Leave the nurses alone (long, a little gross)

[Damien]

BG I have been in hospital for almost a week - got a potentially life threatening condition that thankfully can and is being treated successfully (quite a scare).

I am in a room with 5 other patients, all of them older than me (33), the oldest is a lovely gentleman who is 92 and fiercely independent but very polite to everyone. There has been several people coming and going - lovely lovely people - many have said that they will come back to visit me when I have to return to hospital late next month (I am an unwell chap, but will overcome, as always). Whether or not they do is not really relevant as they have their own lives, but if they do, it will be even nicer.

The nurses here are as spectacular, as are nurses world wide - they are the underpaid hardworking saints of medicine. If they were paid a million dollars it would not be enough.

end BG.

Anyways, there is one patient, an 85 year old fella who does nothing but complain, complain, complain - and is quite sarcastic and rude to the nurses. He seems to be the quintissential grumpy elderly patient.

Let's compare two patients here - 92 year old lovely funny patient we'll name Bob and this 85 year old grump, we'll name Barry (not their real names).

92 year old Bob is quite happy reading and always is polite to the nurses, and has a great sense of humour - a bit of a cheeky one he is - the nurses love him and seem to trip over themselves to see if he is comfortable. I like this elderly cheeky fella too - he makes me laugh - something I need.

85 year old Barry is grumpy, admittedly he is bed-bound and quite unwell, but is not the only one in that situation. Just some of the things he says and does to the wonderful nurses here are:

- telling them off for calling him 'buddy' because in his words, it is an American term, and he does not 'want to be associated with that place' - and is quite adamant that he is to be called 'mate' as that is Australian.

- says things like that he has sensitive skin 'like a girl' - he was owned on that one when he was told the blindingly obvious truth that skin sensitivity is nothing to do with gender. He says this to EVERYONE*

- tells EVERYONE* that he can't walk and has no control over his bowels or bladder. Then a little while later demanding to be taken to the toilet as he has to go.

- tells EVERYONE* that if he eats, he will vomit all over himself - but demanding full meals - then wastes them saying that they are full of seasoning that he can't tolerate - I had the same meals, they were not seasoned (seasoning is provided should we like to have some).

[* this loud telling of everyone of these things are, to me, sympathy seeking - something I hate]

- Launched into a tirade about having to pay for the TV, when the radio station he wants is free.

- Said that he could not have salt and went into a tantrum when the salt was taken away.

Meanwhile, the rest of us are quiet, polite and just wanting to get better.

It is no fun being sick, as I am experiencing, particularly if it is a serious condition like I have. But attacking the hard working nurses and orderlies and doctors for that matter is not going to change any of this.

Nurses and orderlies in particular are tough as nails, but are angels in my eyes, i just wish this bugger would just lay off them.

On another note, it is expected I will make a full recovery, but will take time. In the meantime, I will stay working, i will continue my studies, writing and photography.

[bainsidhe]

Wow, wishing you a speedy recovery.

[Sapphire Silk]

Yeah, same here. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Quick question: are you in the US or Australia. It's not clear; seems to me if you were in Austrailia, wouldn't the nurses call everyone "mate" ? (Please forgive my total ignorance if I am being cliche).

It's pretty rare to find an open ward in the US anymore: everything is semi private or private rooms. Infection control is the usual excuse since MRSA is so rampant, though I think patients actually do better in open wards with better access to socialization (ie company).

We used to have 4 bed rooms at this one hospital I worked in the 80's. We never put females in them: they'd fight like cats. Men would usually "man up" and not want to let the other men know if they felt crappy, so we didn't get a lot of the behaviors you describe . . . though at that age he probably enjoyed the captive audience.

[Ree]

Wishing you a quick recovery as well.

Your story reminds me of my experience a few years ago when I was forced to endure another patient in my room who seems very much like this guy.

I had an ovarian cyst, and they wanted to try me on IV's of antibiotic first before attempting surgery, so I was in a lot of pain, and my nerves were a bit frayed.

This old bag made it worse.

Every time she came out of the bathroom, I got to hear about her latest bowel movement, or inability to move her bowels, and the need to contact a nurse to help with that situation, or I got to hear about the colour and quantity of her urine output.

She bitched because she had no milk on her tray because she wanted to put some in her tea.
They brought her a small glass of milk, and she bitched that they had brought her way too much and now she was going to end up wasting it.

She bitched because her peaches were too sour, but she wasn't allowed sugar, so she put sweetener on them, and then bitched because they were way too sweet.

She bitched that nobody had come to see her that day, and then, when her family came in, she bitched that there were too many of them all at once.

She snored like a freight train at full speed.

One really bad night, I was in agony and couldn't sleep.

A patient down the hall started going wacko because of a reaction to the morphine, and that was keeping me awake along with the pain.

This annoying old bat in the next bed was snoring away through it all, and that was adding to my sleeplessness as well.

At one point, a train really did pass through, and the hospital is located quite close to the railway tracks in our town.
That was the last straw and I just burst into tears.

I was quietly sobbing into my pillow when a nurse was doing the bed checks, and when she saw me, she said, "Oh, honey, what's wrong?"

I said, "I know you guys have your hands full with that other woman, but tomorrow, can I please be moved to another room? If I have to stay with her another night, I'm afraid I will end up putting a pillow over her face while she sleeps."

The nurse laughed, because she knew exactly what the woman was like.

