MY gawd did i have a shock yesterday !

[KICKSTART]

In the 'little' room , on dialysis when in walks MATRON ! For those of you not in the UK , Matron is the be all and end all of all the nurses, they even tackle doctors! She had come to see me personally ! Not only was i honoured but she is based at another hospital , so double honour! She closed the doors and spent over an hour with me ! What a lovely lady she is. She took everything very seriously and i get the impression she could see i was genuine. Luckily for me i had my original appt in writing , although she didnt ask to see it. I was also able to tell her confidential patient info that 'the nurse' had repeated. There didnt seem to be any issue and she was glad i had brought it to her attention. We then chatted for nearly an hour about what other things can be done to make patients dialysis better. She discussed at great length the issues im having with my dialysis and totally understood why i had to come off early. In fact she has suggested we start a process of elimination to see if we can find a cause , starting with changing my 'artificial kidney' she has been more helpful than my neph and is certainly as knowledgeable ! She told me she would be speaking to the nurse in question as things like this needed stopping straight away. She is on hols next week so said she would come back and see me the week after with an update and if anything like this happens again , go directly to her ! 

[Hazmat35]

Good for you!  People don't realize that they need to stand up and speak for themselves!  If you don't, nobody will do it for you! 

Good luck!

[Darthvadar]

Finally, things are on the up for you, KS..... Thank God for that!...

Great to find someone who not only empathises with your situation, but is in a position to actually do something about it!...

Onward and upward!!!!......

Love to the pawed people!...

God bless...

Darth....

[Zach]

 

[RichardMEL]

Sounds very positive.

And re the "elimitation" process - it's so simple you'd think that's the sort of thing ANY dialysis nurse, or heck anyone with half a brain, would do.

I wonder what sort of nurses work generally in your unit. Because I'm in a hospital unit down here in oz, ALL the nurses who deal with us are so called "Division 1" which is the most senior, experienced, etc level you can have. Having seen these guys (well OK, 95% female ) jump in when someone has gone code blue, or whatever, I am always 150% confident. I've seen so many instances (sadly really) when they've gone from joking around with us and being "normal" to 100% business helping out when it's needed. As I wrote elsewhere a few days ago I have noted it is these guys who manage the day to day dialysis needs of our patients and know way more about the mechanics of it than the doctors do (they get the theory of course, but not the practical). Since these guys are at the coalface every day they KNOW what happens. The docs? not so much.

It soundsa like MATRON (sorry when I read that I just have images of the rather large lady from the "Carry On" movies in my head) is definitely one who has been around the block more than once, but luckily is one who knows what we as patients go through (and hopefully can spot B/S from truth) and get to the bottom of things for you.

Hopefully this will result in a good change for you - specially treatment wise.

My only small concern is that given MATRON is not based at that unit, she's not around and certain people may take real exception to what's happened and take it out on you when MATRON isn't around. I know she said go straight to her - and that's great - but hopefully people can act professionally and not get personal!!! Fingers crossed.

All in all - great development!!! Well done!

 

[Poppylicious]

 

That's brillo, Kickie!  What a thoroughly lovely lady she sounds. 

MATRON (sorry when I read that I just have images of the rather large lady from the "Carry On" movies in my head)

*chuckles* ... Me too!  I didn't even know we still had Matron's in the UK.

 

[okarol]

  So glad someone LISTENED!!

[cloud393]

Finally!   

[MooseMom]

I know how frustrating things have been for you, so I am so glad that you've finally gotten something of a result.  I am so very curious to find out what is at the root of the your dialysis woes.  What's the gameplan?  What is going to be "eliminated" first?

I'm really happy for you, Ricky G.  I so hope you will begin to feel better soon.  You are a very smart, well-informed patient, and I know that you will help your team discover how to make things better for you.

[KICKSTART]

   I cant stop laughing when i see Ricky G , MM you brighten up my day with that !

Yes we still have Matrons , good job too ! To get this carry on image out of your heads she is slim , blonde hair and very pretty ! Good job RM isnt around ! 

[MooseMom]

author=KICKSTART link=topic=20299.msg339662#msg339662 date=1285364452

Yes we still have Matrons , good job too ! To get this carry on image out of your heads she is slim , blonde hair and very pretty ! Good job RM isnt around ! 

Oh, just wait.  He will be!



Edited: Fixed quote tag error - okarol/admin

[RichardMEL]

lol. strangely I'm more a brunette, or even redhead, sort than bloindes. Only been with about 1 or 2. 

Yes, I am surprised they still have the position/title of Matron there. Down here they're all called something like Senior Nursing Co-ordinator or something equally bland. Still the same sorts of people though

Carry On! 

[Jean]

Wow, KS, finally some one listened to you. I hope this makes your life at least a little bit better. I am with Richard, I hope the nurses dont retaliate on you. Souunds to me as if they had better not!!!! Keep us posted, I am curious to see what comes next.

[brandi1leigh]

Congratulations!

I have a great unit here in the States, so I hate hearing about how bad it can be. I feel a little guilty that I have it so great where I'm at.

Really glad things have the ability to improve!

[Riki]

Congratulations!

I have a great unit here in the States, so I hate hearing about how bad it can be. I feel a little guilty that I have it so great where I'm at.

Really glad things have the ability to improve!

I feel the same way.  My dialysis nurses are a great set of girls, and like Richard, I've seem them go from happy go lucky, joking around to 100% serious business in no time flat.  The girls have come to be like family.  I even have a few of them as facebook friends, and one is a neighbor.

[RichardMEL]

definitely family in a community kind of way. I buy mine coffee sometimes, and we chat about life. Like one tells me all about her daughter's adventures interstate, another about trying to get a boyfriend for her daughter (!) still another about taking her son to disneyland etc. And another had a holiday and bought me back a t shirt.

I don't know about facebook though.. somehow that seems like some kind of a line being crossed. You know I am sure there arre rules about that sort of thing.. but then again I'm sure that nurse was not supposed to give me a t shirt, and I shouldn't have burned a dvd for another one. Hey, stuff happens!

Those of us in good units with great staff are truly blessed.