Some pts are something
Hi all,
I honestly don’t know how some of you do it because I’m so frustrated right now 😭. I have that one patient the one everyone dreads getting and the family is making it 10x harder.
They have hospital care and hotel care completely mixed up. They can clearly see that we have five other patients, but they still expect so many things to be done specifically for this patient. There is absolutely no respect for the nurse’s time or workload.
The patient is also very heavy and constantly asks to be boosted/repositioned in bed. I’ve explained that I can assist and guide her, but she also needs to participate because I cannot safely lift/boost her by myself. She is capable of helping, but expects the nurse to do everything for her.
A simple repositioning can easily take 10–20+ minutes because of how physically and mentally time-consuming the care is, especially with all the questions and demands from the family. And this isn’t just me my colleagues get frustrated whenever they have this assignment too.
One of my colleagues actually strained her wrist while trying to provide care for this patient, and instead of feeling supported, she was emotionally attacked by the patient. It’s honestly heartbreaking.
What frustrates me the most is how it always seems to turn against the nurses. When does the hospital start supporting nurses when patients or families are the ones crossing the line and making care unsafe?
I’m genuinely at the point where I don’t know what else to do. Has anyone else dealt with a patient/family like this? How did you handle it while still protecting yourself and providing appropriate care?