Happy Sunday everyone!! Unfortunately I work every other weekend, and this was my weekend to work. It was a typical weekend and went great until this afternoon at lunchtime. I work in a assisted living facility for retired nuns and they are great, independent prestigious women. Its a very small beautiful place with their own apartments, own large kitchen in which all meals are prepared for them and they can pretty much have anything they want to eat. Theres a daily menu but anything can be ordered to their liking. Most of them self administer their own medications but there are some that I must administer medication to which usually goes as planned etc etc.
Todays lunch medication pass had an unexpected twist. A patient who receives medications from me for breakfast was in the line to obtain her lunch. I carried her tray to the table for her and while doing so I notice she has 2 pills left in her medication cup from breakfast. I immediately recognize these are am medications and begin to question why she hadn’t taken them earlier as scheduled. Well Im sure you’re probably thinking that I should have made sure she took them this morning., and yes thats nursing 101 , but in my defense I must go to the main dining room at 0800 every morning that I work to monitor the other dining room and patients. I observed her take probably 4 of the 6 medications I had given her. Well apparently that was all that she took and she took the other ones back to her room with her to be take at a later time.
She then proceeds to tell me that she will take them when she’s finished eating. I tell her that its unacceptable and from here on out I must watch her take her meds at the time that I give them to her. Yes I should always do this but she up until the last few weeks had been administering her meds herself so I trusted that she took them as scheduled. Guess who was wrong?
Needless to say she doesn’t agree and informed me that my way of administering meds is ridiculous. I try to explain to her this is the way its actually supposed to be done. I was informed that I am the only nurse that even makes sure she takes them etc etc.
She fought me on it allllllll day long. She came to the nurses station to apologize and inform me that she will no longer be taking more than 4 pills at a time and the rest must be divided up at different times.(Keep in mind this was just recently done and she agreed to take them as follows) So here we are again back at square one .
Sooo that was just a little rant. Im just glad the day is over. I am now home in my happy place writing to you. Any rants you would like to get off your chest? Any subject is welcome. Please feel free to comment, I would love to hear some of your stories. Have a blessed week!!!
Nursejb
nursejb.com 