Hey guys,
This week on placement I had to deal with a nurse who was less than friendly and showed some very poor professionalism which I was extremely disappointed with. I was treating a patient who is doubly incontinent and for some reason always decides to empty his bowel once in physiotherapy (after being transferred to the plinth).
The first two times I saw this patient he emptied his bowels while in physiotherapy; the protocol is to call the nurse down to change him, which on both occasions they did so promptly (and I did help out a little, which was quite an experience). The nurse was appreciative of this.
As this patient was going to be used for my final Ax with my Curtin clinical tutor I had pre-warned her that the session may be interrupted by a change of pad. After transferring the patient to the bed a familiar smell started to waft around the patient and sure enough like clock work the patient had once again opened their bowel.
This time I went to personally find the patient’s nurse to request a change. Upon requesting the patients nurse that their patient required a change I was greeted with the response “For f*#@!k sake, I’m busy I have a meeting to attend”. The nurse then walked away, I was totally shocked and really disappointed with this reaction; I had never even met this nurse before. Now I can understand that people may get stressed and be under pressure at work from time to time but you still have to maintain a certain level of professionalism. If this outburst was due to me being a student then her behaviour is even more disappointing and inappropriate.
I returned to the physiotherapy gym and waited for her, instead she sent down two other nurses to her ‘dirty work’. I hope she felt really bad about the way she handled herself and was too embarrassed to come face to face with me, as she didn’t even apologise when I passed her in the hallway later that day.
I felt really disappointed with the whole situation and generally I feel that as a student quite often we get treated as second rate people by other staff when on prac.
That’s my gripe, hope everyone enjoys their last 4 week placement in Perth.
Cheers
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3 comments:
Hey Mike,
I know what you mean about being a student and being treated differently in the hospital. I have noticed it on my last 2 placements both from nurses and the doctors. You are made to feel like you are a major burden. We ran into an interesting situation last week. A nurse told us there is no point in transferring this stroke patient out of bed into his chair as he does nothing but soils himself and they are left to deal with it. We tried to explain the importance to sitting out bed for his chest and how they are worried about a chest infection for him however; she was very set in her ways and completely disagreed with us. Communication and cooperation on the ward for the remainder of the week was very awkward and challenging. I went to go do a mobility assessment that the doctors had requested and she specifically entered the cubicle asked me to come out and said his mobility is fine I don’t want you stirring him up he is in pain and we finally got him comfortable. I as a student was not in any position to confront this situation but was annoyed as well.
Good luck with the next placement.:)
dani
Thanks for your post Mike.
It raises some really important points about professionalism and the impact that members of the team can have on each other. I have worked with some staff who actively promote cooperation with all (including students) and others that are so focussed on their own area that they fail to acknowledge the contributions of others and actively put up barriers that discourage teamwork. The atmosphere of working in each of these situations is poles apart and there are loads of studies into the effect of teamwork on outcomes for patients (ie where teams work effectively together patients are better off!!)
The take home message from this is, what type of health professional are you going to be? One that promotes teamwork or one who creates barriers. Once you graduate remember what it is like to be "the student" and treat anyone that you are directly or indirectly supervising with the respect that they deserve (some of the toughest clinical supervisors are recent grads!!).
The amount of positive feedback that I have received from patients over the time that I have been supervising says to me how valuable the contribution is that you are making at this phase of your careers. I know for every staff member that does not value your contribution, there are dozens of others who do.
Hi Mike and Dani,
During my placement I had a couple similar situations but not as unpleasant like yours. Firstly, on 1st day our clinical tutor said when we writes our notes is better start with "seen by physiotherapy" instead "physiotherapy student" as from her experience notes start with "seen by physiotherapy student" are not treated seriously and often ignored.
Once one of my patient informed me and my collegue during physio treatment that he needs go to toilet ("number 2")however he will be ok to continue/ finish in 5-10 minutes.So after finisnig treatment and transfering the patient to his W/C, we took him to his room and told his nurse that patient wants go to toilet.Nurse ( young about my age)said: "so you can hoist and take him to toilet".I knew she was "kidding" so I answered "Yes, sure- smiling and telling that now I am taking another patient Mr.WB to gym.
Good luck with the next placement
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