Change of Shift is up at Dr. Anonymous. I am pleased to be included in this week's edition.
Go on.. have a read :)
30 November 2007
28 November 2007
10 things I can't live without
No particular order here...
1. DVR/Tivo
2. My car/My job/My paycheck (ok that is 3 things but they are all related)
3. Diet Mountain Dew
4. Coffee with Hazelnut or French Vanilla creamer
5. Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie
6. XM
7. Netflix
8. Laptop/Internet
9. Cell phone
10. My kids... of course.
1. DVR/Tivo
2. My car/My job/My paycheck (ok that is 3 things but they are all related)
3. Diet Mountain Dew
4. Coffee with Hazelnut or French Vanilla creamer
5. Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie
6. XM
7. Netflix
8. Laptop/Internet
9. Cell phone
10. My kids... of course.
TV
What am I going to do this January when I have no new shows to watch? Other than American Idol. I loooove American Idol, but no 24???? No Lost????? and so on??? Do they not know that the only tv show my step-father watches religiously is 24? Do they not know how miserable that is making my mother, having to listen to him gripe about nothing to watch this winter since 24 is suspended indefinitely? All of this over royalties for web content, if I understand what I am reading.
I urge the studios to give these people what they want. Without them, you have nothing, as you will soon see. People love to watch tv. Love it. Especially in the winter. There is nothing else to do! But on a high point, I am taking 2 classes for the spring semester, and this will allow me to concentrate on my classes instead of being disrupted by tv. Shoot, maybe even families will start spending more time together. Maybe even people will get up off of the couch and start exercising???? (I doubt it.. luckily, cable provides mucho entertainment, even if they are reruns).
Anyhow.. I will probably have a boring winter with nothing to look forward to on the tv. Boring. I guess I can up my netflix and watch a load of movies. What other option will I have? Other than American Idol and all of its cheesiness.
I urge the studios to give these people what they want. Without them, you have nothing, as you will soon see. People love to watch tv. Love it. Especially in the winter. There is nothing else to do! But on a high point, I am taking 2 classes for the spring semester, and this will allow me to concentrate on my classes instead of being disrupted by tv. Shoot, maybe even families will start spending more time together. Maybe even people will get up off of the couch and start exercising???? (I doubt it.. luckily, cable provides mucho entertainment, even if they are reruns).
Anyhow.. I will probably have a boring winter with nothing to look forward to on the tv. Boring. I guess I can up my netflix and watch a load of movies. What other option will I have? Other than American Idol and all of its cheesiness.
Fatal
It was a simple case of clostridium difficile. Or so it was thought. But in reality, it was much, much worse. Thanksgiving day, the patient was in good spirits, mad as hell that there was no turkey to be ate or the day spent with the family. Mad as hell because the doctor said that the patient was full of stool and what was escaping was also positive for c. diff. The patient is on isolation. Lots of handwashing going on in the room by the staff, and family had been told to be sure to wash well too. But did they? They were reminded time and again, but can we monitor their every move? Anyhow, the patient was ordered a laxative to get the stool out overnight, which did not work until the next day. Samples sent to the lab continued to come back positive. Patient is in fairly good spirits, no distress, just upset because the laxative seems to have been working overtime now.
I did not have this patient the next few days. But fast forward 2 days, come into work and the patient is being transferred to ICU. WBC count suddenly up to 48. Is it an acute abdomen? I will never know. Once that patient was out of my care, then I had to worry about my new patients and their problems. But this patient just looked bad.
Fast forward 2 more days. WBC count suddenly up to 120. Pt dies. From C. diff resistant to antibiotics. Gone. Coincidentally, patient had a family member that had passed very recently from complications associated with the same disease. Hmph.
This is scary to me for several reasons. Did I wash my hands enough? I think so, god, I hope so! What about the family that had visited him on the holiday? Did they wash good enough when I wasn't there? Did the other nurses remind them to be diligent on handwashing? Did the other nurses wash good enough and often enough as well? Did the housekeepers clean the room good enough so that the next person doesn't get this disease?
I have had a lot of patients who have had C. diff. A lot. It can become so common at times (they seem to all be in the hospital at the same time) that it just becomes a nuisance. The constant stools. The smell. But never had anyone died from it here recently in the last few years anyhow. Now, I know I will learn from this. I am sorry this patient had to suffer that fate. Truly sorry. But now I will be super diligent in handwashing and all the precautions that come with this disease. Not that I wasn't following the guidelines before. Not that I didn't wash when entering and leaving the room. I always had on gloves, always. But the idea that somehow I may contact this highly trasmissible disease is just simply scary.
And for all the nurses out there, hopefully this will serve as a reminder of the true seriousness that C. diff can present. Be diligent.
I did not have this patient the next few days. But fast forward 2 days, come into work and the patient is being transferred to ICU. WBC count suddenly up to 48. Is it an acute abdomen? I will never know. Once that patient was out of my care, then I had to worry about my new patients and their problems. But this patient just looked bad.
Fast forward 2 more days. WBC count suddenly up to 120. Pt dies. From C. diff resistant to antibiotics. Gone. Coincidentally, patient had a family member that had passed very recently from complications associated with the same disease. Hmph.
