What I Wish I Could Say to My Patients and Coworkers But Never Will

[1truekhaleesi]

To patients:

What I think: If you can talk, you can definitely breath.
What I say: You can't breath? I think you mean chest pain but let me get the nurse.

What I think: You have been given so much pain killers, if we gave you more, you will OD. No, the nurse is not stupid enough to give you more and most likely lose her license.
What I say: sure. I'll tell the nurse. *never does because I know that the nurse is well aware that he's an addict.*

What I think: If you attempt to grope me, I will chop off your hand.
What I say: please use the handlebar to steady yourself, not me.

What I think: For the love of god, quit calling me for stupid things. We are severely understaffed I can't waste time in here. I know you are 100% independent, you can do everything yourself, and it's important you do everything yourself. We specialize in rehabilitation. You aren't going to get better if I do everything for you. Furthermore, (yes this is the same patient) everyone knows that you call for stupid reasons so that you can get close to the female employees and sexually harass them. Now if you'll excuse me, I have patients who actually need me. If you need anything my male coworker will be in here and he makes a point to be an asshole to you.
What I say: super busy right now but my coworker who coincidentally is male, will be here.

What I think: you screamed at the top of your lungs and you just want water? Fucking water? I have five patients calling for much more important things. Are you serious?
What I say: with or without ice?

Coworkers

What I want to say to the nurse who never does anything except when a patient is literally about to die, you need to really think long and hard about why you went in healthcare. On my first day here, you refused to give me an orientation and sat on your phone. I remember when I needed help repositioning a patient you said, "no I want to get off sometime today" and went back to scrolling on your phone.

What I say: nothing just condescending smile.

I might actually say this to all coworkers: I would wish you the best of luck in finding an employee who shows up on time and does her job, but you already had her. :) I wish I could say that it's hard for me to leave but it's not.

What I want to say to my fellow CNAs that are lazy: The only way you can be more lazy is if you were the wall in which you are leaning against. Then of course, you would be a wall providing support to a lazy coworker of mine. So in your case, the wall works harder than you. And you plan to go into Nursing? Honey, you won't make it. You have the ambition of a sloth.

What I say: Can you help with this patient? Who coincidentally is yours?

Right now, I work in a severely understaffed nursing home. Yesterday, I had sixty patients on top of having a student. Yes, sixty patients to one CNA is absolutely illegal but the company doesn't care. I now have a job at hospital in the neurosurgery unit as a CNA. I can't wait to start working there. Surgical nursing always had my heart and I can't wait to learn more about it. Plus, every person that I have met at the hospital didn't have any problem taking time out of their busy days to help me. I've heard great things about the people who work there and can't wait to be part of their team.

[BaileyisDarcy]

Oh my god yes.

The nursing home i work at is actually good thankfully. Very rarely short staffed and when it was, it was due to a gastro out break in North. Its attached to the hospital so i kind of go between depending what shift i get (im general services. Usually food).

I had one hospital patient get very excited because i gave her a lipton tea bag for her cuppa instead of just any generic brand. The hospital in the closest city, that shed been transferred from, apparently skimps out on those little details.
She was also blown away by how good our food is. Thats what happens when you cook on site!

And one lady in the nursing home, she's absolutely gorgeous, always telling me she loves me. Calls the nurses sisters. she's on her way out though so she's started crying everytime she sees me and its absolutely heart breaking.

Everytime i feel like im having a bad day at work i think of those two.
The lady whose day was made by way of a brand tea bag and the woman who crirs when i can give her a cuppa without her needing to tell me what she likes.

Its the little things.

I hope everything gets better for you!

[1truekhaleesi]

Things are definitely looking up. I just accepted a dream position at a hospital working in the neurosurgery department as a CNA. I've grown quite attached to a few patients and I want to come visit them.

[MackFreeze]

Do you have anything to say about EMS/EMT/Paramedics?

Also any tips for studying, A&P book recomendations and pharmacology books?

Also, how can I know if EMS is for me?

Awesome take! What city are you at? Cause that sounds terrible or do you think that's at every Hospital?

Sorry for all the questions

[1truekhaleesi]

EMS is a stressful job. You have to love it in order to survive. I would look at Amazon for textbooks. I am moving to a hospital in Reno and the hospital will be better.

