Oh dear. I'm so sorry you are having to go through this with your mom.
Since I am a CV nurse and deal with your mom's surgery every time I work I can say, I wish things were going better for you care wise.
First and foremost. Please understand. Nursing school and actual nursing are 2 totally different animals. Nursing school is the ideal. Yes you would fail if you did some of the things nurses do in real life, because they have to hold you to the ideal standard. Although this is an achievable standard the majority of the time, it is not the reality of the situation.
Real life nursing is a combination of short staffing, high acuities, time management, occasional unreasonably demanding patients or families, and the fact that nurses are human beings. (and I'm not implying you are being unreasonable, I mean I may have 2-6 patients and 4 good reasonable ones and 2 frantic, demanding, "fluff my pillow every 3 minutes," type of patients that occupy my time and keep me from having the time I need for everyone.)
I could explain each and every one of your complaints. All are justified in one POV, but they happen. The air bubble in the IV line? It really wouldn't hurt her that small amount as long as it was a peripheral vein. the fluid/blood combine in the blood stream and the bubble ends up not being big at all once inside the body. If it were a central line, that would have been different.
The leaving your mom alone for an hour? Nope wouldn't happen on my watch..but not all nurses are me. But I have had patients arrive under the radar. Messages do not get relayed. The wrong person is told, the right person is told, you aren't around to recieve the message and when they do see you again they have been in 3 other rooms, answered 4 phone calls, dealt with a cranky doctor, and oops it slipped their mind. Not an excuse, human nature.
Ambulation....sucha wonderful idea, and a great practice too. I never let a patient ambulate alone the first time. I see how they do first. But not all nurses are that conscientious or cautious. once again human nature.
As for the suture removal kit? That nurse could have not been listening close, or the doc could have mumbled his request, or it could have been a sorry nurse. Yep we have em just like every other profession. Once again human nature. We put a suture removal kit in the room when we set the room up to recieve the patient cuz we know eventually we will need the it.
It's not only that the hospital was taken over by some corporation, but you are dealing with humans. Even if they did pass boards they are still human with good and bad days and we have our good and bad nurses. I got report last night from a nurse I despise because she half way does everything.
But first and foremost understand this.....nursing clinicals and real life are not the same thing and do not resemble each other in any way. That is the first lesson you learn after you graduate and get into the real world. I was fortunate that I had some realistic instructors who were willing to pull us aside and whisper that to us beforehand. Plus working as a PCT before I actually began clinicals was very helpful in every way.
I'm not discouraging you from trying to maintain the high standard. Hell I struggle for it every shift. But also accept that clinicals and nursing school can't show you every situation.
But also as Grey853 says, having a family member or friend close by is a safe thing to do and always has been. From the beginning of health care not just the last few years.
no subject
Since I am a CV nurse and deal with your mom's surgery every time I work I can say, I wish things were going better for you care wise.
First and foremost. Please understand. Nursing school and actual nursing are 2 totally different animals. Nursing school is the ideal. Yes you would fail if you did some of the things nurses do in real life, because they have to hold you to the ideal standard. Although this is an achievable standard the majority of the time, it is not the reality of the situation.
Real life nursing is a combination of short staffing, high acuities, time management, occasional unreasonably demanding patients or families, and the fact that nurses are human beings. (and I'm not implying you are being unreasonable, I mean I may have 2-6 patients and 4 good reasonable ones and 2 frantic, demanding, "fluff my pillow every 3 minutes," type of patients that occupy my time and keep me from having the time I need for everyone.)
I could explain each and every one of your complaints. All are justified in one POV, but they happen.
The air bubble in the IV line? It really wouldn't hurt her that small amount as long as it was a peripheral vein. the fluid/blood combine in the blood stream and the bubble ends up not being big at all once inside the body. If it were a central line, that would have been different.
The leaving your mom alone for an hour? Nope wouldn't happen on my watch..but not all nurses are me. But I have had patients arrive under the radar. Messages do not get relayed. The wrong person is told, the right person is told, you aren't around to recieve the message and when they do see you again they have been in 3 other rooms, answered 4 phone calls, dealt with a cranky doctor, and oops it slipped their mind. Not an excuse, human nature.
Ambulation....sucha wonderful idea, and a great practice too. I never let a patient ambulate alone the first time. I see how they do first. But not all nurses are that conscientious or cautious. once again human nature.
As for the suture removal kit? That nurse could have not been listening close, or the doc could have mumbled his request, or it could have been a sorry nurse. Yep we have em just like every other profession. Once again human nature.
We put a suture removal kit in the room when we set the room up to recieve the patient cuz we know eventually we will need the it.
It's not only that the hospital was taken over by some corporation, but you are dealing with humans. Even if they did pass boards they are still human with good and bad days and we have our good and bad nurses. I got report last night from a nurse I despise because she half way does everything.
But first and foremost understand this.....nursing clinicals and real life are not the same thing and do not resemble each other in any way. That is the first lesson you learn after you graduate and get into the real world. I was fortunate that I had some realistic instructors who were willing to pull us aside and whisper that to us beforehand. Plus working as a PCT before I actually began clinicals was very helpful in every way.
I'm not discouraging you from trying to maintain the high standard. Hell I struggle for it every shift. But also accept that clinicals and nursing school can't show you every situation.
But also as Grey853 says, having a family member or friend close by is a safe thing to do and always has been. From the beginning of health care not just the last few years.