this is an afterthought in reference to entry on my recent ER experience and should have been written with it when posted but i was too sick and overwhelmed to get it all down and of my chest.
so here is another chunk of that experiences which coincides with my ER entry.
the nursing staff was less than professional, this is for sure.
The two nurses I had were a bit aggravating. They were both condescending towards me for some reason. Just because I asked what it meant if I had to have a pelvic exam since the first nurse mentioned this, she got all weird and annoyed at me and started talking really slow, ennuciated like I was stupid or a baby and said she was just telling me that I might have to get one since I said I had some pain in that area and she was letting me know if I did that I would need to do it so they could find the problem etc. I thought her tone was way OUT OF LINE, RUDE and totally unprofessional.
I don't care if she is annoyed or irritated that I didn't get what she was saying. I am sick and it is her job to understand that when you aren't feeling..well, you don't understand everything so quickly and maybe cannot comprehend as fast. Also it is her job to be caring and nurturing because she IS a nurse!! I was quite appalled. but Jimmy seemed unmoved by it all and didnt seem to notice the things I did.
I just felt at that point it was obvious I was very ill, feverish, unable to focus because of pain, out of it because I was very sick and just fraught with anxiety and upset.
I realize the ER is a very stressful place to be and to work in that sort of environment however...C'mon! There is absolutely NO excuse for not doing what you trained to do- and that is to care for and help people who are sick. This includes being ethical and professional. It was severely lacking here but I've had other ER experiences in Chicago and I admit that was not the greatest but I am thinking it was better than here looking back on it now.
Those times in Chicago, I was there for inability to stop throwing up and given a huge painful shot right in my upper thigh/buttock. My reason for going to the ER was very much like this time minus the vomitting and except it was snowing + my ex + I had to take cab at 5am] With all that said...I feel like this recent experience in the ER was wayyyy worse and I was way sicker than the Chicago episode which happened about 10 or so years ago.
Back to the nurses assigned to me in this ER visit..I just felt it was no way to talk to me. I felt it incredibly rude and unrealistic to expect me to be in a chipper mood let alone that I was able to understand everything she was saying when Ii felt so overwhelmed after having to tell my story, what was wrong, symptoms, my medical history to at least anywhere b/t 5-8 different medical professionals (I lost count at some point).
One more thing about the first nurse that very much disturbed/bothered me was that when I expressed fear in what putting an IV entailed and if it meant a needle in my arm and such- her reply was anything but soothing and seemed taunting and almost subtly mean-spirited/hostile.
Expressing fear of needles and not recalling having an iv in my arm in any of my past brushes with ER incidents [which I later remembered I had had back in chicago but it was so vague I forgot and that nurse wasnt as scary plus the IV didnt stay that long in my arm while this was in my arm for hours on end] Anyway the nurse's reaction towards me was unnerving, anxiety provoking and NOT comforting at all. In fact, it seemed sarcastic and made me uncomfortable. I felt very put off with her forceful insensitive personality. She went on to say yes there would be a needle in my arm and what do u mean? this was her FAVORITE part of her job. She laughed. I did not. I did not think she was funny at all. In fact, it upset me but I kept it to myself.
She also made effort to say- "oh i see where you've had blood drawn before there is a scar there..." then went on to say she was trying to get that vein to show by tapping it as since I was dehydrated it was not standing out very well and she'd hate to have to stick me more than once or make a mistake. She went on in this form of talk for minutes only increasing my unease, anxiety, nervousness, and fear.
I did NOT feel like she was a good nurse at all for doing this. I have had many caring nurses who soothe and comfort you, say things to lessen anxiety and calm you BUT this one actually seemed to enjoy producing more fear and anxiety knowing I was someone who was obviously already very nervous and ill at ease. I felt it uncalled for.
The second nurse got mad at me when I was unable to produce a stool sample. She basically was near yelling at me and agitated as if I had done it on purpose. She also spoke to me like I was a baby and like she was pissed off at me and frustrated. The thing that upset me was that I had tried very hard even though I felt I may not be able to do it and went thru the grossness and humilation of it all and still it was not good enough for her.
I felt if she had seen I'd tried she should have been satisfied with that as she had told me to just try, and it was ok if I didn't get it but to at least try..however it didn't seem it was ok when I couldn't get the sample. In fact, it seemed like she felt I had done this to HER on purpose and was trying to go out of my way to inconvenience her and make her job hard. She seemed very nervous as if in training, and inexperienced as if new.
Later this nurse got nicer when I thanked her gratefully for connecting my IV to fluids and taking my blood pressure. After that she seemed to be nicer towards me and dropped that attitude. She was a little asian woman but I couldn't figure out if she was Japanense or Filipino. I wasn't sure but in my mind was wondering the entire time she was in my presence..I never did get her name.
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