I have worked in a hospital for 14 yrs. All the nurses have begun to notice our patients and their families just simply treat us like dirt. They are demanding, hateful, and disrespectful. We even have family members get so unruley, and threatening we have to call security. We had 1 family member escorted out by the police and had a restraining order placed.
We are a medical unit, so we answer call lights as they come. We have explained over and over again we are not an ICU, so we answer the lights as soon as possible, but not STAT. A page for a packet of salt when your on a low salt diet is not stat.
People threaten to soo us and write everything down. A lady recently claimed we lost a $300 neclace. She came in for elective surgery. Why would you wear expensive jewelry to the hospital for surgery?
We see little old ladies with no one looking after them and suddenly all these family members pop out of the woodwork and treat us like crap because they think she is getting poor care, but she hasnt had a bath in a year, and its obvious no one has looked after her.
It hurts my feelings. What do you you think is happening to healthcare?
The hospital I work for is in the top 5% in the nation for excellence in cardiac and We were rated very high on Press Gainey. Our joint commission survey was excellent.
People read and hear so much in the mass media they begin to worry about everything. I spent a whole morning trying to explain to a patient her home meds were the same as the meds I was giving. They bring their own meds in and expect us to be responsible when they take their own home meds in the hospital even though they have no idea what they are themselves. They just know what color they are.