This is scary to me for several reasons. Did I wash my hands enough? I think so, god, I hope so! What about the family that had visited him on the holiday? Did they wash good enough when I wasn't there? Did the other nurses remind them to be diligent on handwashing? Did the other nurses wash good enough and often enough as well? Did the housekeepers clean the room good enough so that the next person doesn't get this disease?
I have had a lot of patients who have had C. diff. A lot. It can become so common at times (they seem to all be in the hospital at the same time) that it just becomes a nuisance. The constant stools. The smell. But never had anyone died from it here recently in the last few years anyhow. Now, I know I will learn from this. I am sorry this patient had to suffer that fate. Truly sorry. But now I will be super diligent in handwashing and all the precautions that come with this disease. Not that I wasn't following the guidelines before. Not that I didn't wash when entering and leaving the room. I always had on gloves, always. But the idea that somehow I may contact this highly trasmissible disease is just simply scary.
And for all the nurses out there, hopefully this will serve as a reminder of the true seriousness that C. diff can present. Be diligent.
01 October 2007
Pt satisfaction rules, hospitals drool
Perhaps I am a bit jaded. I don’t know. I cannot for the life of me remembering being taught that the patient is always right. Now, I know that the “customer is always right” is an old adage passed down in customer service to keep those customers coming back. But when did patients suddenly begin to apply to these same standards? More often than not, the patient isn’t always right, otherwise why else are they in the hospital? Most don’t choose to be admitted, although granted there are those people out there who enjoy nothing more than being in the hospital.
I also understand making that stay in the hospital as pleasant as possible. Sick people are miserable and have the capability of making everyone else around them miserable as well. This misery feeds on the environment and trickles down to all levels of employees. But with the implement of all the muriad of information about patient satisfaction, I think it is high time that health care professionals take it back.
Being in the hospital is not about what you want, it is about what you need. Staying in the Hilton on vacation, for example, is what you want. But you don’t necessarily need it. The hospital is definitely not the Hilton. I mean, I would much rather be in the Hilton, but they probably are not going to be able to give me IVF. You will pay lots of money to stay in either, but only in the hospital do the employees also potentially pay for your stay, especially if you are on Medicare or Medicaid. Medicare or Medicaid certainly will not pay for your stay in the Hilton. Since many hospital earnings come primarily from these two sources, why can’t the health care professionals have a say in the care of the patients? Why do we have to bend over backward because the administration says so? Between all of the taxes paid from our paychecks, we probably send the government enough money to pay for that hospital visit. Why do we have to heed to the complaints of the people who didn’t get what they wanted out of their hospital stay?
Not all patients are like this. Many are very gracious about the care and information that we give them. But it is the few worm infested apples of the bunch who take the time to send in those surveys who ruin it for everyone. I don’t know if some people think that there is no need to send it in if you had exceptional care. It seems it is only the ones who had a “problem.” Is that really reflective of the care we provide as professionals? We are admonished like school children if we are not doing everything possible to ensure the stay in the hospital is not like the stay in the Hilton.
Some examples of things that will never be like the Hilton in the hospital:
* Your food will never taste like it does at the hotel. In fact, it won’t even taste like the food at home, let alone McDonald’s. But because of the food you eat in those places, you are in here with a blood sugar of 600. Please don’t be upset with us when your food tastes like cardboard. We are trying to make you better, and that food will most likely have very little sugar and salt. Sorry. And we will probably see you again in a few weeks because you didn’t follow the instructions that we left with you at discharge on your diet or medications.
* You will get woken up at all hours of the day and night. We do not have a wake up service. We need to monitor your vitals and all sorts of things, even at night. Unlike in the hotel, you are not here for rest and relaxation. You are here to get healthy, and if that means waking you up in the middle of the night because your heart rate suddenly dropped to 30, then we will do so. Sorry.
* You can call for room service in the hotel. They are happy to bring you whatever you want whenever they can. Shoot, you even tip them for their services. At the hospital, we cannot accept tips, even though we may bring you many things you want throughout your stay. But just because you want something, doesn’t mean you can have it. For instance, the person above with the cardboard tasting food, please don’t have your family bring you a bucket of chicken in. It will only make your stay that much longer because we will not be able to get your blood sugar under control.
* In the hospital, all rooms are pretty much created equal. [Unless you are in the OB ward, but that is different.] Please don’t complain about the furniture or comfort of the bed. In the hotel, you can have a nice, soft, pillowed mattress. But in the hospital, those types of things are difficult to clean and breed germs that we may even be unaware of. Yes, we understand that it is not like sleeping in your bed at home or at the hotel. There is nothing that we can do about that. Really.
Well, those are just a few things that I can think of anyhow. All I want is to take care of my patients in a safe environment. I cannot help it if the MD orders something not to the patient’s liking. Like actually getting out of the bed and sitting in the chair for a few minutes a day. Or being on a fluid restriction because your kidneys cannot handle it, and the extra fluid will send you into pulmonary edema, but every drop of fluid you can get your hands on you suck down in a blink. Gone are the days of patient responsibility. It has become an all hospital responsibility to ensure that everything is done to the patient’s satisfaction, regardless of outcome.
I also understand making that stay in the hospital as pleasant as possible. Sick people are miserable and have the capability of making everyone else around them miserable as well. This misery feeds on the environment and trickles down to all levels of employees. But with the implement of all the muriad of information about patient satisfaction, I think it is high time that health care professionals take it back.