[MackFreeze]

I would imagine nursing is too right?

[1truekhaleesi]

Yeah there's been difficult nights but that's mostly because staffing is terrible and I'm forced to do the work of four nurse assistants

[MackFreeze]

Well I'm sure it'll pay off! You seem quite dedicated! Do you ever think about becoming a physicians assistant one day?

[1truekhaleesi]

I know this place is difficult but I know it's preparing me for the world. If I can make here, I can make it anywhere. No, my sister wants to be a physician's assistant. I want to be an operating room nurse.

[MackFreeze]

That's awesome! Keep it going strong!

May I ask, did you go to a 4 year? Or a CNA program at a community college? Cause I was wondering if I should go to a 4 year and become a EMT during or just become a EMT.

[1truekhaleesi]

I took a semester long course at a community college. When I get my Nursing degree, I will go back for two years. There's lots of benefits and draw backs to doing a four hear degree or just becoming one. I would look it the good and bad and see what works better

[MackFreeze]

Awesome! Thank you for everything!

[BrittBratt2416]

You have no idea how true this is lol I work at a hospital as well but as a food service. The hospital I work at is quite big so that means we all have to walk back and forth between the north and south side of the hospital. We only have one kitchen and this hospital has already gotten bigger, some days it so much that we can't keep up cause people are ordering food faster than then we can deliver trays. It doesn't help if not enough people are scheduled or if they call in, however my manager just doesn't seem to understand that some days and gets frantic about it which it just gets really agitating. She'll say things like are you sick today? Is that why your're moving so slow? I'm not moving slow, I'm going as fast as I possible can its just everyone has a certain pace they walk. Some people are naturally fast walkers and some people naturally average speed walkers, I'm not running down the hallways with this giant steel cart when patients in beds and wheelchairs are always coming through. Its also really annoying when she wants you to be fast but at the same time sit down and listen to a patients entire life story. I get we're suppose to be courteous and nice, but at the same time I can't stand there for 2 or even 15 mins and listen to these people talk. I have trays that are usually due within a few minutes of each other, every second I standing there talking is making those trays later. If I could, I would magically zap the tray in the room but I can't. So you either want us to be fast or you want us to stand in the rooms and talk-you can't have both. And since we don't get breaks cause its only 6 and half hours, she doesn't get how we get a little bit exhausted cause we are constantly walking back and forth, up or down. We are literally walking miles in this hospital, north and south weren't connected when she was tray passer so she still think its simple.. ugh no. We are humans not robots, we get a little tired from the walking. Other than that, for the most part she is a good manager and super caring of others and doesn't mind lending a helping hand.

[Ozanne]

Nursing is such a thankless job. But you mention lazy coworkers and people who want things that seem trivial - that happens in so many industries. I'd hate to say 'get used to it' but I have to. No matter where you end up, even if you leave the care home you're in now, you'll find new things to be bothered by in the next place. Just know that people like me and others appreciate the work you do for (our) families who require care! It sounds like you handle the things you do with your outer voice the right way, and that's what's important.

[1truekhaleesi]

Yeah that's true. Last week, my nurse and I were changing a patient who is a difficult change. He's got bad dementia so he's not really motivated to really do anything. So mid brief change, we realized that his foot was very swollen. We were looking into it when we heard what sounded like a real bell. The call lights make a beeping noise so that's an odd noise. I went to check on it, turns out it was a patient who wasn't happy that her call light wasn't answered right when she pressed it so she was ringing a bell that she has and she wanted an answer why. I explained that we were changing another patient and we realized that his foot is extremely swollen. So swollen, my nurse couldn't find the ankle bone. And she just wanted a water. I laugh now but she probably thinks of me as her waitress not nurse assistant.

[meganthemenace]

Sounds like some shit, they stay on their feet and toes all day, which is saying very little for what large amounts of time is consumed by my mom's daily routine.

[Streamhopper]

My mom was a nurse for 49 years. More than twice the years you've been alive. It's a good career; there's always work, but it may not always be what you want. But she really loved her career. She retired at 71.

