Home Health Nurse!

[10steps]

Hey Brooksea, there are always some people who hate their jobs; it sucks when they walk into your home and try to sell their sob story when all they really need is a kick in the arse. I'm glad you reported her, probably did her a favor. Hopefully she gets canned and will seek professional help. Sometimes that's what it takes. clearly she has many issues and I'm sorry she dumped on you both.

 

[chriss]

Glad you rang and told the agency and they would do something about it. I had a palliative care (hospice) nurse visit and I told her that my husband had sat up all night long on the side of the bed trying to clear the secretions in his throat, and I had sat with him. I told her because I had thought she would have gotten the message that he was having major problems and that we were struggling. Her comment was "Well it's not mean't to be easy Christine" with a little sneering laugh. We had months and months of problems and this was the attitude from this nurse.

But I have one better than this. In a phone conversation with a senior neurologist asking for help he out of the blue said "Have you had the discussion about withdrawing ventilation?" My response was well that's is not what we would be doing, and it was out of context to our discussion and it would not be something I would want to discuss in a 5 minute phone conversation. My husband was so upset and said they don't want to help me they just want to turn off the machine.

Dealing with the disease is hard enough but these "health professionals" just add a whole layer of difficulty on top,

Take care

Chris

 

[notme]

Wow, what nightmares in this thread.

I can see trying to use empathy to help a patient--a way to relate to the immediate issue--something like explaining about their asthma and they can understand the shortness of breath--but sheesh.

For blood draws, there should never be more than a pin-point bruise if it's done properly. A blood draw should be nearly painless. If bruising was that bad, though, is it possible there is a clotting issue? Even a majorly blown vein shouldn't cause that level of bleeding.

And for shortness of breath--sheesh--even CNAs are taught that the first thing you do is elevate the head. They don't have to understand crap about ALS to know this one. Live over limb--it's always the rule. Of course with a potential head/neck injury, precautions are taken--but the entire board should have been elevated for breathing.

You all have been through the ringer with care. It's awful.

 

[mztialady]

My hubby's regular nurse took a vacation day so the agency sent a "sub". One of the first things she told me was that her child a died a few years ago and that she still feels sorry for herself everyday, but she won't today. REDFLAG. The she told me that she was inbetween assignments because the kid she was was working with had gotten too big. Umm my husband is a full grown man. I hesitated going to work, but knowing that my dad would be there later, I felt a little better about going. (Hubs is a fully dependant vented Dynavox user) When I did get home, my hubby was fine, but he indicated that she was a mess and he might as well been home alone. My dad told me that she argued with him about what he should weigh @ 6 ft tall because he was heavy for her to turn. I called the agency and let them know not to send her again.

 

[tammyg]

O M G. I will never forget telling my mom (mom & dad divorsed 25 + years) that my dad had ALS. She said well a least it's not cancer. Some people are sooooooo ignorant, it makes you wonder if they think before they say it.
It sounds like if the cow, i mean nurse took better care of her self she would not have such health problems . boo hoo. Maybe they should make health care provider a Dale Carnagie course. on how to treat people.

I really feel bad that your poor husband had to go through that.