Quote:
Originally Posted by graciegirl
To the OP. I get where you are going and I know you are a good nurse and you care about your patients......and what you are saying is valid and very important, but what Mudder said is pretty good advice too.
You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
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I think the problem here is less what the OP is saying and more how people are reacting to how it is said, but the focus seems to be on the latter
Both yesterday and today, she drew negative reaction to her posts, but if you just read the factual part without inferring tone or intent, she makes very valid points. We've all seen well meaning posts on this site that could have been worded better, but that should not diminish content.
Part of the problem is also perspective. When an individual reads what she said, they are thinking "I don't think that happens" And in that individuals experience it probably hasn't. But the OP is coming from the perspective of the other side of the check-in counter, which is vastly different. I don't know her experience, but I've had about 300,000 patient encounters. Trust me, everything she said DOES happen
For example, you would never think anyone would do the following: A patient brought in her pill bottles, 5 of them. Right over the pharmacy label she put an Avery label, and the 5 bottles now read heart pill, BP pill, white pill, blue pill, and ? (I guess that was potluck surprise med) Another, when asked to bring her pills, brought in a bag of 10 different types of loose pills. I asked her how she knew which one to take when, and she responded "They all end up in the same place anyway"
Remember, Villagers in general do not reflect the patient population as a whole. We generally have worked hard, achieved some degree of financial success, have lived longer and probably are more intelligent, on average, than a cross section of population elsewhere (Of course, there ARE exceptions).
When describing what she does to reconcile meds, remember a lot of what goes on in the doctor's office is mandated by state and federal regulations as well as insurance companies. There are "quality assurance" measures to be met, and medication reconciliation is one of them. (Of course the nurse can spend 20 minutes trying to rectify the list, but if she forgets to check the box on the EMR that she did it, as far as regulators are concerned, it never happened.) This of course makes it tempting for someone to check the box without doing the work if they are "ethically challenged". When my mother was in the hospital 5 years ago, I watched a nurse do exactly that right in front of me.
If you don't think many patients "roll their eyes and sigh" when going over this stuff, believe me, they do. Maybe not YOU, but many. In addition, a lot of patients treat nurses and staff much differently than they do the doctor. I have left the exam room after seeing the sweetest lady imaginable, only to have my nurse tell me how rude she was. I worked with the same nurse for 28 years, and for Cheryl to say someone is rude, they were VERY rude
So if you think there was some frustration and venting that can be read between the OPs lines, maybe you can understand it. Plus her practical advice was sound as well.