Just a warning. While I have many friends who are doctors and nurses, most of this should not apply to you. But know that the bad apples in your respective professions make it hard to be sympathetic to those who complain about how hard your job truly is. This scenario played out yesterday with one of the bad apple nurses.
A bit of background on me. I am on very few medications; Vitamin D, Folic Acid, Vitamin B6 (in the event that I am nauseated), and Zantac for the days when my stomach decides to share duties with my esophagus. That's all. Pretty simple. I also love Zantac. Moving on...
All of the nurses I have had up to yesterday have been diligent about reading my drug order. They know that the Vitamin B is something they have to offer, but I won't accept it most of the time since I am not usually nauseated. They also know why my dosage of Vitamin D is so high (because my neurologist said so). All of this information is contained within my fancy chart. A chart that I assume is there so that at shift changes it can be read to ensure a nice seamless continuity of my care.
Enter my day nurse yesterday. I have been on this unit going on 4 weeks and have never seen her on the unit. Pretty typical considering that the nurses rotate around to other units or are on schedules that have them on vacation or work a wonky schedule for whatever reason. So, having never seen her, I expect the same high level care as with all of the other nurses who come and go.
She went through the typical exchange that I have with my nurses in the morning about my vitamin consumption. But this time she asked why I am taking so much Vitamin D and tried to insist that I take the Vitamin B regardless of the lack of nausea. She seemed quite put out that I was turning down the Vitamin B. To which I replied that I understood that it was noted in my chart that the Vitamin B is as needed. Her reply put me into astonished silence. She actually said, "I don't have time to read your chart." She went about her duties, taking my vitals, fetal monitoring and confirming that I have had no changes overnight. At the end she said if I needed anything to call her and she would be back in 20 minutes, to take me off the monitor. So 15 minutes later (typical strip time is 20 minutes) she came back and looked at my strip and asked if I was having contractions or cramping. I did admittedly move to grab my iPad so I had something to do for the 20 minutes, which caused a bit of a blip on the contraction section of the strip. Again, astonished that she can't tell the difference between a contraction and maternal movement I said no. Coupled with my "you're a complete moron and if I have an issue today I'll be walking down to the nurse's station to find someone competent" look. AKA my "well duh" look. I have moved AND sneezed while on the monitor prior to this and have never been asked about it before. From what I understand (having asked one of my regular nurses) a contraction looks like a big round wave. Movement or sneezing is a sharp quick mountain looking wave. These also happen when the monitor bits are repositioned when the baby decides to roll over. Needless to say my confidence in her was completely gone.
Now it may look like I don't understand or respect a day in the life of a nurse. But I actually do. I had to go through a hospital practicum on my road to becoming an EMT. I had to work closely and communicate thoroughly with all of the nurses I came in contact with during my career. So I know how busy their schedules are. How crazy various units can be. But I have never seen such an obvious lack of respect for the discipline. I cringe to think of the errors that could be made by this nurse for not having enough time to pay attention to something as basic as the Four Rights of Medication Administration. Luckily I'm not on anything stronger than a few vitamins and a wonderful antacid. But it made me question my level of care, which is one thing that I shouldn't have to do.
The bottom line: If you are working in a industry where if you make a mistake people can die, read the information you are provided to mitigate that risk. If you don't have time to read said information then make time, go home or make a leap into a career that has nothing to do with people. Or reading.
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