Well it is interesting to watch at times, and frustrating as well. Mom had a blister on her bad leg that popped and left a gaping open wound. The Doctor for some reason insisted on having a Nurse come in to dress the wound each day, which I suppose is good. Though I do wonder given that we have had three different nurses in the last week doing this.

I think I am quite capable of doing this, but heck if the Doctor thinks a Nurse is better, I won’t argue. I suppose he was worried about infection which is why he prescribed an antibiotic cream and Cypril for her. However, while the end result is that the wound is healing nicely and so far, knock on wood, no infection I have to say that I am a little upset by the quality being presented to patients.

To begin with my biggest objection is the lack of consistent care by all three. I mean either the procedure is the same or not, and frankly it should be with little deviation. Changing a dressing should be as standard as anything and yet we have now four different methods being employed here. One by the first Nurse, one by the Doctor after looking, and the other two by the other two nurses.

Is there a difference?

Sure there is. I mean to begin with I think you need to approach this as to what is the best method and take into account the patient. For example, Mom’s leg is swollen, the skin is not the best given the poor circulation. All this information was collected and placed in her chart. So using massive amounts of sticky tape is not what I would consider an Ideal Solution. Yet the last two nurses have used just that, claiming its of more comfort. Frankly, it isn’t and the first Nurse used a bandage that had minimal tape on the edges. It gave a good hold and it didn’t hurt one bit when removing. Plus she would soak it a little with a fine spray of Saline. In short, a good and proper procedure that takes into account the patient’s needs and condition more than being expedient.

The other two nurses seem to not bother with that approach.

Second thing that has me riled and is something I have seen all too often when both Mom and Dad had extended hospital stays. That is that why do we bother with the charts if the Nurses DO NOT READ THEM?

Seriously, I mean why bother? Both nurses asked numerous questions that had been discussed and recorded at the beginning. So why continue to ask the same questions over and over again? Do they think the initial reports were lies or something? Fact is, in watching the two recent nurses, I have come to the obvious conclussion. They simply didn’t do their homework. They DIDN’T READ the previous notes.

Home Care Nursing is supposed to make things easier for people but you know, it can if the patient is very ill and can give a respite to family who are assuming the primary care giver role. However, in cases like this, it frankly is a hinderance when the Nurses are not aware of the pateients needs. The one today for example seem to make it feel like an Inquisition rather than a simple chore of changing a dressing. The one on Monday made it feel like an Inconvenience and Imposition. This isn’t right for so called Professionals, but hey what do I know, right?

The other annoyance factor is that all of these Nurses carry cell phones. They call to give you a time and they know we have a dog. I confine the dog during their visit which believe me the Pooch doesn’t appreciate, but do these Nurses call as they are here? No, instead they give you a time range like the Cable Guy and so you wait and wonder when to put the dog in her box. The first Nurse would phone as she was a block away, giving me time and not making me confine the dog any longer than necessary. The other two couldn’t be arsed.

Then too I think that once you assign a Nurse, then it should be that Nurse who follows through. Sure they need time off and a substitute is in order, but as I noticed in Hospitals, the inconsistent care is basically because you rarely get the same Nurse. Home Care Nursing should assign a Nurse and leave it at that. Hospitals should as well but that would involve proper scheduling and actually wanting to make life easier for the Patient rather than the Staff. Home Nursing seems to have a better opportunity for doing that, yet they don’t seem able. It is also a plus for the patient who can better relate to one person instead of dozens.

Frankly it seems to me that it is time to once more make Nursing and Teaching and Doctors accountable and let the job once more be looked at as being a Profession instead of Just A Job.

Then too there is the inconvenience factor. It is hard to work while waiting, so again a simple call to say I am a block away or 5 minutes away can help ease that tension. It really isn’t a big deal but it is considerate, and maybe that is why I am irritated by them not doing it. Whatever happened to consideration of others? Has that gone by the wayside along with compassion and common sense?