Yesterday I got fired. Yup. Fired.
A patient fired me for the first time in my 12 years of nursing.
I am in nursing school, and the patients I take care of have no idea I am a nurse already, granted not a "registered nurse" yet, but a "licensed practical nurse".
I was assigned two patients yesterday on the postpartum floor. One was a couplet, the other was just a baby. I walked into the couplet room first, figured I'd knock her and the baby out really quick and focus on my other patient with the more complex issues.
As soon as I walked in, I knew she was gonna fire me. She had that look. You know...this one...
I came in, told her who I was, what school I go to, and that I'd be taking care of her and the baby today.
Her response?
Mom: "You gonna touch my baby?"
Me: "Yes, I have to touch him in order to do an accurate assessment"
Mom: "They just did one of those"
Me: "No, an assessment is only done at the beginning of each shift, unless otherwise indicated"
Mom: "Hmm."
Me: "If you are uncomfortable with me doing the assessment, then maybe it is in your best interest to have the nurse take care of you today and not a student."
Mom: "Yeah, I need a real nurse, not you the pretend nurse"
Ouch!
I smiled, then thanked her for her time and walked out of the room.
Being fired wasn't so bad. It didn't bother me one bit. I mean seriously. I know all patients have a choice. But when you are admitted to a teaching hospital, you have to realize you will encounter many students (nursing and medical, among other type of students). The hospital I'm at is very open about being a teaching hospital. There are two hospitals in town, so if you don't like this one...go to the other one.
So in the end, I laughed about it. I'm a happy nurse, I know I take extremely good care of my patients. If she didn't want me, well then that's her loss, not mine. I ended up taking a GYN patient instead that was amazing. I was better off not dealing with some one who was gonna be grumpy. I don't have time for that!
Have you been fired before? Was it ugly? Did you see it coming?
I kinda saw it coming as soon as I walked in...she had "the look".
Bahahah. I love your rendition of 'the look'. Perfect.
ReplyDeleteSo she just didn't want you to touch her baby? Like you'd drop it or something because you're not a 'real nurse'? Seems a bit crazy to me.
I'm not sure what her issue was. I guess in her mind a student doesn't know what they are doing. What's funny is typically you get better care from a student because we are super vigilant and we usually don't have more than two patients! Oh well. Her loss!!
DeleteHa! I love that face, too! Hmm, it looks a bit TOO real. Do you have a lot of experience making that face?
ReplyDeleteGosh. I can't imagine having that reaction. That would have bugged me, at first. I am happy you could laugh! I haven't been fired. I wish I would get "fired" off this project, like how she didn't want you to touch the baby. LOL.
Hahaha!! I make that face all the time!
DeleteAnd I didn't mind at all. She was not the type of patient I wanted to take care of anyway! Hahaha!
OMG. BEST. SELFIE. EVAR!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI had my son in a hospital with student nurses, and for the most part I felt like - people need to learn. I will admit though that she was trying to do a heelstick to test BS and when she poked his -other- foot for the fourth time - she'd already poked his first foot a few times and failed - I gently suggested she might want to ask her supervising nurse for some assistance since my little one was a hard stick. And I felt bad!
ReplyDeleteI really can't imagine firing a nurse for an exam, lol.
I have a limit to try, I only try 3 times, and if by the 3rd time I'm unsuccessful I hand it over to an expert. A heel stick isn't that difficult...if you know where to stick them...
DeleteThe exam isn't much really, and I'd hope that the parents would know that our instructor reads our entries since she has to sign off on them. If I had any questions, I would have asked her!!
OMG, I'm laughing! Poor MIchelle, You were fired!
ReplyDeleteYup, fired!! Hahaha!!
Delete