LilyWDW
Going to My Happy Place
- Joined
- May 7, 2006
- Messages
- 12,233
They don't have a choice, I'm sure. Everywhere I've ever worked, we take turns with problem cases, families, patients. It's not fair a a couple of team players to get stuck every shift since everyone else is refusing.
As for suspecting parents of feeding her inappropriately, it's because we see it all the time. I've caught patients directly after surgery being fed, patients with ileuses, patients on insulin drips with blood sugars in the 1000's, patients with open guts (nothing like having soda ooze out an abdominal dressing.) It happens very, very frequently, and is life threatening to our patients. I've banned all visitors for certain patients because it was *critical* to their health that they not be fed, and every time family showed up, we had to take food and drinks away.
I am not a nurse, but I have seen the same thing while sitting with my mom when she was hospitalized many times during her fight with cancer. Some families will NOT listen to the nursing staff or the doctors. They go against orders. I admit, it is hard as heck to hear someone you love beg for food and drink and not be allowed to give it to them... but it is for a reason! They are not doing it to make them suffer.
I have also seen families that blow things up and flat out lie about what happened with the nursing staff. Heard one family complain that a nurse yelled at them and the patient. Funny thing as I never heard that happen and they were right across the hall... though I did hear the family scream at the nurse (and yes, I made sure I told them what really happened). Or the family that insisted the nurse had taken 30 minutes to bring pain meds... when it had only been about 5.