I never tell anyone that I’m a nurse when I am a patient in the care system
I almost did today when I attended day clinic for an injection into my right eye
The nurse doing the preliminary tests was cool and efficient
And after I had told her I was eye phobic
She continued to be cool and efficient
I informed her that I had taken 2 Valium
A fact she ignored
And the rest of the consultation was completed in silence
I remembered Victoria Wood’s famous you’ve a look of Eva Braun comment
The consultant was gentle and reassuring which helped and when the injection came it was unpleasant but not horrendous
When I left I mentioned to the staff nurse in charge that things would have been easier for me if that nurse had been friendlier
I’m beyond keeping quiet about lacklustre care
Good for you. They should know if their care is subpar.
ReplyDeleteAnd tgey did
DeleteWell said! Yours was a constructive comment about the nurse you had for the preliminary tests. Hope that office takes the need for staff friendliness to heart.
ReplyDeleteAm glad the injection wasn't awful. Shudder!
Hugs!
It was pretty awful
DeleteYes, speak up. They may have no idea. I mentioned to my doctor that a new nurse kept addressing me with her back turned as she did other things. I couldn't hear her and she ignored my requests to please face me. Next time I was there I found she'd gone. They can't afford poor patient care in this culture, plenty of other doctors in this area. There's bullying when practitioners don't know.
ReplyDeleteIf things aren’t said
DeleteThings don’t change
No excuse for rudeness, whatever the situation, but especially in a care setting. Some people are definitely in the wrong job. Not a great problem if a shop assistant is surly, but a nurse, dealing with people who are anxious, scared, worried etc, is not on. I'm glad you spoke out.
ReplyDeleteThe injection sounds much worse than it seems to have been, but the idea is, to me, horrendous! Is it just a one off, or will there be more? A large G&T will ease any discomfort, I'm sure. xx
We can all have bad days
DeleteShe wasn’t impressive
The Valium did help, I popped a few in the waiting room
I once worked in a timber yard in England John. Myself and my work colleagues would be eager to help anyone who said please and thank you. Manners mean do much.
ReplyDeleteSo right..and smile goes a long way
DeleteDid you leave feeling smug that you'd reported the nurse? Why did your need for personal chit chat and attention prompt you to get the nurse into trouble with her superiors? She was "cool and efficient" isn't that enough for most people? Except those that think they are superior. and deserve special attention.
ReplyDeleteEfficient is one word that I would welcome in anyone in the nursing profesion.
If I was the staff nurse in charge my thought would hve been "what an arsehole" you are when you reported her.
No you say arsehole , because you WANT and NEED me to be an arsehole , which is a sad psychological need.
DeleteAs a former manager in the nhs, I would always advocate my staff to deal kindly with phobic patients , they need more than cold efficiency .and the nurse I talked about needed that to be reflected
If I have her again and she is the same, I will discuss things with her directly.
You wouldn’t and couldn’t be a staff nurse in charge
You haven’t got the emotional and managerial intelligence to do the job.
Have a lovely day
Way to go squire!
DeleteThat’s telling the bitch !
Lee
My protector Lee xxxxxx
DeleteTo anonymous @4.31 You May think cool and efficient is enough, in which case you should spend time looking at statistics of the impact of time taken and the manner of the clinician on patient reaction to treatment.
DeleteWell done for speaking up. What a disheartening experience when you clearly expressed a concern. I thought by ignoring your comment that you had taken two valiums she was demonstrating a clear non-engagement by her. Part of her role surely is to be reassuring and supportive. Yikes. I’m glad the procedure is over. Jean in Winnipeg
ReplyDeleteShe clearly didn’t want to engage
DeleteAnd the troll cannot comment again
DeleteI think in those situations where we feel vulnerable and apprehensive a little kindness and empathy goes a long way.
ReplyDeleteAmen, humour and warmth is what I need
DeleteMaybe by reacting and saying “it’ll be fine” she d have seemed condescending? I find most nurses are brisk and cold at best Efficient is fine. Rude and unkind is common tho
ReplyDeleteI hope you weren’t there alone! Can you see. Can you drive? Rest and feel better. The Valium will help you nap?
