Karen83 and Rozzie, as I stated, I had an issue with the idea that patients are demanding. I was sitting with my Mom in ICU where my Dad had been admitted as a stroke patient. We were talking quietly on the left side of the bed and the nurse was hanging a warfarin drip. The RN left the room and in two minutes the alarm on the stand went off and she came running back in. She stared at the bag in shock and asked us, "WHAT DID YOU DO?" We told her we hadn't been out of our chairs and she ran from the room. You should have seen the staff in the room at that point! We were asked to step out of the room and after a 15 minute pause where told the seriousness of the error. My 86 year old mother had knee replacement surgery in April and the hospital staff left the CPM (?) machine on her leg for almost three hours before they realized the error. She did not ring the call button often and the physical RN or Aide response took between 10 and 15 minutes. Pain ratchets up pretty fast in 15 minutes when the dose was due 30 minutes earlier. And patients who are ill and in pain are not always kind and sweet, they tend to be cranky and demanding even though that isn't their normal personality.
I'm sure you are an excellent nurse, Karen, and I applaud your dedication to your calling. But most hospitalized people need a lot of care and attention, that's why they're inpatient. Heaven knows they're kicked out the door as soon as they are able to ambulate and defecate. Bring in the staff to operate these facilities and the complaints will drop accordingly and nurses may recover their sanity after all the stress.
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