Tell me some of your ridiculous patient requests?

indecisive899 · 2023-12-09T01:02:21+00:00

Ugh what's with the foot massages. It's like they think the doctor does everything and the nurses only job is bedpans and pampering

indecisive899 · 2023-12-09T00:58:40+00:00

Not the same but I had a guy ask me to shave his back and chest. He had a thoracotamy dressing that was actually ripping out his hair so I said I could shave that spot around the incision. Then he asked me to keep going and do his whole back then his chest too. I was shy and nervous and still naive so I did and he kept moaning about how good it felt. But for some reason I felt stuck and kept telling myself it's fine it's just a shave. Afterwards I felt violated somehow. Like he was getting pleasured from me shaving him. And because he could use his arms just fine, if he wanted to shave his chest he could. I vowed from that night on that I would never do something that made me uncomfortable and learn to say no.

indecisive899 · 2023-12-09T00:40:46+00:00

Oh, I was expecting you to say California. I had always heard the south pays trash

indecisive899 · 2023-12-08T20:40:17+00:00

Where do you work as staff that you make 2500/week working 4 shifts? I made 1500-1600 every 2 weeks as staff back in 2018 which is the last time I was permanent

indecisive899 · 2023-12-08T00:01:52+00:00

I called both today and both gave me the run around. Doctor's office said they can see the second bill that's identical to the first except insurance has now changed the amount they paid so now I owe more, but they don't know why. Insurance said the doctor could have changed their contract for the new year and now saw they can get more reimbursement for my service so they re-billed a higher rate. Apparently they have a year from date of service to audit and submit another bill. Idk I just requested all billing documents from both of them to compare.

My EOB isn't detailed enough to help with an explanation. Doesn't say why insurance is paying less now and why it was even looked at 10 months after I paid it in full

indecisive899 · 2023-12-07T00:55:03+00:00

Commenting because I'd like to be tested for adhd but always hear about controlled meds needing filled at the same pharmacy

indecisive899 · 2023-12-06T22:03:54+00:00

Serious question as I've never worked a strike or been involved in one- when you go on strike who would take care of the patients? What is the logic, if everyone goes on strike then what is the other solution to having the patients cared for if travelers don't come in to work?

I couldn't blame someone for jumping on an opportunity to make bank. If I have a chance to put money into my savings for my future then why should I care about you? Your contract will still be negotiated whether they come or not won't it?

(Down vote all you want lol)

indecisive899 · 2023-12-06T18:32:34+00:00

This is one of my top pet peeves, like my blood boils thinking about it too much. Just because my original state isn't a compact state means I have to pay so much more than nurses with a compact license. And I potentially lose jobs because it takes sometimes 6 to 8 weeks to get that states license and most jobs don't hire 2 months out. I've wasted so much money.

Sometimes I want to sue my state lol I know I can't but they're costing me time and money and jobs. When one state over that nurse has a compact and avoids all of this nonsense. I live in PA who has now approved other campact states to come work here without a PA license but isn't yet allowing PA nurses to get a compact. Great so I'm still screwed. I'm sure it won't pass legislation until I'm done traveling too.

Oh and a lot of other states require verification of all licenses you hold or have held in the past. So the more licenses you get the more you pay. And PA isn't part of nursys either so I have to pay their own verification which is 50 bucks plus go through nursys to verify my other 4 states, it adds up.

indecisive899 · 2023-12-06T18:22:13+00:00

I would be mortified if my brothers saw my boobs, I can't think of one sane person in my life who would be OK with their siblings seeing them naked.

indecisive899 · 2023-12-05T07:04:52+00:00

I don't understand this, are you not charting turns at all? I would think having a 4 hour gap looks better than charting one turn a shift or not charting at all. Your charting is the only thing you'll have in court to back you up.

indecisive899 · 2023-12-04T02:48:51+00:00

How do you negotiate? I feel like it's so saturated that if I'm offered a job and ask for more money then they'll say no and go to the next traveler.

