patient
Joined: 29 Oct 2002
Posts: 137
Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2003 9:16 am Post subject: Met My First Brave Tech
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What a pleasure it was to meet my first
ave tech. He told me he noticed I am a patient who is educated on my tx and it makes his job easier, because I politely tell him what I want done. I almost fell off my chair, because he even asked me for dialysis information because he wanted to learn why he was doing what he was doing. He said he was trained to do tasks, but never told the rational or the theory behind what he was doing. So, he didn't know if the procedures were right or wrong. I was able to answer his questions and now he knows he was inadequately trained and told to do procedures for the sake of unit efficiency only. I say this guy is
ave, because I've had dozens of techs and he is the first one who ever questioned how he was trained and wants to become better educated so he can give quality care. He has my respect -that's for sure!
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brenda
Joined: 28 Oct 2002
Posts: 103
Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2003 9:49 am Post subject: keep educating him and
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answering everything you can. So seldom we see them willing to question the patient. But he best keep it mum around the other techs, and personal or for sure he will be told, just to do his/her job and not socialize with the patients.
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aprnjam
Joined: 28 Apr 2003
Posts: 85
Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2003 6:36 pm Post subject: Brave Tech
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Keep educating him!!!! Knowledge is power!! If you educate him, he in turn will educate someone else. Keep the circle going!!! I made it here!!! Thanks for the directions!
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patient
Joined: 29 Oct 2002
Posts: 137
Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2003 7:04 pm Post subject: educating my tech
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Oh don't worry, I'll keep educating him as I'm a natural educator So glad you arrived here safely. Sounds like you have a wealth of info to contribute. Welcome!
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aprnjam
Joined: 28 Apr 2003
Posts: 85
Posted: Fri May 02, 2003 7:03 pm Post subject: Re: educating my tech
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Patient, I don't know how much I can contribute, but I do know that I have a lot of "soapbox" issues that I have already discovered that need to be changed! Dialysis patients are treated porrly in most units and I find that apalling. The one good thing is that I've been on the health care provider side and I know the in/outs of how to submit complaints and at least get the attention of nurses who are treating patients poorly. I find this unaccepable and if this is their attitude, then they need to find another job! I just hope that some take the advice and turn them in to their States Boards of Nursing. At least give the the hassle of answering a complaint. They may get not get a reprimand out of it, but they sure will have six months worth of stress while they wait for the board to make their decision to think about their behaviors! I feel that any person who is not in nursing because they love nursing should get out. Again, my 2 cents worth and my soapbox issue!
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patient
Joined: 29 Oct 2002
Posts: 137
Posted: Sat May 03, 2003 9:40 am Post subject: what to do?
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aprnjam or is it Joyce?,<
>We called in the State Dept. of Hospitals. They came out and investigated our unit and wrote a lenghty report of the violations they found, but did nothing more than give them a warning. It gave the mangement a major headache, but no sooner were they out the door it was business as usual. <
><
>The SW later harassed patients that he thought might of called in the State. He took them aside and said, "You called them didn't you?!" He told them if they weren't happy there they really should consider changing to another unit. Because all they did was cause the unit problems with all the extra work they had to do to comply with the State, and that meant the patients ultimately were the ones that would have to suffer the lack of care. <
><
>So, this is how a call to the State turned out. It was better than nothng and it put a black mark on their record, but no real discipline was handed out. We still got the same sloppy, abusive care and felt so let down that we were not protected.<
><
>We called the State back and told them that it was business as usual as soon as they were out the door. The head person there told us that its hard to to catch staff violating patients rights, but if we wanted them to come back again they would. All of this had taken many weeks and we were not in the mood for more of the same. We let it go after that as this agency didn't seem to have any teeth in it.<
><
>It has been suggested before a few times to file a grievance through the State Board of Nursing, but no one was clear on the procedure prior to you. If a complaint is filed anonymously, how do they investigate it if the person who is filing the complaint and most knows the situation and willing to talk about it is not interviewd? Or do they ask that person to provide anonymous testimony? Also, can a patient who has left a center and no longer resides in the state still file a grievance on a nurse? <
><
>On a related topic, do you know what the statute of limitations is on filing a complaint?