Being in the hospital is not about what you want, it is about what you need. Staying in the Hilton on vacation, for example, is what you want. But you don’t necessarily need it. The hospital is definitely not the Hilton. I mean, I would much rather be in the Hilton, but they probably are not going to be able to give me IVF. You will pay lots of money to stay in either, but only in the hospital do the employees also potentially pay for your stay, especially if you are on Medicare or Medicaid. Medicare or Medicaid certainly will not pay for your stay in the Hilton. Since many hospital earnings come primarily from these two sources, why can’t the health care professionals have a say in the care of the patients? Why do we have to bend over backward because the administration says so? Between all of the taxes paid from our paychecks, we probably send the government enough money to pay for that hospital visit. Why do we have to heed to the complaints of the people who didn’t get what they wanted out of their hospital stay?
Not all patients are like this. Many are very gracious about the care and information that we give them. But it is the few worm infested apples of the bunch who take the time to send in those surveys who ruin it for everyone. I don’t know if some people think that there is no need to send it in if you had exceptional care. It seems it is only the ones who had a “problem.” Is that really reflective of the care we provide as professionals? We are admonished like school children if we are not doing everything possible to ensure the stay in the hospital is not like the stay in the Hilton.
Some examples of things that will never be like the Hilton in the hospital:
* Your food will never taste like it does at the hotel. In fact, it won’t even taste like the food at home, let alone McDonald’s. But because of the food you eat in those places, you are in here with a blood sugar of 600. Please don’t be upset with us when your food tastes like cardboard. We are trying to make you better, and that food will most likely have very little sugar and salt. Sorry. And we will probably see you again in a few weeks because you didn’t follow the instructions that we left with you at discharge on your diet or medications.
* You will get woken up at all hours of the day and night. We do not have a wake up service. We need to monitor your vitals and all sorts of things, even at night. Unlike in the hotel, you are not here for rest and relaxation. You are here to get healthy, and if that means waking you up in the middle of the night because your heart rate suddenly dropped to 30, then we will do so. Sorry.
* You can call for room service in the hotel. They are happy to bring you whatever you want whenever they can. Shoot, you even tip them for their services. At the hospital, we cannot accept tips, even though we may bring you many things you want throughout your stay. But just because you want something, doesn’t mean you can have it. For instance, the person above with the cardboard tasting food, please don’t have your family bring you a bucket of chicken in. It will only make your stay that much longer because we will not be able to get your blood sugar under control.
* In the hospital, all rooms are pretty much created equal. [Unless you are in the OB ward, but that is different.] Please don’t complain about the furniture or comfort of the bed. In the hotel, you can have a nice, soft, pillowed mattress. But in the hospital, those types of things are difficult to clean and breed germs that we may even be unaware of. Yes, we understand that it is not like sleeping in your bed at home or at the hotel. There is nothing that we can do about that. Really.
Well, those are just a few things that I can think of anyhow. All I want is to take care of my patients in a safe environment. I cannot help it if the MD orders something not to the patient’s liking. Like actually getting out of the bed and sitting in the chair for a few minutes a day. Or being on a fluid restriction because your kidneys cannot handle it, and the extra fluid will send you into pulmonary edema, but every drop of fluid you can get your hands on you suck down in a blink. Gone are the days of patient responsibility. It has become an all hospital responsibility to ensure that everything is done to the patient’s satisfaction, regardless of outcome.
28 September 2007
things they don't teach you in nursing school...
Going against the pack mentality of some of the more experienced nurses. Sure, in school, we are taught to embrace change and learn all kinds of new things that may or may not be beneficial to the area in which you finally work. Just good luck in getting some of the more experienced nurses to care. Many times, it is very hard to get them to see beyond the way things are always done. It is a slippery slope to fall into; sometimes you are even pushed in order to conform and not upset the balance that is established.
How to deal with difficult families. Only experience gives you this inside trick. Sure could have used it lately too. It is difficult to get frustrated at your new job and then have that compounded by families who are now empowered with a plethora of information from the internet or keen eavesdropping skills. It is also as if the families can smell new meat and feast accordingly.
Ways to incorporate your newly learned skills and knowledge into your job. You are new and so people tend to not take you seriously. Often times, things you say or do will be discounted because, well, you are new. You have no experience. You need to learn the “real world” of nursing, or so they say. Also, this is frustrating because you need to develop your own skills along the way… and it is also used to get you to conform to the “old, better way” of doing things. May as well hang the sign that says “Change not welcome here” above the entrance on some days. If you are lucky, you can work in a progressive environment that is willing to accept that a new grad may actually know something :) In some ways, I am lucky to have a portion of that environment. I know that administration (believe it or not) is working to make our lives as nurses better, it will just take awhile to for it to be accepted.
Dealing with the stress of the job. Sure, you learn to cope and manage in school and how to deal with that stress. Often times, those same coping skills do not assimilate well into the job. When working with no new people, it is difficult to get them to remember what it actually feels like to be a new graduate. Things were done much differently back then, weren’t they? But they forget what it is like to be unsure of yourself, and building your confidence in your new job can take a good amount of time. Are your co-workers enablers or disablers? Will they give you a good environment to encourage your skills and build that confidence or will they disable you completely, make you feel burned out within 6 months because you are never able to make that step forward? Will you go home and cry because you feel that it is just too difficult to manage some days? Maybe you might even cry on the job. Is that a sign of weakness or just simply poor coping skills. Maybe it is just learning when to take a step back for a moment to gather composure without interfering eyes that refuse to encourage you or give you advice on what to do. You may need to figure it out on your own, and it shouldn’t be that way.