[1truekhaleesi]

I'm well aware that 49 is twice my age. I wear glasses, that doesn't hinder me from doing math. I like this field but I hate the company I work for. They exploit employees and patients but won't ever care as long as they get money. I have lazy coworkers that would let an incontinent patient lie in a soiled brief while they go on their phones and then they're shocked that akin breakdown happened. Last week, I had about 35 patients. I can't keep an eye on all of them so when one fell, she really fell. She hit the back of her head, blood poured out and she broke her hip. She is back from the hospital now. Management hasn't taken the proper precautions to ensure it never happens. They need to hire more people but they won't and all good employees are leaving.

[Streamhopper]

You're a victim of modern care; you give your all because you like your career, but you know full well you can't do everything on your own. Management doesn't care. They're looking at how much they're making. People don't care about each other anymore, at least not like they used to. It's why I hope I die in my sleep. I wouldn't mind being cared for by you, but I realize the harsh reality of that. It wasn't like that in mom's time.

[1truekhaleesi]

If I take care of you, I hope it's in a good facility. A patient of mine died in his sleep and I wasn't there because I was really busy, so he died alone. I doubt my lazy coworkers will become nurses. The local community college has high standards for nursing students, it's why they're the best in the state. Like you to get at least an 80% on every test or you get kicked out. I doubt they will make it. In my opinion, they need to hire twice as much people but they won't. And when I refuse to work an extra day, they guilt trip me. Like saying but your patients need you. The manager that told me that has a CNA license and she's welcome to help but she won't. At the hospital, I will never have more than 12 patients at a time. That sounds like a vacation. Plus with less patients, I have the time to be more thorough and actually assess patients.

[Streamhopper]

If you can do more good at the hospital, then by all means, go for it! I really do wish you the best. As for my passing, there's no doubt that will happen. If I'm lucky it'll be in my house.

[NerdyBlackSheep]

Its like that around my house (8 siblings) and at my job at starbucks (im 17). There are always about 4 employees that customers never see because they dont help. They clock in and even fellow coworkers dont see them.

[Blonde401]

This is amazing! Mind if I sort of steal this idea and do a barmaid version?

[1truekhaleesi]

Yes! Go right ahead I would love to read it.

[Blonde401]

Awesome :D very cool take by the way

[OlderAndWiser]

Good luck with your new job. Please become a nurse; your heart is in the right place and the best professionals are the ones who love what they are doing!

[sedrftvgyhujik]

Even when your pissed we all have to work with them the next day

[1truekhaleesi]

Yes, masking my true emotions when necessary was a skill I learned that I'm glad I picked up.

[WhereAmI]

I hope i die long before I end up in a nursing home.

[1truekhaleesi]

That'd be my honest advice. I would never send a loved one to a nursing home and it's because I don't trust the employees to do a good job. Nursing homes are terrible and it's a universal fact. I guarantee at least 90% of nursing homes at least in America are very understaffed and good employees are exploited and overworked meanwhile it's the patients that suffer because I get to leave and go home. Management needs to hire more people but they won't.

[WhereAmI]

Even the expensive ones people try to get into before they go broke so they can't be kicked out when they only have Medicare?

[1truekhaleesi]

The nursing home I work at is considered expensive and it's terrible. (10,000 a month for a private room) At one time, it was great. But when new management came in, they cared more about profit than the patients. They argue that it's a hard decision but they "do what's best for the nursing home." If they cared, they would hire more people who actually do their jobs. While employees are stressed and worry about patients, I'm willing to bet that management sleeps like a baby with no sleep problems at all.

[JAT17]

Girl! Couldn't agree with you more on all of this!!!

[zagor]

So glad dementia doesn't run on either side of my family. Most of my older relatives died at home or during short hospital stays.

[smahala1991]

Wow. Very good points. I have a lot of things I wish I could say as well

[sineater8]

I love this, i love this sooo much.

[April10]

Lol this was a fun read :)

[404filenotfound]

I get that, some people lol

[jacquesvol]

Not the same job but similar ideas :) :) :D

[neoagent1]

LOVE this. So funny and so true!

[COCOCHANEL]

sounds like an exciting new journey

[yulbsari]

Haha... YES!!! I TOTALLY relate!

[MarcoIsAFailure]

the Monday ape is only living for the weekend.

[EndyEnderman100]

Fuck the dishes Fuck cleaning my room I'm done!