Friday, September 10, 2010

The Nurse that drove me NUTS!

We've only had one instance thus far where we (not just me - Alan too! which totally validates my insanity over this) had a problem with one of the nurses. 

I have to first say it isn't her fault.  She is nice, offers to do anything to help us, likes working with infants, happy, etc.  BUT, she was a night nurse who talked too much, dropped things, forgot things and had to go in and out to get whatever it was, made WAY more movements to get things done than ANY of our other nurses (and when she is wearing a paper chemo gown it makes extra noise). She always seems behind and a bit frantic, and she uses way too many words.  For those of you who know me, I LOVE to use lots of words, and I love conversation.  Who knows, maybe if she had been a day shift nurse, I might have liked her.  But she KEPT CLARA AWAKE. 

When you have a sick baby that is having a hard time getting to sleep, that is doubly awful!  After having her two nights in a row, I talked to the head nurse and requested we not get her again.  I was assured we wouldn't.  YET, the very next night...who did we have?  You guessed it!  I was shocked!  And the problems with her were even worse that night.  I ended up loosing my cool and in my attempt to constructively let her know she needed to slow down and quick going in and out so much, I insulted her and put her in a position of feeling like she needed to justify her every move.  It was a horrible position for her to be in (which is why I knew she needed to never be our nurse again!) but I was seriously pissed and couldn't just smile through it and say thank you etc.  It was again the wee hours of the morning and HER fault that we were all in the place that we were.  And her talking about being willing to do whatever I need so that I can get good sleep was driving me nuts!


Ugg.  Anyway, the good thing is that we really shouldn't have her again.  And we at least knew we weren't going to have her last night because she had already worked her 3 nights for the week.  They tell us not to feel bad - that there are always personality clashes and this was just ours.  For her sake, I hope they don't forget and assign her to us.  She was doing the best she was capable of and it was just the wrong thing for us.


Okay.  Done venting.

4 comments:

Jessica Wilson said...

Brooke I remember when I was 5 and in the hospital and how much I disliked the night nurses. They would come in at all hours of the night to see how I was doing and no matter how quite they tried to be I would wake up. I do remember mom standing over my bed everytime I woke. The only thing that made it worse was my room was next to the roof so that everytime Star Flight would come in and land. I would wake up with the lights and noise of the landing. Just remember these frustrations will make good stories for Clara when she is older, and asks about her time in the hospital.

Lauren said...

Ahh! I'd be so frustrated! I'm glad you didn't just smile and put on a happy face bc you WERE tired, no need to fake untiredness. Just makes you more tired. What I mean is there's a time and place for fakeness and when it should be used. Politeness shouldnt be required in the wee hours of the morning. Especially since YOU and daughter are the patients. And she knew what she was doing was wrong after you corrected her so she didnt need to justify everything. Basically I am agreeing with you. I only remember having 1 bad night nurse while I was in the hospital with my foot surgeries. And she was just plain grumpy and couldn't believe I could possibly need something from her in the middle of the night. I mean, come on! DO your job. Anyway, it's probably not just you. And that's why they have her on night shift. So she can bother less people. ;)
Hope it doesnt happen again!!!
Let's talk soon!

LOVE!

Mom/Mimi/Mama Deb said...

Count me as number 3...she was just plain annoying. And it made it more annoying because she was "nice" annoying. Absolutely LOVED every other single person I encountered at Packard during my visit. It is truly an unbelievable place. Can't help but wonder what St. Jude's is like...? These places put a bit of heaven into a hellish situation.

Caroline said...

Brooke, I don't know if you remember telling you about the 2nd night nurse we had after Chris' back surgery, but she was AWFUL. It's incredible how wonderful a good nurse can be and how horrific a bad one can be. So it makes a HUGE difference. I still get pissed remembering it and we were only there 2 nights!

I don't comment as often as I should but know that I am always thinking of you and love all 3 of you so much. I check on you guys everyday and am sending my love and healing thoughts. Stay strong, lady!

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