Why me?!

As if it wasn't hard enough to learn and adapt to this new role - it's just been one of those dreadful days where nothing went right! It started off so well......nice and quiet, and with the NUM on the floor so I could ask questions and practice plenty of skills! However, the ward went from really quiet to full on busy in the space of about an hour, and somehow it was my fault that everyone turned up and the in-charge didn't know who was going where.

Now I don't mind getting in trouble when I have done something wrong, it's how you learn, but what I am finding frustrating is that somebody will explain something to me, so I'll do it, but then I get dressed down by someone else for doing it that way! Or, even more irritating, nobody will own up to something and it's automatically assumed that the new grad did it. (Such as accepting patients!) Or sometimes they expect me to know something and if I don't, I get the old "why don't you know that" spiel. Aaargh. It felt like everyone wanted a piece of me today - and as I am still learning, and in a completely unfamiliar facility, I often have to rely on them to show me the way. I will admit I wanted to just run out of there and hide today! However, I will also, in fairness, say that it is only the minority of people, as most of them are so willing and accommodating, but you know what they say....one bad egg.......

We all know that nurses are there to help people. But how far does that extend? When do you draw the line between "helping" someone and pandering to their every whim? None of us want to be a "helicopter" nurse, especially for a fully grown adult patient who can, and should, do as much for themselves as possible - and quite frankly, we don't have time for it. I have no problem with assisting people who really need it, but there are some patients who just push it too far. Some of these patients know they are doing so, and others don't.  And on a flat out, busy day, these are not the type of patients you really want to have taking up your precious time.

One in particular springs to mind, and though I can't go into detail, let's just say they had a problem on the lower half of their body, but there was nothing wrong with their HANDS!

This patient was on IV antibiotics, which were given at the same time each day, as you do. As they had constantly complained of pain at the IV sites (which were changed at the correct intervals and monitored every shift), we ran the antibiotics over an hour instead of 30 minutes to try to avoid irritating the vein too much. As I entered the room to set up the IV, the patient's mother informed me "they haven't had a shower and needs the toilet." The patient complained about having an IV running for an hour so they "couldn't do anything for themselves." Well, they'd been lying there for a few hours with only a capped IV cannula, plenty of time to do those things! Mother then complained that nobody had helped with lunch. This person (in their 20's) even expected somebody to put the soap (soft soap from a dispenser) on a washer while they stood there and showered! 45 minutes later, I was able to connect the IV line.

Now, seriously, how far does nursing care extend for a fully ambulant, young and fit patient? I don't think doing everything for this patient is in their best interests - what will happen when the time comes to go home and there are no nurses to do their bidding? As I said before, there is nothing wrong with their hands! Pain relief had been given which the patient stated gave good effect, so with the pain issue out of the way, there was really nothing that I was aware of that stopped them doing things for themself. They could quite easily get up and go for a walk, visit the loo, or whatever took their fancy, even with the IV pump!


I realise this post sounds a bit judgemental, which is something we are trained to avoid. But just where do you draw the line between helping someone and being taken advantage of? We do not have time to do every little thing for everyone. It just isn't possible.