Respect

[meadowlandsnj]

Something happened at my dialysis clinic that really got me peeved the other day.  We have an elderly man who goes and during his treatment he sometimes yells out for his mother, to me it's really sad.  Anyway, one of the nurses was mimicing him and laughing at him so of course the other drones had to chime in.  What happened to compassion and caring?  This one nurse is a real winner, she has no business at that job if she's going to be so rotten to the patients.  And she's so loud!!!  It's like she yells and slams down the charts on purpose.  And thet scale.........you know how you have to put the metal flaps down when you weigh someone on a wheelchair?  She intentionally drops them so they clang on the floor and she laughs and says "I woke you all up hahahaha".   She's very seldon my nurse.
I'd let her have it if she ever said anything to me that's rude.


Thread MOVED to proper section "Dialysis: Workers" - bajanne2000 / Moderator

[Bajanne]

That is really awful.  In fact, it is well near unbelievable!  Don't they give those guys training on handling sick people?  If they don't like the job, GET OUT OF IT!!!
I don't know how I would deal with nurses around me like that.

[Rerun]

That is mean.  I guess you could file a complaint to the director.  But, then you better never fall asleep!

[jdat]

Complain!

What's the worse she could possibly do? Increase your water evacuation on the dialysis machine? 

[livecam]

I remember elderly patients who would scream and shriek.  It was difficult to have to sit and listen to that stuff but no one on staff or any patients reacted in a disrespectful manner.  We did however have technicians who could be loud and boisterous in a way that was always annoying.  I think it is hard for nonpatients, even staff member to understand how a dialysis patient feels during treatment.  I often had an unwell feeling and sort of a headache as fluids were being removed during treatment.  A quiet, professional atmosphere in the treatment area should exist at all times.  Treatment can be tough on patients so extraneous distractions and annoyances should be kept to a minimum for everyone's well being.

[kevno]

One of the worst times for a patient on the machine is when your BP crashes. I have learnt now to recognize when My BP is Going low on the machine. But at first a new patient as no idea what is happening to then. Just the other day I heard a patient screaming out. Please help me, whats happening, I feel sick and so on. I suppose it as happened to all of us on Haemo. It is amazing what a couple hundred mils of saline can do to bring you around. When you come around you feel silly for all the trouble you have just caused. Plus how quick you take that oxygen mask off! But you are wet through from Head to toe with all the sweating.

[goofynina]

Woah, i just had a flashback,  i've crashed one too many times, and it is the WORSE feeling.  And yes, i did feel dumb after it was all over for how i reacted, hey, i was scared, not my fault

[angieskidney]

the first time I crashed I got scared and for some dumb reason I cried and felt so dumb about it afterwards

[Bajanne]

A crash is one of the most awful things to happen to you on dialysis.  I remember my experience.  I posted about it once as my worse dialysis session ever.   I thought I was gone for sure!  It is a feeling worse than actual pain.  It was as if my life was just slipping away.  I wanted to pull out all the tubes and run somewhere.
As you guys said, just putting my recliner back and putting in some saline just fixed it.
I did not feel dumb afterwards - that was a horrendous experience, and our reactions are just normal.

[Hawkeye]

We have an elderly man who goes and during his treatment he sometimes yells out for his mother, to me it's really sad.  Anyway, one of the nurses was mimicking him and laughing at him so of course the other drones had to chime in.  What happened to compassion and caring?  This one nurse is a real winner, she has no business at that job if she's going to be so rotten to the patients.  And she's so loud!!!  It's like she yells and slams down the charts on purpose.

We have a nurse like this that is only here once  in a blue moon.  She is a staffing agency nurse which makes it even worse.  She doesn't do her job properly and doesn't care because there is no one there that can fire her.  One day there was a patient who was cramping REALLY bad, and crying because of it.  This nurse was yelling at her and telling her to stop being such a baby and to deal with it.  All she would do is turn of the flow.  I had to go find one of the regular nurses who was on break to handle it.  How can someone be so cruel and yet be in the medical field?

[angieskidney]

I get cramps in my abdomen, my feet and my hands. The one that annoys me the most is in my abs .. and when they sit me up at the end it gets worse. Some of the nurses seem to think it is just like any normal cramp they have ever gotten.

[kitkatz]

Oh man, it is indescribable what a dialysis cramp is.  It is f*ing painful and noone can know what it feels like unless you have had one.  Even a pregnancy cramp cannot even begin to compare.  I had both feet cramping one night and it had me in tears.  It was awful.  If a nurse told me to just let it go or get over it I think would grab them by the short hairs and let them have it!  What a wench!