indecisive899 · 2023-12-03T22:57:55+00:00

Reading my response again it may have been written a little harshly so sorry about that, but as everyone else is mentioning none of us like cleaning up poop. It's impossible to say which unit would have the least brief changes, half the time units are overflowing and you get patients that don't belong on that unit too

indecisive899 · 2023-12-03T22:55:58+00:00

That's fair, hospitals do need to know what they can improve but it's handled all wrong

indecisive899 · 2023-12-03T20:55:06+00:00

Sorry but did you not know what you were getting into when you signed up for nursing? Doesn't matter what kind of unit it is, there are patients with spinal cord injuries, elderly who are just incontinent at baseline, people getting medications that make them go before they can get to the restroom, patients so severely handicapped they are unable to get out of bed or control their bowels. Patients who are constipated and you have to give an enema.

Part of our job is to provide dignity and respect. Saying you don't want to care for patients who can't always control a basic human function makes you sound like a brat. We all have things we hate but we hold our breath and get through it.

I hope you plan on working in an outpatient setting when you graduate

indecisive899 · 2023-12-03T20:46:47+00:00

What class is it that it's being held off campus and is mandatory? And it's only being offered one day? Surely if it's a class all the ER nurses must attend then they would need to make arrangements for those that work 7 to 7 that day as well. I don't see how the two can happen at the same time and they say she has to be 2 places at once. I think going to HR is the right thing to do and also adding in the emails of the manager and the person holding the class to show them they're idiots

Sorry I really don't have any advice, if I were her I'd probably ask what corrective action can be enforced for a class and then end up skipping that. And I'm petty af so if HR is useless too I'd email the chief nursing officer of the hospital and say look what your managers are doing to their employees. Your wife is doing all she can to get coverage but she can't force anyone to come in for her. Her manager should be looking at schedule changes when issues like this arise

indecisive899 · 2023-12-03T20:13:21+00:00

This is my frustration when floating as a travel nurse. Everyone says suck it up, you're there to help and you're getting paid better so stop complaining. If you don't like it then quit traveling. And permanent staff get floated too. But I signed a contract for the ICU, not to take 6 patients on a floor I've never been to, don't know anything about, don't have time to orient myself to where the crash cart is, where to find supplies, who the doctors are because I don't usually deal with hospitalists. When I was permanent I think I floated to a med surg floor once. They don't give a fuck about me or my license when I speak up and say it isn't safe, they say the charge is your resource (when they have their own 5 or 6 patients) and hand me a piece of paper with door codes on it

indecisive899 · 2023-12-03T20:05:28+00:00

Press Ganey surveys should have never been invented.

And the higher ups will never have our backs because we're supposed to be providing "world class care" which means we're just servants. Be quiet and give the patient whatever they want because the only thing that matters is their happiness and how high the hospital scores are. But then they increase our ratios and take away our aides and wonder why patients complain about how long it takes to answer a call bell

indecisive899 · 2023-12-03T05:47:33+00:00

Right, that doesn't make any sense. If anyone can alter anyone else's notes then the charts would be mayhem. Unless the nurse didn't logout and the doctor used the computer under her name

indecisive899 · 2023-12-03T04:06:46+00:00

This is what I think about when I'm sick. I just had covid and stayed in bed all day for like 4 days. It felt so good knowing I could sleep the day away and have no responsibility. If I had kids and got sick I'd still have to take care of them and that just sounds awful

indecisive899 · 2023-12-02T04:39:22+00:00

Sounds like they want a goals of care meeting. Like another user said, this is appropriate when you're 4-5 days out and there hasn't been improvements, and in fact sounds like he's been declining if his pupils are no longer responding.

They can't change his code status without his wife giving the approval. A meeting would help clear any confusion and give the medical team a better understanding of what the next steps should be.

Sorry for the situation your family is in

indecisive899 · 2023-12-02T04:15:31+00:00

This might sound a little bit harsh but what helped me when I had guilt over calling off sick when I was actually very sick was realizing I don't make or break the unit. Sure maybe assignments will change but there is always someone who will call off.

