Two nurses argued over me today

[Jannie]

I just started dialysis in August, so I'm still feeling my way. My arm got infiltrated about two weeks ago, so I have some bruising and pain. Today I went in and had a lot of help from one of the nurses. I'll call her Hilda. She was very careful about cannulating me. She picked good sites for the two needles and I had very little discomfort. Note I didn't say "pain". She listened to my chest, found congestion, so she set the machine to take out one and a half litres of water. Later my regular nephrologost nurse came in and said "no, no, no. That's too much. Her BP goes low and she gets  nauseous." Hilda reiterated," I had to pull the fluid. "  I didn't really understand what was going on, but I liked being the center of attention. As I was leaving, Hilda weighed me and pronounced "This is your perfect dry weight. 56.8 remember that. And next time we won't use any heparin. You'll like that."  Sure, I don't like bleeding like a stuck pig.  How about that? I felt like a star today. Two nurses arguing over me. And I'm certain both meant well and both know their jobs well.

[goofynina]

I can imagine how you felt with them fussin' over you    i used to like to see them argue (although it is very unprofessional)   It's still funny to watch 

[boxman55]

Jannie, your dry weight is critical, placement of the needles is critical. stick with "Hilda"....Boxman

[MattyBoy100]

When I started, I was the youngest at my unit at 33.

I thought it was me being silly when I started to notice that when I came in, 2 or 3 nurses would be around my machine doing various "jobs" to set me up.  Then one would say "It's ok, I'll put Matt on."  One nurse would go away then but another would still find reason to hang about.

In the summer, another younger guy started dialysis and so, I put my observations to him as I noticed the same thing happening with him.  He told me he noticed it too that there would be a minor disagreement about who was going to put him on the machine.   Both of us are jokey guys and have a laugh with the nurses and maybe flirt a little bit too.  It's nice to get the attention and it is quite amusing when they argue about who is going to put you on!

I know why they are like that though.  They have spent the first part of their shift with patients who are demanding things all the time.  I come in with a smile and something funny to tell them and a bag of sweets at the ready to share with them and I don't make pointless demands all the time.  If I come in in a bad mood, the nurses take the mickey out of me and say "Aaaah, why are you so grumpy today?" and it just cracks me up as I can't be mad with them!

[KR Cincy]

Matt...one other thing I noticed when I was one of the younger ones in center...the nurses and techs feel like they can make a huge difference in our lives. We're young and are still working (probably) and have families and maybe have hopes/plans for a transplant, so they feel they can really help us achieve our goals. And you are right, a couple of jokes and a pan of brownies will make you the hit of the unit!! 

[livecam]

If they are argueing about your treatment then they obviously care about what they are doing.  That is a very good thing.  If someone saw something questionable but said or did nothing about it that wouldn't be good.  It sounds to me like you are in a good unit with people who care. 

[Jamesw]

That's funny, my last treatment yesterday I wound up having one nurse hook me and another take me off. The nurse that took me off came out of her own section to take me off. I thought it was kind of funny and was wondering if this sort of thing happened to other patients. KR Cincy that does explain a lot. The nurses and staff at both the kidney ward in the hospital and at my dialysis clinic seem to worry more about me more than the other patients, I admit to actually feeling embarrassed about it but I guess it makes them feel better about what they're doing when the person they're treating isn't going to suddenly dissapear one day.

[RichardMEL]

I have noticed the nurses do prefer the younger patients to talk to etc.. I don't mean that they are awful to older patients or anything like that.. or even the demanding ones.. though you can tell the ones they DON'T like lol... but I think it's not just about being younger with hopes for transplant etc.. but I know they like me because I'm not just a good little compliant (mostly!) patient but I take an interest in my own monitoring and usually if I ask for something like a setting change or a profile they don't mind because I usually have a reason for it. For example I know through experience that if I have to take off more than 2.5litres I should go on a profile to take off more at the start.. if I don't I usually cramp or have problems with a UFR of > 500 in the last hour.. so I usually go for profile 1. I had to do this yesterday and the nurse I had was going on about not believing in profiles blah blah... I explained my reasoning and they relented and did it for me. Now my BP went pretty low still but I didn't cramp. I also noticed they didn't set my heparin right so got that corrected...but it's not just about that sort of thing.. a lot of them do care specially when you can chat and joke with them which would make THEIR jobs more interesting and fun. I don't usually demand anything and I might bring in the odd sweet for them (I always have a jar of jellybeans or something which they are free to take from) and we all get on well. Specially there's some I get on extra well with and we talk about the stockmarket or the cricket or whatever when there's a chance. There's more a sense of community as much as care.

Oh and the ones who demand the latest on my love life and give me advice every time is amusing

[kitkatz]

I drive my tech buggy with 4 questions every dialysis treatment.

How much did you set it to take off?
Is the profile set to 3?
Is the sodium on?
Are you okay?

[smile24x7]

I drive my tech buggy with 4 questions every dialysis treatment.

How much did you set it to take off?
Is the profile set to 3?
Is the sodium on?
Are you okay?

Hey kitlatz,

What is the profile?

[kitkatz]

They can set certain machines to take more fluid or less fluid throughout the treatment. That is the profile on the machine.

[keith]

As long as your happy wit the out come is what is important :