No situation is perfect. In school, you deal with textbook situations. More times than not, you will be confronted with cases [patients] who are not textbook. You have to rely on the experience of others to guide you through, and this can be difficult in so many ways. Not only for you as the new nurse, but also as you the former student not long out of school. You want to rely on the textbook, but it can fail you. It gives you the guidelines and the basics in which to follow, and then you need to adapt those guidelines to each patient. Much like how you adapt your care plans, but in the real hands on setting. If you aren’t able to rely on your co-workers to assist you through these situations, you can remain completely lost. Someone you work with is a good mentor. Seeking that person out can be a long process, and I hope that you find that one person.
Utilizing resources. As a new grad, you are a blank slate. Of course you learned a lot in school. You learned exactly what you need to learn in order to pass boards. You learned a lot in clinical that gives you some hands on experience. But what they don’t teach you, or really can’t teach you, is how to use the resources at your new job. The instructors don’t know where you will go once you leave their nest. You have to actually sit back and watch others, see where they go to find answers. And if in doubt, you can always pull out the policy and procedure manual. It is full of answers specific to your facility.
I am sure there are more…
How to deal with difficult families. Only experience gives you this inside trick. Sure could have used it lately too. It is difficult to get frustrated at your new job and then have that compounded by families who are now empowered with a plethora of information from the internet or keen eavesdropping skills. It is also as if the families can smell new meat and feast accordingly.
Ways to incorporate your newly learned skills and knowledge into your job. You are new and so people tend to not take you seriously. Often times, things you say or do will be discounted because, well, you are new. You have no experience. You need to learn the “real world” of nursing, or so they say. Also, this is frustrating because you need to develop your own skills along the way… and it is also used to get you to conform to the “old, better way” of doing things. May as well hang the sign that says “Change not welcome here” above the entrance on some days. If you are lucky, you can work in a progressive environment that is willing to accept that a new grad may actually know something :) In some ways, I am lucky to have a portion of that environment. I know that administration (believe it or not) is working to make our lives as nurses better, it will just take awhile to for it to be accepted.
Dealing with the stress of the job. Sure, you learn to cope and manage in school and how to deal with that stress. Often times, those same coping skills do not assimilate well into the job. When working with no new people, it is difficult to get them to remember what it actually feels like to be a new graduate. Things were done much differently back then, weren’t they? But they forget what it is like to be unsure of yourself, and building your confidence in your new job can take a good amount of time. Are your co-workers enablers or disablers? Will they give you a good environment to encourage your skills and build that confidence or will they disable you completely, make you feel burned out within 6 months because you are never able to make that step forward? Will you go home and cry because you feel that it is just too difficult to manage some days? Maybe you might even cry on the job. Is that a sign of weakness or just simply poor coping skills. Maybe it is just learning when to take a step back for a moment to gather composure without interfering eyes that refuse to encourage you or give you advice on what to do. You may need to figure it out on your own, and it shouldn’t be that way.
No situation is perfect. In school, you deal with textbook situations. More times than not, you will be confronted with cases [patients] who are not textbook. You have to rely on the experience of others to guide you through, and this can be difficult in so many ways. Not only for you as the new nurse, but also as you the former student not long out of school. You want to rely on the textbook, but it can fail you. It gives you the guidelines and the basics in which to follow, and then you need to adapt those guidelines to each patient. Much like how you adapt your care plans, but in the real hands on setting. If you aren’t able to rely on your co-workers to assist you through these situations, you can remain completely lost. Someone you work with is a good mentor. Seeking that person out can be a long process, and I hope that you find that one person.
Utilizing resources. As a new grad, you are a blank slate. Of course you learned a lot in school. You learned exactly what you need to learn in order to pass boards. You learned a lot in clinical that gives you some hands on experience. But what they don’t teach you, or really can’t teach you, is how to use the resources at your new job. The instructors don’t know where you will go once you leave their nest. You have to actually sit back and watch others, see where they go to find answers. And if in doubt, you can always pull out the policy and procedure manual. It is full of answers specific to your facility.
I am sure there are more…
19 September 2007
alert and oriented guidelines
There have been a lot of posts lately weighing in on patient satisfaction surveys. I agree in the fact that it seems we as nurses are treated more like room service than well, nurses. I believe in participating in your own care if you are able. So you get the survey and are asked if the nurses were helpful or attended to your needs. You may score them low because they didn’t let you go outside to smoke or bring you something to eat in the middle of the night knowing that there isn’t any food on the floor other than graham crackers or unsalted saltines or because you simply cannot eat anything right now. You may even choose to score them low because when you rang your call bell your nurses were in another room cleaning up an incontinent episode, and they didn’t get you in your allotted ‘me now want something’ time. So here are a few guidelines for alert and oriented patients in the hospitals. Please abide by them carefully.