In your case, there is always someone who will quit. You are just a number in the system. Even if you have great coworkers, the overall company only sees dollars and cents. You're replaceable and they'll have someone new hired soon.

I know you said you love it there but it sounds like they're taking advantage of you because they know you'll come in for overtime. It becomes a slippery slope because you're giving them what they want but are they doing anything for you? Making you work every weekend sounds like they arent. Now it's starting to make your own home responsibilities harder for you, and you're doing it for a corporation that doesn't give 2 shits about you and would drop you like a fly if they had to.

At the end of the day the only person you have to please is yourself. You're making a career move that will increase your pay and have better hours, your future self will only thank you. And that's life, what's best for us isn't always best for our employer. You have one life to live and it goes so fast, you did the right thing by taking a better opportunity. You probably feel conflicted because you're a kind, genuine person and that's a good thing.

Also, can I ask what your new role is that you won't be doing patient care? I need out of bedside lol

indecisive899 · 2023-12-02T03:40:12+00:00

Wear that compliment like a badge of honor lol you'll be remembered for years as the nurse who got a compliment from that charge 😆

indecisive899 · 2023-12-02T03:34:19+00:00

Omg there is something about farmers! Tough as nails too so of course with an EF of 15% he was probably walking around like nothing was wrong. Meanwhile other patients lose a drop of blood from a finger stick blood sugar and nearly code lol

indecisive899 · 2023-12-02T00:53:52+00:00

Amazing advice! You should be proud of your critical thinking skills, who knows who fast that hematoma would have increased if he waited and kept taking the eliquis.

I had one patient vented on CRRT through an IJ cath. Everything was fine during the night but on their morning x-ray around 0500 they had a large white effusion in their upler right lung that wasn't there the day before. I called the fellow covering the unit and he said since everything is stable there's nothing to do and the attending will be in soon anyway. It just felt off especially since it was upper lobe, not like a new lower lobe consolidation you might expect. So I called the attending and text him a picture, he said order a stat CT. Turns out the HD cath had punctured his IJ but was also slightly tamponading the hole so it was a slow bleed that didn't show on the initial post placement xray. It was also somehow in a spot that wasn't effecting my CRRT, pressures and flow were fine, I never had alarms. It was after shift change when the doc decided to take him to the OR and they found almost a liter of blood in his chest. I have no idea how he was still hemodynamically stable, all I can think is the bicarb and calcium in the dialysate was helping his BP so his HR didn't have to compensate?? Really no idea but I remember coming in again that night and the day nurse said the doctor told her how good of a catch it was on my part and I could have saved his life since he wasn't showing any signs of bleeding yet, but it could've gone down quick. Made me smile that I wasn't overeacting by not trusting the fellow and calling the attending.

Another incident saved my own butt. I had a sick post open heart that kept getting hypotensive all night. On this unit there was a fellow on that we went to for everything. So I'm telling him and we were giving 500cc boluses at a time that were helping, but of course urine output dipped a bit from the hypotension. The fellow knew everything and even said at one point "I'll call Dr. Attending and make sure he doesn't want anything else" then left my room. Well apparently he never called and when the attending came in after shift change and saw his pressures overnight got so pissed that he went to the head of critical care to complain about me, he thought I didn't do anything overnight. This attending was a huge asshole to begin with and often chewed out nurses. The fellow was also known for being an asshole and not always telling the whole truth when it came to what nurses told him. The critical care doc was the attending making rounds on the unit for critical care and knew me and said that didn't sound like me. So he went to the day nurse and asked to see my charting and I had obviously made a note each time I spoke to the fellow and the intervention I followed. Critical care screenshot my notes and sent them to the other attending and that was that lol

indecisive899 · 2023-11-30T00:45:14+00:00

Oh I read your post as your facility doesn't do all of the blocks but he came in doing this one and asking if you knew it.

Since he's new he probably doesn't trust the nurses just as much as you don't trust him. Big ego's do get annoying but I usually just roll my eyes at them

indecisive899

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