It was less than an hour later when she came back and told me they had found a new bed for me across the hall.

I slept that night for the first time in days.
Unfortunately for me, the sweet old lady they had moved me in with, who up to that point had just sat quietly in her chair watching the world go by, suddenly went off the deep end too, and started causing a commotion, and had to be moved to a nursing home.
Then they admitted another dear soul who was in the early stages of dementia.
I was in pain after my surgery, and moaning a bit in my sleep, and the next thing I knew, I had this dear old soul lying in my bed with me, cuddling me as if I was her little girl, telling me it was going to be OK, and calling me by her daughter's name. LOL.

When the doctor told me he was letting me go home, I almost ran out the doors.

[Sapphire Silk]

One of the first things I learned when I started as a nurse was hospitals are lousy places to get any rest.

And I know everyone here will hate me, but on the few times I've been an inpatient I've either had a private room, or had nice roommates. And when I'm that sick, I sleep so deeply, that WWIII wouldn't wake me.

I did have one roomie, when I had my eye surgery, who was a really sweet old thing. We talked for awhile before we went to bed, mostly about how nervous I was about my surgery (if it went bad, I would lose my vision in that eye). She went into respiratory failure in the middle of the night and got coded (she made it and was moved to ICU).

My nerves were shot: I asked for and got some benadryl to help me get back to sleep, only to have the staff wake me four hours later because I had promised the med students they could examine my eyes before my surgery the next morning. They took me to an eye exam room and about 20 of them came to look at my eyes. My problem isn't that rare, but my eye surgeon was world famous, and I was his poster child for why you don't always have to use the OR as the first option (went 16 years before my eyes finally got to the point where it was surgery or blindness).

[csquared]

A speedy recover to you. If for no other reason than to get away from Barry.

My father had a knee replacement surgery a few years back. It is a quite painful recovery, and he was bitching & moaning about it. Then he met a Marine who had lost his leg to a land mine. The Marine put him in his place. My dad was quite pleasant through the rest of his physical therapy. Semper Fi!

[Teskeria]

I had a roommate die on me. then a nasty roommate, she insisted they move her because I was too damn young (she was 70+, I was barely 30- traumatic car accident). I was in traction. Next roommate was barely there, her family insisted they move her, because they didnt want me traumatized by her dying in the room with me. Loved my nurses and the aides.
My Ortho surgeon's partner learned the hard way what the nurses meant when they said, don't wake her!. Apparently (I slept through it all), he came in all cheerful to examine me around 830 am, I reached out, grabbed the breakfast tray they insisted on bringing even though I never ate it, and threw it at him. I missed. He never entered my room before 1 pm again. wonder why

[Eisa]

I hope your recovery goes well!

I've never had to stay overnight in the hospital [except perhaps when I was a baby and can't remember it]. But I remember when I got the surgery so I could breathe through my nose. When they woke me up the first time, they told me to go back to sleep because I needed to sleep the anesthesia off. If I didn't, I would be in bad straits. Well, I was groggy, anyway, so I did. They got me dressed and wheeled me out to the recovery room to have a popsicle.

Well, there was another girl who'd gotten surgery. They told her the same thing, but she DIDN'T listen. So she was there, complaining and feeling like shit, and they were still trying to get her to sleep...I have a feeling the nurse was biting back saying, "I told you so."

[Amina516]

Wow ..an open ward. I didnt think those were used anymore. :blush:

But yeah...I love my patients..but when I get those true, blue whiners...It sucks.

Thank you for remembering that nurses are human too and deserve to be treated by the golden rule (as does everyone).

I hope youre outta there soon. Speedy Recovery and all that.

[Mytical]

I wish you a speedy recovery.

Now as for nurses, they are often overworked almost always underpaid (and by that I mean even if they make $50/hr they are still underpaid..at least some of them )..people need to not hassle the nurses please.

[Damien]

Thank you everyone for the well wishes - I am home now, but will need to go back for more operations at the end of November. I am not out of the woods yet, but are getting there. Bob was discharged at the same time, so when my friend came by to give me a lift, we gave him and his daughter a lift home too.

I am in Australia, open wards are quite common here - it is not too bad - I am privately insured, so I could get a private room, which I will probably for when I have my op.

Ree - that old battle-axe sounds precisely like what Barry sounds like - but a bit worse

Barry unfortunately soiled his bed and the nurses just went in and politely cleaned the bed and Barry up - and guess what? he whinged they were to rough on his 'delicate skin'... but at least he thanked them afterwards.

I told all the nurses that they deserve a lot more than they get payrises... and I am sending flowers to them.

[iradney]

Awwww, I think you'll really cheer them up with the flowers

I've never had to stay overnight in a hospital, but when I got my tonsils out, my Dad says that the nurses were quite impressed with me, as they'd given me a sedative, and I still insisted on sitting up and introducing myself to them and shaking their hands lol. I don't remember it coz I was kind of groggy....

[Andara Bledin]

Awwww, I think you'll really cheer them up with the flowers

I like to send small flowering plants, myself.

Flowers are just so... transient a gift.

^-.-^

[blas]

Sending lots of virtual balloons and flowers your way!

[MoonCat]

Bah, "Barry" there is a twit. You can tell him for me that Americans don't want to be associated with him either! Although I think Australia is an awesomely cool place!

Nurses are amazing, aren't they? I hope you feel better soon and have a full recovery!