- Assuming that you do not have some debilitating injury, you were able to do many things for yourself at home. We encourage you to continue doing them here at the hospital as well. Please feel free to bathe or wash up anytime you feel like. We will be happy to bring you the supplies you need. Want to walk down the hall? Go for it. Docs love to see ambulating patients. So do nurses, for it means you will be going home soon.
- Please don’t use the call bell for trivial matters. While you are spending time lying around in the bed, think of things you will need as the day goes on. That way when the nurse makes rounds, you can tell her what you need so she can get it at one time instead of being interrupted all day long to get you a drink or ice or whatever else it is that you need. Unfortunately, there are other patients on the floor too that need to feel just as special as you do, only they aren’t able to control many of their own body functions, including their own minds. And then when you do ring, we know that you really do need something that is important and will attend to it as soon as possible.
- Bored? Need something to read? We have a ton of patient education materials at the nurse’s station. You could always ask for materials about your diagnosis to read in your downtime. Also, while you are reading and learning about your illness, you could write down questions to ask the doctor when he makes rounds. This saves a lot of time at discharge.
- Speaking of discharges. So the doc said he is going to send you home today. Great! Now remember that we cannot just unhook all that tubing and iv’s and stuff before we get the definite orders for you to leave. You have to remember that typing up discharges can take a good amount of time depending on what medications you were on and what the doc has ordered for you at home. Instead of standing at your door giving us the evil eye because you have been waiting for an hour, pack up your stuff and wait patiently. Oh and remember that patient education? We need to go over it again, so if you had been reading the information from when we gave it to you earlier, whether you asked for it or not, it could make the discharge time go by much faster.
- Don’t be a complainer or a whiner. As a patient, you have a reputation with nursing staff. Those patients who fall into this category are the ones that the nurses dread going to see. Why? Because we are doing our job as required by the hospital, by the state licensing board, by your medical diagnosis and all you ever do is find something wrong or something that just isn’t quite right according to your personal wants. You have to remember that being in the hospital isn’t about what you want, it is about what you need. And often, you need to rest so that you can heal.
- When we are firm with you, don’t take it as that we are being hateful or just mean. We are being firm because you aren’t paying attention to us. Remember when we told you not to mess with your IV? Well you didn’t listen and now the site is leaking, and so we have to stick you yet again, causing pain. We aren’t being mean. We don’t like to cause pain. We tried to warn you. Now see the point about complainers and whiners.
So the next time you get that survey in the mail, put it all in perspective. As stated above, it isn’t about your wants in the hospital, it is about your needs. Did you have everything you needed? If you did, then score it high. Were the nurses caring? If we were firm with you, was it for your own good? We also understand that not everyone has a great bedside manner, so you have to judge how you acted and how the nurses acted in response to that. If they took care of your needs no matter how ugly you acted, then score them high. Did the nurses answer your call bell in a timely manner? Ask yourself how many times you hit the call bell and what exactly were the things you needed? And then answer this question, did the nurses respond and bring you what you need? If so, score it appropriately. Oh and if you cannot remember the names of all of the nurses who took care of you, don’t single out one person who may have only had you for one shift. We all share in your care, so we all should be rewarded accordingly. This includes not writing down only the name of the discharge nurse because she was the last one you talked to, even if it was me.
Now, starting with that next admission, should you ever be admitted as an alert and oriented patient, remember these couple of guidelines. Your experience is likely to be much improved. :)
I am sure there a few more I forgot to add..
- Assuming that you do not have some debilitating injury, you were able to do many things for yourself at home. We encourage you to continue doing them here at the hospital as well. Please feel free to bathe or wash up anytime you feel like. We will be happy to bring you the supplies you need. Want to walk down the hall? Go for it. Docs love to see ambulating patients. So do nurses, for it means you will be going home soon.
- Please don’t use the call bell for trivial matters. While you are spending time lying around in the bed, think of things you will need as the day goes on. That way when the nurse makes rounds, you can tell her what you need so she can get it at one time instead of being interrupted all day long to get you a drink or ice or whatever else it is that you need. Unfortunately, there are other patients on the floor too that need to feel just as special as you do, only they aren’t able to control many of their own body functions, including their own minds. And then when you do ring, we know that you really do need something that is important and will attend to it as soon as possible.
- Bored? Need something to read? We have a ton of patient education materials at the nurse’s station. You could always ask for materials about your diagnosis to read in your downtime. Also, while you are reading and learning about your illness, you could write down questions to ask the doctor when he makes rounds. This saves a lot of time at discharge.
- Speaking of discharges. So the doc said he is going to send you home today. Great! Now remember that we cannot just unhook all that tubing and iv’s and stuff before we get the definite orders for you to leave. You have to remember that typing up discharges can take a good amount of time depending on what medications you were on and what the doc has ordered for you at home. Instead of standing at your door giving us the evil eye because you have been waiting for an hour, pack up your stuff and wait patiently. Oh and remember that patient education? We need to go over it again, so if you had been reading the information from when we gave it to you earlier, whether you asked for it or not, it could make the discharge time go by much faster.
- Don’t be a complainer or a whiner. As a patient, you have a reputation with nursing staff. Those patients who fall into this category are the ones that the nurses dread going to see. Why? Because we are doing our job as required by the hospital, by the state licensing board, by your medical diagnosis and all you ever do is find something wrong or something that just isn’t quite right according to your personal wants. You have to remember that being in the hospital isn’t about what you want, it is about what you need. And often, you need to rest so that you can heal.
