Bad Nurses

[trailerparkmedic]

My friend's sister spent almost a month and a half in the ICU and I was there distracting my friend pretty often. Most of the nurses were great (they even threw a party with cake when Sister was about to be discharged (sadly, she crashed that afternoon before leaving)) but some were complete idiots and assholes.

Friend is in nursing school with me. We don't know much, but we know when something is very wrong.

Oral Care

Sister was on a ventilator. Sister was also on chemo and steroids to decrease her immune system. Whenever a patient is on a ventilator it is really important for the nurse to clean out their mouth well every shift to prevent pneumonia and it's extra important to do it on patients who have bad immune systems. Most nurses did it but Friend knew one or two nurses never did it so she called a nurse out on it one day.

Friend: "Are you planning on doing oral care today?"
Nurse: "I always do it! How dare you question me??"
Friend: "Really? Because I've been here during your entire shift the past 3 times you had my sister and you haven't done oral care once."

The nurse did do the oral care (very slowly, glaring at Friend) and Friend talked to the nurse manager the next day.

I Don't Know What Med This Is

Friend was the medical translator for the family. The doctors would talk to her and she'd explain everything to the family. Friend always kept an eye on Sister's meds, because a change in med was usually the first sign that something was changing that she needed to tell the family about. A nurse comes in and hangs a bag of medication that Friend doesn't recognize.

Friend: "Is that a new med?"
Nurse: "I don't know."
Friend: "I mean, did you just get a new order for it?"
Nurse: "I'm not sure, I just saw it in the computer."
Friend: "Well, what is it and why is she getting it?"
Nurse: "It's blahdeblah medication but I don't know why the doctor ordered it."

Friend had to talk to the charge nurse to see what was going on with her sister.

Flipping Out For No Reason

If you don't wash someone's hair for a few days, it gets oily and greasy and icky. It had been a busy few days in the unit so Sister's hair hadn't been washed. This kind of bothered Friend, so Friend got some stuff to do Sister's hair from a nurse who wasn't assigned to Sister, and starting fixing her hair.

Nurse: "What are you doing?!?!?!!!!eleventy!!1111"
Friend: "I'm fixing Sister's hair. I know it's been really busy here the past few days so I thought I'd take care of it."
Nurse: "Are you trying to say I'm taking bad care of her? Why are you doing this? You can't do this sort of thing when she's so sick!!!!!111!!!"

I don't know what was going on in this nurse's life, because she flipped out and was yelling so much several other nurses came over to see what was going on. One of them kinda yanked the crazy nurse away from the room. A few minutes later the charge nurse came over, apologized, and said that another nurse would be taking care of Sister for that shift. It more confused me and my friend than angered us, honestly, and we ended up laughing for like 10 minutes.

Cute Happy Story

When I'm stressed, I like to cook. My friend has pretty strict religious food requirements so I liked to make her dinner. I'm not very good at cooking for one so I usually made enough to share with the nurses. I'd bring Friend the food and when she and her family were done, she'd give it to the nurses to put in their break room. A nurse came in and noticed a pan of lasagna sitting on the table.

Nurse: "Are you the cook who feeds us?"
Me: "I only feed you if you're nice to Friend."
Nurse: "Oohhh, did someone make you mad last weekend? I was here on Sunday and real hungry and hoping you had made us something but no, I got stuck with that nasty cafeteria food. I'm going to request Sister from now on and keep you happy so you keep me fed."

[Akasa]

You and I both have had our share of bad nurses recently.

[Sapphire Silk]

I had the same problem with oral care when my dad was in ICU after his open heart surgery. He was still vented, and I could see the secretions building up. So I offered to do it myself. I thought I was being nice about it, I said, "Do you mind if I do my Dad's oral care while I'm here?" I was happy to do it, quite frankly, it made me feel better to be doing something. Being in a hospital and not doing work just doesn't sit well with me.

Cue massive glare, but she nodded yes.

That was the only oral care dad got while still vented

I got a similar reaction when I offered to teach Dad Active Range of Motion Exercises (ROM). Bed bound patients need to move to prevent bed sores and blood clots. So I showed Dad what to do, and had him repeat the motions back to me. He did them very well.

Cue massive glare.

I don't get it. I was doing their work for them, and I never once hinted he wasn't getting good care (even though he wasn't getting the care I thought he should get).

Then there was the attitude my mother got from the surgeon and the staff when I brought her on her only visit when Dad was in the hospital (she did not come the day of the surgery, and she only visited him once in ICU). That was what broke the camel's back and got me really angry.

I made a point of letting them all know that my mother was frail, had nerve damage in one leg and has trouble both walking and sitting, and really couldn't tolerate the drive into the city or the uncomfortable hospital chairs for extended lengths of time.

Cue abashed and shamed looks.

---

The ICU nurse overreacted to your washing the hair, though I can sorta see her concern. You have to be careful not to overstimulate ICU patients; they often don't tolerate it well.

But her reaction wasn't any better . . . in fact it was worse. Glad they moved her out.

[dbuzman]

I don't get it. I was doing their work for them, and I never once hinted he wasn't getting good care (even though he wasn't getting the care I thought he should get).

They KNOW they are neglecting their duties and even though you didn't say so the fact that you are doing their job makes that clear. So instead of doing their job they just act mad at you to try and hide their guilt.

[katie kaboom]

Hubby and I had a similar experience a couple years ago when my MIL was in the hospital. She was there for about 3 weeks, and when my husband and I would visit her we would do more to take care of her than the nurses could ever be bothered to do.

I remember one day my MIL said her feet were cold, and she wanted to put on a pair of socks. So I looked at the nurse who was supposed to be taking care of her, and the woman was trying to tell me MIL had socks on. I had to pull the covers off of MIL to show the idiot nurse that she did not have socks and could we please get her a pair? We didn't get those socks until I gave her nurse a dirty look, and FINALLY the woman did her job.

But that's not the worst part...

My MIL kep trying to get out of bed when she wasn't supposed to. So they assigned a nurse to sit by her bedside 24/7 so if she needed anything she wouldn't be able to get up, she'd have to ask the nurse for help. Well hubby and I went in one morning to see MIL and we walked into her room and her bed was empty. We had to track down a nurse to find out where my MIL was. Turns out she had been taken for x-rays because she tried to get out of bed earlier that morning and fell. Now thank god she wasn't hurt, but why did she fall getting out of bed? Because the nurse that was supposed to be watching her was busy texting/talking on his cell phone and failed to notice her getting out of bed.

My SIL is a nurse at a different hospital than my MIL was in. When she found out about this she went postal and had the nurse that was supposed to be watching MIL assigned to another patient instead. MY SIL is 100% Brooklyn Italian. You do not want to mess with her.

[Sapphire Silk]

It is absolutely inexcusable to have a cellphone when you are working in patient care areas. In the break room is one thing. At the nurses station or in patient rooms is quite another.

Many hospitals are putting policies forbidding staff from having cell phones in the facility specifically because of incidents like this.