[angieskidney]

Ya, I really wish that they could put themselves in our shoes even though I know they could never understand the depth of some of these cramps. I find now that they have my dry weight up I don't get the cramps nearly as bad if at all anymore.

[Joe Paul]

Ya, I really wish that they could put themselves in our shoes even though I know they could never understand the depth of some of these cramps. I find now that they have my dry weight up I don't get the cramps nearly as bad if at all anymore.

I think it would be great to have a few Dialysis persons doing the treatments, that way they could relate to some of our complaints.Maybe then things would make a change for the better.

[kevno]

I had cramp in the back of my leg at the end of dialysis the other day Was it painful, Got the nurse to take me off ten Min's early. Then just gritted my teeth and tried to walk around for a while. With the Nurses laughing. Thats something Rerun would do It did go after a while walking around, but the back of my leg is still sore today. I also sometimes get cramp in my fingers, I have always found the best way is to try to move them. However painful it is   I know how painful it is OUCH! OUCH!

[livecam]

The cramps were awful and were usually in my feet and legs.  I found that putting pressure on the leg was about the only thing that would fix it so I would stand up until the thing dissipated.  If the cramp was in a foot I found that pulling the foot toward my leg as hard and far as it would go would start to make it go away.  5 years after a transplant I still get this kind of cramping but it is not very often.  One morning a couple of weeks ago a bad cramp in my left leg was the morning wake up call.  I usually get out of bed pretty fast but that day it was really fast.

[kitkatz]

I have found for the bad "back of the leg cramps" and foot cramps  Stand up on your tip toes and then drop the back of your heal to the floor several times.  This seems to stretch out the muscles in the back of the calf and the foot.  Do it several times.  Once is never enough when you have bad cramps. I have told several people at dialysis who were new to do this and it works every time.

[deej]

I usually have leg cramps. The nurses do nothing or they pour alcohol on the cramp.  It doesn´t help. We tell them that but I guess they like getting us all wet. Sometimes I wonder if they plan on lighting a match.
I crash almost every Tuesday / Thursday and Saturday. My BP goes very low when I´m on the machine due to heart problems and the attendants give me saline when they get around to noticing that I´m half dead. That´s another reason I´m switching to PD so I can control my own life a little bit better.

I have found for the bad "back of the leg cramps" and foot cramps Stand up on your tip toes and then drop the back of your heal to the floor several times. This seems to stretch out the muscles in the back of the calf and the foot. Do it several times. Once is never enough when you have bad cramps. I have told several people at dialysis who were new to do this and it works every time.

Sounds like good advice, kitkatz.  I´ll try it.

[needlebearer]

There are good and bad health care workers in every field, every state and every nation.  I apologize to each and every one of you who have ever had a crappy nurse or tech.  As a health care worker, I can truly say that it can be very stressful.   Speaking for myself, I understand that hemo is extremely taxing on your bodies.  I also understand that the cramps you guys get are "bone breakers".  In fact, that is what I call them.    What you must understand is that sometimes it gets very frustrating when you are dealing with a non compliant patient.  You know what their outcome will be in the long run if they don't heed your advice, and all you can do is deal with the daily symptoms and watch them slowly kill themselves.  I don't need to be stuck with your needles or go on your renal diet to understand that you guys have a hard road.  Hell...I would be the queen of phosphorus if I was on dialysis.  Can't give up the cheese, milk, chocolate or Pepsi.  God willing, I will never have to find our exactly how hard.  Working in and being a patient of a dialysis unit is a unique experience.  We see each other 3 days a week, week in and week out and the relationships we form are different.  We get close...it's inevitable.  My patients are an extention of my family to a degree and when they feel bad, I feel bad.  When they celebrate, I celebrate with them.  When they die, I grieve.  We are gonna get on each others nerves sometimes.  Can't avoid it.  I am glad we all have a place where we can gripe and where we can learn.   Thank you to Epoman(who I believe is the moderator) for giving us all this place.

[goofynina]

Ohh no no nooo Honey,, Epoman isnt the moderator, he is the Administrator, the founder of this fine site.  Rerun, Bajanne and myself, Goofynina, are his moderators.  All this has been created by one man, Epoman,  have you read his story?  In time you will get to know us all and we look forward to getting to know you better as well      

[Bajanne]

thanks for sharing your perspective with us.  That is what this community is all about.  We are indeed thankful to Epoman who has invested so much in this website.  It has certainly been a lifeline for a lot of us.

[needlebearer]

Ooops....sorry.  Especially to Epoman.