Hugs
Lizzy d
My sister in law picked me up, I was and am very grateful to her
DeleteMy husband has age related macular degeneration of the eyes, not sure if this the same for you. He has had monthly injections in his right eye for five years now and for the last five months monthly injections in both eyes as the left eye has now worsened. He finds the nursing staff different every time and sometimes better and sometimes not quite so good but is grateful that he may have lost his sight without the injections. I drive him to and from his hospital appointments and read while he is there for usually an hour sometimes more. I am just glad it's not me as I too am squeamish at the thought of injections in the eye. I hope yours won't have to be so regular as it does seem to come round awful quick. Well done for getting through it.
ReplyDeleteNo I have a different condition
DeleteAnd it will be regular
My eye now feels sore and irritated
I have a terrible fear of medical situations and have huge anxiety. I often do as you did and just come right out and tell whoever is attending me about it. Sometimes I cry. And when the nurse or tech responds with kindness and empathy, it makes all the difference in the world. The last time I did this, the tech said, "Do you need a hug?" I did, and she gave me one of the best of my life.
ReplyDeleteI made an effort to say I was phobic and the sentence was ignored….i have a problem sharing my needs , so when I do so and they are ignored,
DeleteHummmmm
At least you got Nurse Braun and not Nurse Hitler. Worse than that, you might have had Nurse Thatcher who would have butchered you just for fun.
ReplyDeleteBoom boom
DeleteSo glad you spoke up. Lackluster care, especially in a medical setting, should not be tolerated by the powers that be.
ReplyDeleteI don’t tolerate it from my own practice , why would I accept it from others
DeleteI’m with you. Good for you for commenting on that.
ReplyDeleteThe times of people pleasing everyone is over my dear friend
DeleteGood for you for speaking up. It would have been a hard thing to do.
ReplyDeleteThat eye injection sounds like something out of a horror movie to me.
I had a contraption put on my eye that I last saw in A Clock work Orange
DeleteSee
Deletehttps://faroutmagazine.co.uk/stanley-kubrick-a-clockwork-orange-temporary-blinded-malcolm-mcdowell/
Less cool and efficient, more cold and efficient sounds a better description....with this sort of procedure you need to be keeping your patients relaxed....
ReplyDeleteYes, I needed to laugh and look vulnerable
DeleteProbably 99% or more patients are afraid/phobic to have a needle stuck in their eye. You are not alone. [but on the nurse's side, she hears it 20 times a day, she just can't care about or hug them all.] Low expectations are my go to medical stance. Rudeness is the norm. It is naive to expect otherwise.
ReplyDeleteSeems like you did very well, you're tough, you can do this.
love
lizzy again
I disagree with respect , it’s her job, to do it well
DeleteIt’s also part of her code of conduct
Agreed John, you didn’t need the hug Lizzy mentioned, just a few reassuring words. As a former nurse myself I believe empathy and reassurance is part of good clinical outcomes.
DeletePs whoops former nurse anonymous is me, Jane xx
DeleteIt costs nothing to be friendly, compassionate and kind does it. Gigi
ReplyDeleteIn a job which celebrates such traits
DeleteThank you for speaking up about subpar care, you may have helped future patients receive more compassionate care. Even a kind word like "oh I understand" when you said you were eye phobic would have been good.
ReplyDeleteI agree…and let’s put things straight
DeleteI was scared
Well, I'm glad that is over and hope your eye is feeling better by now.
ReplyDeleteIt feels like shit, but it’s over for now
DeleteMany people working in the medical field today seem angry and/or dissatisfied with their jobs. This comes across regularly.
ReplyDeleteI hope your feedback is taken seriously.
I get surveys in the mail asking for feedback on medical care. I provide my feedback, and nothing changes as far as I can tell.
Despite the poor experience, I hope the eye injection solves the problem.
Kindness and friendliness only take a moment
ReplyDeleteThat sounds disheartening. Maybe the next time she sees a patient she will be nicer. You may have saved a future person from a bad day.
ReplyDeleteI used to think as long as they performed their jobs well and knew what they were doing, it didn't matter so much if they weren't friendly. Having had more experience in hospital, I now know it can make a big difference.
