I have worked in a nursing home,a neurological floor of a hospital for 3 years,and helped with rehab. people are people are people.professionals regardless of the institution,if they do not care for themselves they will not care for you or me. some have the god complex and some are just there and do not care,some are over worked and some barely show up for work. thank God for those that actually understand that they are there to actually care for people and that it might hurt to do that. I use to have to cath the men patients. i used extra care to make them feel at ease before i started because I had a feeling that it just may not be pleasant and that for the most part they were scared and in pain. i liked to talk to patients when i wasn't busy,to get to know them,to share something silly that they just may breath easier and know that someone was close by that they could holler at for a drink or whatever. but underneath that there have been many weekends that i may have been up until 4am out playing music in a band,,drinking and whatever and show up for work and have to be doctored in order to be Dr. that is what is out there! having to assist Dr's perform minor things like spinal taps,or CPR or breathing tubes and tracheotomy's,,yeah that's who you want over top of you someone who is hung over or insensitive.
but that is what is out there. my sister-n-law is an RN on that floor i use to work on and she is like a mother to those patients,many nurses say that if they get sick the want Sandy to be their nurse,,,,I wish there were millions of Sandys out there! we have an RN in this list,,,she knows what I'm talking about...... Dr Frank knows too... death is easy,,,it is living right before your fellow man that is the challenge. if only there was a WalGreens on every corner (you know,perfect world?") i am sick to death of this pain! --- On Tue, 1/4/11, Patricia Cooley <[email protected]> wrote: From: Patricia Cooley <[email protected]> Subject: RE: [TMIC] REHAB To: "'Akua'" <[email protected]>, [email protected] Date: Tuesday, January 4, 2011, 12:41 PM Your experience sounds like a time spent in HELL. It is unfortunate that there are so many places like that in this country. People who have family or friends that can monitor their care are the lucky ones. Even hospitals lack proper care at times. I remember when my husband was in the hospital for colon surgery and when I was walking down the hall to the restroom, I noticed a patient in bed completely naked and no curtain was closed. They were trying to reach behind them to pull up a sheet. I complained to my husband’s doctor but was afraid that if I complained to the nursing staff my husband’s care would suffer. I now realize that I should have said something more. But when you are dealing with cancer surgery you aren’t thinking right. Patti - Wisconsin From: Akua [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, January 03, 2011 6:50 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [TMIC] REHAB The closest I came to hell on earth was in rehab. I was allowed to fall twice. I was given the wrong meds daily for nearly two months, I was insulted and demeaned. I remember the nurse entering my room and finding me crying -- I was in awful electric pain --- and she told me I shouldn't be crying. She often brought he son to work. I wrote her about her gross insensitivity and she apologized. I worked hard to learn how to use the sliding board to get in and out of bed-- it was so so hard, and frightening, because an idiot had let me fall, but this mainly because if you couldn't get up, you wouldn't be attended to. Now that I'm home, I understand one of the basic challenges the idiot didn't address-- the wheelchair slides on a polished, linoleum floor. I have a bathmat with grips by my bed now, so my wheelchair, doesn't slide..... this is just one of a zillion things they could have taught or worked on or shared or presented to or for me and didn't. And this was rehab, to ready me for life on my own as a paraplegic: worthless. One of the friends I made there was immobile without assistance, although unlike me, she was not paralyzed. She was left on her bedpan for an hour. I had passed aides chatting at the station, ignoring her buzzer, as i wheeled down the hall to see her..... I wrote the board and management and met with management. I met with the dietitian twice, who quit about a month after i left. She told me that she was unable to get me the food that with restore my health ( fresh fruit and vegtables, fish, whole grain breads, baked potatoes). I kept in touch with several friends I made there who were still there when I left, because we all knew the importance of having people call. Only the cleaning staff helped. They advocated and interceded. I'll never forget one man who came and prayed for and over me. An investigation began when I and several other patients lost over 50 pounds. The few visits I had, folks brought food. Staff ate or discarded my (good) food. So, while I don't know about the hip pain, I can relate to the soul pain of being in a nursing home. It was like being in prison. There was a courtyard allegedly for getting air--- the door was always locked. I was awakened, whenever they felt like it, seldom consistently. Hellish to be awakened at 5 a.m. to have blood drawn by unskilled phlebotomists. Privacy was seldom observed I remember always asking for doors or curtains to be closed. If Cindy needs calls, I'm more than willing. all other things being equal, being in a nursing home is awful. Akua-- http://www.healrecover.blogspot.com http://www.akualezli.blogspot.com "When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall - think of it, always." Mohandas Gandhi