- When we are firm with you, don’t take it as that we are being hateful or just mean. We are being firm because you aren’t paying attention to us. Remember when we told you not to mess with your IV? Well you didn’t listen and now the site is leaking, and so we have to stick you yet again, causing pain. We aren’t being mean. We don’t like to cause pain. We tried to warn you. Now see the point about complainers and whiners.
So the next time you get that survey in the mail, put it all in perspective. As stated above, it isn’t about your wants in the hospital, it is about your needs. Did you have everything you needed? If you did, then score it high. Were the nurses caring? If we were firm with you, was it for your own good? We also understand that not everyone has a great bedside manner, so you have to judge how you acted and how the nurses acted in response to that. If they took care of your needs no matter how ugly you acted, then score them high. Did the nurses answer your call bell in a timely manner? Ask yourself how many times you hit the call bell and what exactly were the things you needed? And then answer this question, did the nurses respond and bring you what you need? If so, score it appropriately. Oh and if you cannot remember the names of all of the nurses who took care of you, don’t single out one person who may have only had you for one shift. We all share in your care, so we all should be rewarded accordingly. This includes not writing down only the name of the discharge nurse because she was the last one you talked to, even if it was me.
Now, starting with that next admission, should you ever be admitted as an alert and oriented patient, remember these couple of guidelines. Your experience is likely to be much improved. :)
I am sure there a few more I forgot to add..
17 September 2007
Sick :(
Left work early last night (our census was down) but have yet to hit the sack. Believe me, I tried to sleep in the bed, tried to sleep in the chair in front of the tv, but alas, no sleep. You see, I got the sniffles. Hell of a cold coming on and I am miserable. Thankfully, I am not on the schedule for tomorrow... well today, now. Go to wally world at 3 am to get some medicine. Waiting for it to work. Had to wait to take it because I took some medicine that I had here at home, that didn't work, and had to wait for the time to be up to take something else. So here I sit, bored, tired, miserable, mouth breathing, lips chapped, just in a plain sorry state. All I want to do is lay down but as soon as I do, congestion city. I hate a snotty nose more than anything in the world almost. But might as well stay up now and get the kiddos up for school. Then sleep it off hopefully during the day. If I feel this horrible tomorrow night, guess I will have to use some of my sick time for Tues. No way would I want a nurse coming into my room as bad as I am sure that I look at this moment. No way. Sigh.
16 September 2007
It was a slow one...
So last night was pretty uneventful as far as the evening shift goes.
So I come back to the floor from eating dinner, and the na who is assigned the other half of the floor tells me that she emptied the bsc for one of my patients. She said that she did a hemoccult because the stool was visually quite bloody before she realized that the pt was in for a lower GIB. She laughs at herself.. but I ask her.. well was it positive?? :)
One of my pts was transferred to hospice care before coming out from the unit as a transfer. This pt was quite young by our standards (age < 50). End stage cardiac failure. EF less than 10%. Respirations cyclic with 20-30 sec periods of apnea. All we can do is make the pt comfortable. It is sad though that the family wasn't quite ready to accept the prognosis, and it seemed that they were quite unsure about the care hospice provides. I did a good bit of educating with the family on heart failure. Not a lot on hospice because I don't know much about their program other than the comfort care and support that they provide to the pt, families and loved ones coping with a terminal prognosis. I wish it were easier to tell a family that their loved one was certainly going to die. I know that the doctors have discussed it with them at length, and they know what is going to happen, but it seems that they are starved for information about what is happening. The disease process, how much time does the pt have? things like that. How can I give definitive answers? I know that is what they are looking for, but no one has that answer. The pt could live a couple of days to a couple of months? I had no answers. All I could tell them about was heart failure and what it does to the body. I did the best I could to provide support, veracity, and caring to this family. It's all I could do.
Other than that.. nothing else really happened all shift. All of my patients lived for those 8 hours :) Always a good thing! Had some stable pts and a couple of really sickly ones. One pt has a creatinine of 11. No dialysis access because 2 days ago, coags were non-existent. Now, after multiple vit k injections, the inr is down to 3.5 but still too high to risk catheter placement. I am afraid though that if it isn't placed soon, the pt is going to take a turn for the worse. Mostly because the pt has stated how much better they have been feeling and has been more alert than about a week or so ago. They always seem to be getting better before it turns. And worse is when the family notices and gets false hope. I try to remind the family that even though the pt seems to feel better, the pt is still very ill. All I can do... after all, I don't predict the future.
