Nurses Help

[acatalina]

This was a long week.
My MIL is sick. She has been in the hospital 3 times this month.
Seems her morphine pump ran out and no one figured it out till the SIL came home.Which is a trauma nurse.

Well, we went to see her Fri and she was unwakable.
DH asked the nurses if she was on alot of meds?
She is 80 and had a major back surg 3 yrs ago and got worse.
The nurse told my DH his mother is a crazy lady. Kept repeating it. Stating she is on antipsycotic meds(which is to calm the stomache).
MIL is sick of not knowing what is wrong..No one seems to be helping..She looks terrible.

DH flipped literally on the nurse.It was quite a scene.
The next am he went back up. Looked at her and her face is drooping on 1 side. No one noticed.We think it was a mild stroke. Find out after MRI. CT says no blood on brain..
He flipped again..He was yelling don't you look at these people.

Then we find out that she needed help to get out of bed to go potty, and the nurse told her to get up herself. She wasn't breaking her back to get her up..She said the nurses are being mean to her..

The doctor flipped when we told her all this,(grabbed the nurses and asked who did it) but i really think we need to get her out of there.

I was upset for DH yelling at the nurses, for i am afraid of her care if they are pissed.They are just ignoring her..

Advice?
What can we do.
He is going out of town to work, so i am going to have to deal with this this week...

Advice ladies, or men..




www.picturetrail.com/acatalina

Anne
AKA
Storm

 

[eaglobo]

First off, the nurse should have NEVER, EVER, made the comment about your husband's mother, that is something that could very easily get her fired.

Secondly, regarding her care after the fact, nurses are supposed to be professionals, and risk losing their liscense if their care becomes shoddy.

As my wife is an RN, I have a deep admiration for the job that they do, but that does not give them the right to make comments like the one they did.

If you have specific concerns, you may want to speak with the nurse manager on the floor where your husband's mom is, and explain the situation and your concerns.

While I can't say what your husband did was right in the proper sense by yelling, I understand his emotions and can't say I wouldn't have done the same had it been my mom lying there.

I hope it works out for you.

Jerry

 

[6Swans4me]

Anne,

I'm so sorry for everything you all are going through concerning your MIL's health and care!

I agree with Jerry. Talk to her supervisor and your MIL's doctor.

When my twins were in the NICU, it was such an emotional rollercoaster time. I can't even imagine how difficult it would have been if my twins were in a different room than the nurses' station. Dealing with a couple of the nurses was a source of added stress. The communication was less than to be desired! I found out that a couple of the nurses would tell the doctor I said something concerning my dds' care that I never said. I don't know if they were thinking of another parent or just plain assumed things. Thankfully, the communication with the doctors was top notch!

Anyhow, I did have one nurse lie to me over the phone and to my face when I came to the NICU in person. I was so furious, I had a "let down", and I had stopped producing milk two weeks earlier! I could physically feel my blood boil. The only time in my life that has ever happened. Fortunately, I kept my cool around all the infants because I wanted to physically hurt this woman while yelling profanities!!!! Instead, I immediately demanded this nurse call her supervisor. After I spoke with the supervisor, she set up a meeting a couple of days later with the doctors and head nurses. Everyone knew my expectations and what page I was on concerning my dds' care. If the problems weren't addressed, I was ready to transfer my twins to another hospital.

Blessings to you, your dh and MIL!
Wendy

 

[angie_nrs]

First off, I am very sorry to hear about you MIL. That would be a difficult situation to deal with even if everything else was not an issue.

Just a couple of thoughts here. I used to work in a busy community hospital where the nurse to patient ratios were not condusive to top quality care. It doesn't matter how hard-working, caring, and competent a nurse is if he/she has too much work on his/her plate. So, maybe this is an issue at this facility? I agree with speaking with the nurse manager or some other supervisor in that facility to discuss your concerns. Don't get me wrong....that does not excuse the comments that nurse made! That is completely inappropriate no matter what. Unfortunately, there are nurses out there who are plain ole' stupid! Nursing school can not teach common sense nor can it teach common courtesy. People (good or bad) are people (good or bad) no matter what their profession is. I hope that makes sense.

Bottom line....you have to watch your back. The incident with DH and the staff may well affect the care of MIL. I would certainly hope that that wouldn't be the case...but, since the staff has already been unprofessional, I would not want my MIL being cared for by a nurse with a grudge.
Also, I would definitly be checking into other facilities to take care of MIL. You've already had a bad experience with this one, so why continue if you don't have to. The best way to show your disapproval of the facility is to leave. I think the best course of action would be to start fresh with a new facility.

Best of luck and sending healing vibes to MIL. ((((hugs))))

Angie

 

[trooper15]

Hello Anne, I am so very sorry you are going through this ordeal!
I have been a critical care RN for 26 yrs and have lots of charge and supervisory experience as well. I assume your MIL is in an extended care facility right now (ECF) and the level of care at these facilities can vary greatly I'm afraid. It does require vigilance on the part of the patient's families. There is simply no excuse for the comments made by the nurses caring for her!
Unfortunately you are correct in your assumption that your DH's yelling may exacerbate things but you can put a stop to this cycle!
You are not powerless here. Please talk the the nurse manager of this facility and set up a group conference with her doctor, the nursing staff, and others involved in her care as soon as possible!!
There appear to be issues with overmedication certainly and she may also have had a stroke also. Not all strokes are bleeds, in fact most aren't and wont show up on the standard CT. Write down your issues before going to this meeting and state your case calmly. You can state your concerns directly to the nurses by saying.. "I know your job is difficult BUT here are my concerns and I would appreciate your help". If after this there is no improvement I do urge you to seek out a different facility. As I said before, the ECF's vary quite a bit in the level of care and professionalism of the staff and people need to research them carefully before placing a loved one.

Best of luck to you and God Bless!

ShellyC

 

[trooper15]

I just wanted to add to Jerry (eaglobo). I am an RN and my DH's name is Jerry too!

ShellyC