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Blogs by Juanita Lawson-Haith
Nurse Y'Canchu 2/1/2015 1:37:30 PM
A recent double-amputee spends time in a Rehabilitation Facility that also serves full-care patients (commonly known as a Nursing Home). These observations of the antics of patients and staff will crack you up. If you are wondering what I have been up to, the answer is I have been working hard on getting my body ready to Make my first "hops" with one artificial limb. Second one has to come later because we have to make certain that the amputation site is completely healed and as compact as possible. I feel really good about all this and although it is not going to be easy learning to walk all over again, I am ready for the challenge.
I will really miss the BC Follies and the nightly performances. Tonight I thought I would give my regular "stars" a break and provide you with a snippet about the staff. BE WARNED: THIS IS A LONG POST!!!
The Brian Center for Rehabilitation has the highest rating for excellence of service and patient success (5 Stars!) in the state of North Carolina. This facility is staffed by Registered Nurses (RNs), Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs), Patient Care Aides), social workers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, food service workers, maintenance and housekeeping workers. And like so many health care facilities, the place seems (to me at least!) to be woefully understaffed.
Patients most often interact with RNs, CNAs and aides. RNs dispense medications, chart patient care and progress, give injections, start IVs and perform other specifically medical duties. CNAs get to do everything else. Each is responsible for at least 11 patients per shift.! Keep in mind that many patients need TOTAL care, bathing, toileting, feeding, etc. Aides can help with giving baths and making beds but almost all other patient care is the exclusive territory of CNAs
I applaud the CNAs who are on the run from the moment they check in until their shifts are over. A few of them lose patience, but what can you expect with patients whose short term memory might be only10 seconds? These poor people simply do not remember what went on in the past minute thus they repeat the same request every few seconds. They have no recollection that the CNA has already acknowledged the request but has not had time to take care of it. Imagine ( if you can!) hearing "Where's my Jello?", "Where's the Jello?" "I want the Jello." 20 times in 5 minutes and not losing patience!!
Buy I digress. Tonight's star performer is Nurse Y'Chanchu (why can't you). Her name has been changed to protect the guilty! Yesterday morning my roommate had an appointment so the one of the aides gave her a bath and helped her get dressed. Nurse Y'Canchu strolled in with roommates meds, strolled out and continued on down the hall dispensing meds. An hour passed with no meds for me (I have to take14 different medications each morning, plus pain pills if necessary). I flagged down an aide and asked her to let the nurse know. Madame Nurse put her hands on her hips and asked why I ""...could not just come get it?." REMEMBER FOLKS, MY LEGS END ABOUT 4 INCHES ABOVE WHERE MY KNEES SHOULD BE!! and my wheelchair was not within reach. Good thing that I was stranded on the bed because if I had been able to get to her, I would have given her something to remember me by.
Next Day. She came to give me my A.M. meds. I thanked her (my Mama taught me to be polite) and handed her a copy of the Rx (doctor's orders) for blood work. She looked at the scrip, ROLLED HER EYES and SUCKED HER TEETH. She asked "Why didn't you give this to the Nurse yesterday? You know these things get misplaced!" I pointed to the scrip(to remind her that IT WAS NOT MISPLACED and, hello, I thought I WAS GIVING IT TO A NURSE as we speak. Why is that a problem? After another eye roll, she took (snatched) the prescription form out of my hand and stomped off to the Nurses Station.
Am I crazy or was it reasonable for me to expect her to just do her job? Nothing extra, no champagne to help swallow the pills, no fanfare to announce that Juanita had blood work ordered. Simply put I am not the person who peed in her cornflakes so why take it out on me? But then I had already heard -- OVER heard -- from the Aides and the CNAs that she was LAZY. SHE IS NOT THE ONLY ONE but this week she wins the prize for laziness and rudeness!
More to come with your favorites: Nurse Shouter, Hello Man, Breakfast Bully, The Visitor, and my personal favorite Rolling Romeo.