Now here is crossing fingers that tonight goes much the same.... uneventful. But we tend to have a lot of admissions on Sunday, usually after church. Crossing fingers :)
So I come back to the floor from eating dinner, and the na who is assigned the other half of the floor tells me that she emptied the bsc for one of my patients. She said that she did a hemoccult because the stool was visually quite bloody before she realized that the pt was in for a lower GIB. She laughs at herself.. but I ask her.. well was it positive?? :)
One of my pts was transferred to hospice care before coming out from the unit as a transfer. This pt was quite young by our standards (age < 50). End stage cardiac failure. EF less than 10%. Respirations cyclic with 20-30 sec periods of apnea. All we can do is make the pt comfortable. It is sad though that the family wasn't quite ready to accept the prognosis, and it seemed that they were quite unsure about the care hospice provides. I did a good bit of educating with the family on heart failure. Not a lot on hospice because I don't know much about their program other than the comfort care and support that they provide to the pt, families and loved ones coping with a terminal prognosis. I wish it were easier to tell a family that their loved one was certainly going to die. I know that the doctors have discussed it with them at length, and they know what is going to happen, but it seems that they are starved for information about what is happening. The disease process, how much time does the pt have? things like that. How can I give definitive answers? I know that is what they are looking for, but no one has that answer. The pt could live a couple of days to a couple of months? I had no answers. All I could tell them about was heart failure and what it does to the body. I did the best I could to provide support, veracity, and caring to this family. It's all I could do.
Other than that.. nothing else really happened all shift. All of my patients lived for those 8 hours :) Always a good thing! Had some stable pts and a couple of really sickly ones. One pt has a creatinine of 11. No dialysis access because 2 days ago, coags were non-existent. Now, after multiple vit k injections, the inr is down to 3.5 but still too high to risk catheter placement. I am afraid though that if it isn't placed soon, the pt is going to take a turn for the worse. Mostly because the pt has stated how much better they have been feeling and has been more alert than about a week or so ago. They always seem to be getting better before it turns. And worse is when the family notices and gets false hope. I try to remind the family that even though the pt seems to feel better, the pt is still very ill. All I can do... after all, I don't predict the future.
Now here is crossing fingers that tonight goes much the same.... uneventful. But we tend to have a lot of admissions on Sunday, usually after church. Crossing fingers :)
12 September 2007
thinking out loud
there were a couple of things i was worried about once i graduated and passed boards.
first thing was accepting the position in the unit where i currently work and how the people there would treat me and see me in this 'new' role.
having worked as an extern on the floor for awhile and then in the icu for even longer (which i love the icu, no secret there), i saw things and took note to things that happened between people, how nurses were, and such. i didn't forget these things. and i TRY my best to have kept my self promise to never do these things. but for me, the treatment hasn't always been the best. for those to whom i was basically an equal for a good amount of time, it seems that they have a hard time accepting me in the role of rn. for some reason, they expect me to do all of my job and some of theirs too. i don't get it. when i clock in, i do my job. i do what it is expected of me. why can't these people do their job? maybe it is just the dayshift people.. i don't know? one thing i do know is that there is so much more teamwork on nights. period. days.. not so much. people are so afraid they might have to do more than someone else. it's crazy. is it so hard to do your job? as a dayshift nurse, i have a hundred meds to pass out at 9 am, along with doing assessments and hopefully finding time to chart. is it necessary for me to also feed a patient or change a bed while you sit on your ass at the nurse's station, talking? it's so frustrating. mostly because patient care comes first for me. i wish i had the time to sit down and chit chat. and then if i ask you to please help.. don't give me the evil eye. sure, i did your job for almost 2 years, and yes, i can still do it, but unfortunately at this moment you cannot do my job. and it is now my job to make sure you do your job. if you did your job, i wouldn't have to ask you to do it.
which leads me to the other problem. three months in and the burn out is beginning. many, many days i so wish i would have just taken the nights position. people on nightshift are just a different breed of people. they are more laid back. you can actually joke with them without them taking anything personal. life goes on. sure you may get frustrated and mad at times, but you are still a team. period. on days, it is sink or swim. sometimes i feel as though i just tread water all day long. just the other day, have to work 12 hours. come 3 pm, we have 3 nurses for 20 patients. i am told that in addition to my 5 existing patients, one who will be arriving any minute from the ed, and potentially 3 discharges in that group, that i need to pick up 2 more patients, one of which is a potential discharge. md's haven't yet made rounds. i told the charge nurse that i 'can't' do 7 patients. note i said can't, not won't. i have 3 months experience, but she thinks that i can take care of all of this shit. are any of the dc orders done? hell no. when another nurse stands up for me, the charge nurse states that i should be able to take care of all of these patients. then she promptly runs into the manager's office to "tell on me." in the meantime, i get report on these 2 extra patients, only to find out a few minutes later, the manager suddenly decides she will come out and be charge for the next 4 hours, freeing up the oncoming charge nurse to take a group. leaving charge nurse seems pissed, tells me i don't have to take the new patients, and goes home. essentially, i finish the 3 discharges as timely as i could [meaning waiting for md rounds and orders] all the while with a family member staring at me, giving me their own version of the evil eye for 2 hours! as if i can control when the md makes rounds, writes orders, and then prioritizing the discharges and other stuff i have to do to make sure my patients get safe care. staring at me does not make me work faster. it just makes me mad. to top that off, the patient storms down the hall, and yells at me for not getting that dc done fast enough. oops, there went the press-ganey score for that patient. hope the manager doesn't call that one tomorrow. in all, we completed 9 discharges for the floor and 5 admissions in those 4 hours of hell. but damn, it's days like that that really make me regret the fact that i didn't shop around other hospitals for a job. i am not saying that it is any better anywhere else, but i didn't even look, and that makes me sad inside.
