frustrating

Though it may not sound like it, I am actually really enjoying my neuro prac and learning so much from this placement, despite copping the brunt of a nurses bad mood.

My patient is a 60 yr old woman, right hemi, aphasic, anosagnosia dysphasic, beginning to say no and don’t. She has been progressing really well over the last 2 weeks but is starting to become frustrated at not being able ot verbalise, or maybe the realisation of what has happened to her is starting to happen.

The other day we were in the middle of her session when she started to become very distresses and angry and kept repeating “don’t…don’t…don’t” and started to fight us off. She was attempting to get up on her own and was refusing our help. It got to the point where this patient could have become violent, but we were able to manage her appropriately at the time. When we calmed her down, I took her back to her room only to be yelled at by the nurse for being 20 minutes late for lunch – it was 1220, I was under the impression lunch was at 1230 as I have returned her at this time every day of this placement with no one saying a word of her being late. She angrily (and loudly) continued to tell me I was in the wrong in front of other staff, patients and their families, making me feel quite inferior. I apologised and tried to tell the nurse what had happened in the gym, but she shook me off and didn’t want to know. The nurse proceeded to put the patient back in bed, at one stage dropping the pt’s hemi arm and being quite careless with my patient, and more or less told me to go away. I apologised again for the inconvenience and apologised to my patient.

I know we are supposed to stay on board with nurses as they can make life difficult for us if they want, but how are we supposed to if they won’t even listen to us? Arrgghh…I’ve done wrong again…so frustrating.

fan