. It's been nice to always be able to get a job when I wanted or needed one, but I certainly would not recommend it to anyone these days.