ReplyDeleteHad both cataracts done a few weeks apart a year or so ago. First one I remember nothing. Second one I was awake when the taped my head down, put some contraption on my eye and started filling my eye with gel. At this point I said ‘HEY I am listening to you guys talk about going to Raiding Canes for lunch’. They got a chuckle and promptly did something. After, one of the nurses told me it’s not unusual to be more aware what is happing when you get ‘twilight sleep’ close together. Freaked me out as they were removing the cataract and implanting a multi-focal lens in my eye! I did not want to be even slightly aware! Kathy. 👁️
ReplyDeleteI had both of mine done 9 days apart and was completely awake for both. Catriona
DeleteI'dve been all over the two valium. Dose and how long ago? How are you getting home?
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm nosy, but I want to make sure you and the public are safe. I had to have a surgeon come out and tell his detached retina patient, no you can't drive yourself home and the nurse isn't a bitch.
As well you should.
ReplyDeleteI often had patients with various phobias. My phobia is spiders, so I tried to imagine myself in my patient's shoes, but with a spider instead of a needle or claustrophobia. Helped both me and the patients.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid that I would have ignored whatever your eye complaint was, and stayed well away from anyone who threatened to inject into my eye. I couldn't cope (unless I was under Anna's Thethic)
ReplyDeleteThe situation and this discussion are so interesting. I too have given medical people feedback, sometimes directly in the situation (when it was less fraught than an eye injection, gulp) and sometimes later - the practice I go to sends very well structured after appointment questionnaires. I don't see it as "getting someone in trouble" but rather providing constructive coaching to improve them professionally. The fact that this is a professional encounter matters - if the nurse was someone you met at a party and they weren't kind that would be their choice, but in a care setting its their obligation to work to increase your comfort level. My 2 cents....
ReplyDeleteCeci
Agreed. I, too, have had sort of non-engagement by medical personnel and it is off-putting at the very least. There was one instance where I'd nearly been hit by a car on my way to an appt. and when in the room tried to make a joke of it and was met with radio silence. -very uncomfortable.
DeleteIt would have only taken a few words and smile from her for her to have completely turned this situation around. Well done on reporting her attitude, someone has to speak up.
ReplyDeleteI hope your next experience is a pleasanter one. Manners maketh man.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness… how horrible for you.
ReplyDeleteI’m needle phobic and they’d have to knock me out to do that to me…..well done for the way you coped. Also I’m guessing you went to the appt alone.. hope I’m wrong.. but those times are when not being solo would help greatly… Libs xx
John, I rarely comment as I know it takes up your time, and you do have a wealth of positive support here, but today I feel moved to say that anonymous who commented at 4.31 deserves to be blocked. By the way I think it’s odd that the system makes commenter anonymous by default! I commented directly to anon and didn’t realise I’d done it anonymously, but this time I’ve managed to correct it.
ReplyDeleteSpecific anonymous commenters cannot be blocked on Blogger, one can only block ALL anon comments.
DeleteJust taken my husband to have his 6 weekly injection this morning. He was very quick this morning as apparently people haven’t turned up because of hot weather!! Catriona
ReplyDeleteAs a nurse I find this so depressing ! A smile and a kind word mean so much .so much for all those communication lectures in training !! However when I attended. A/E after a car crash the nurses looked dead behind their eyes . like robots . Those young girls looked totally burnt out and hardly spoke to me . I felt really sorry for them and sad for my profession . Sorry it was not a great experience and I hope you feel better soon xx Bernie
ReplyDeleteReading about your experience I am reminded how lucky I am with my practice nurses, in particular the wonderful Susan Smith, who knowing I am almost phobic about having my bloods taken, is patient, kind and funny. You just feel she really cares about you. We are fortunate indeed xx
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry that you went through that. Kindness and empathy shouldn't take much time or effort. Last year when I had my stent taken out after kidney stone surgery, the nurse who did the removal was so kind. I will never forget her. She could tell that I was nervous and she asked if I was okay. I told her I wasn't, that I was afraid it was going to really hurt. (It did!) After the procedure was done, she asked me if I needed a hug, and I said I did. I will always remember that hug. Always.
ReplyDelete