is it too soon to need a vacation already? well, i try not to take the job home with me. and not all days are like this, but many days are. unfortunately, in a tele unit, we have a high turnover of patients. that's just standard. 99% of chest pains are admitted, whether it is real chest pain or not. many are sent home the next day with negative work ups and negative rhythm changes. but once those rooms are empty, the er typically has another to fill its spot. and this time of year is supposed to be our 'lull' time. hasn't happened this summer. we have been rocking and rolling all summer long. makes for good paychecks and ot opportunities. doesn't help with the day to day doldrums though.
on that note, i am off to bed so that i can do it all over again tomorrow. wonder who i can make mad? oh and my biggest gripe of all... taking care out of our hands and turning the hospitals into hotels. all to look good on a survey which asks questions about matters completely out of our control. can i control how old the furniture in the room is? nope. can i control how the food tastes? nope. can i control the fact that the walls aren't thick enough to block out the noise of the confused patient next door who hollers all night long because they don't know any better? nope. that, however, is a different topic for a different time.
first thing was accepting the position in the unit where i currently work and how the people there would treat me and see me in this 'new' role.
having worked as an extern on the floor for awhile and then in the icu for even longer (which i love the icu, no secret there), i saw things and took note to things that happened between people, how nurses were, and such. i didn't forget these things. and i TRY my best to have kept my self promise to never do these things. but for me, the treatment hasn't always been the best. for those to whom i was basically an equal for a good amount of time, it seems that they have a hard time accepting me in the role of rn. for some reason, they expect me to do all of my job and some of theirs too. i don't get it. when i clock in, i do my job. i do what it is expected of me. why can't these people do their job? maybe it is just the dayshift people.. i don't know? one thing i do know is that there is so much more teamwork on nights. period. days.. not so much. people are so afraid they might have to do more than someone else. it's crazy. is it so hard to do your job? as a dayshift nurse, i have a hundred meds to pass out at 9 am, along with doing assessments and hopefully finding time to chart. is it necessary for me to also feed a patient or change a bed while you sit on your ass at the nurse's station, talking? it's so frustrating. mostly because patient care comes first for me. i wish i had the time to sit down and chit chat. and then if i ask you to please help.. don't give me the evil eye. sure, i did your job for almost 2 years, and yes, i can still do it, but unfortunately at this moment you cannot do my job. and it is now my job to make sure you do your job. if you did your job, i wouldn't have to ask you to do it.
which leads me to the other problem. three months in and the burn out is beginning. many, many days i so wish i would have just taken the nights position. people on nightshift are just a different breed of people. they are more laid back. you can actually joke with them without them taking anything personal. life goes on. sure you may get frustrated and mad at times, but you are still a team. period. on days, it is sink or swim. sometimes i feel as though i just tread water all day long. just the other day, have to work 12 hours. come 3 pm, we have 3 nurses for 20 patients. i am told that in addition to my 5 existing patients, one who will be arriving any minute from the ed, and potentially 3 discharges in that group, that i need to pick up 2 more patients, one of which is a potential discharge. md's haven't yet made rounds. i told the charge nurse that i 'can't' do 7 patients. note i said can't, not won't. i have 3 months experience, but she thinks that i can take care of all of this shit. are any of the dc orders done? hell no. when another nurse stands up for me, the charge nurse states that i should be able to take care of all of these patients. then she promptly runs into the manager's office to "tell on me." in the meantime, i get report on these 2 extra patients, only to find out a few minutes later, the manager suddenly decides she will come out and be charge for the next 4 hours, freeing up the oncoming charge nurse to take a group. leaving charge nurse seems pissed, tells me i don't have to take the new patients, and goes home. essentially, i finish the 3 discharges as timely as i could [meaning waiting for md rounds and orders] all the while with a family member staring at me, giving me their own version of the evil eye for 2 hours! as if i can control when the md makes rounds, writes orders, and then prioritizing the discharges and other stuff i have to do to make sure my patients get safe care. staring at me does not make me work faster. it just makes me mad. to top that off, the patient storms down the hall, and yells at me for not getting that dc done fast enough. oops, there went the press-ganey score for that patient. hope the manager doesn't call that one tomorrow. in all, we completed 9 discharges for the floor and 5 admissions in those 4 hours of hell. but damn, it's days like that that really make me regret the fact that i didn't shop around other hospitals for a job. i am not saying that it is any better anywhere else, but i didn't even look, and that makes me sad inside.
is it too soon to need a vacation already? well, i try not to take the job home with me. and not all days are like this, but many days are. unfortunately, in a tele unit, we have a high turnover of patients. that's just standard. 99% of chest pains are admitted, whether it is real chest pain or not. many are sent home the next day with negative work ups and negative rhythm changes. but once those rooms are empty, the er typically has another to fill its spot. and this time of year is supposed to be our 'lull' time. hasn't happened this summer. we have been rocking and rolling all summer long. makes for good paychecks and ot opportunities. doesn't help with the day to day doldrums though.
on that note, i am off to bed so that i can do it all over again tomorrow. wonder who i can make mad? oh and my biggest gripe of all... taking care out of our hands and turning the hospitals into hotels. all to look good on a survey which asks questions about matters completely out of our control. can i control how old the furniture in the room is? nope. can i control how the food tastes? nope. can i control the fact that the walls aren't thick enough to block out the noise of the confused patient next door who hollers all night long because they don't know any better? nope. that, however, is a different topic for a different time.
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