Do you feel you must stay with your family member when they are in the hospital?

Question

in the hospital because the nurses are caring for him or her enough? If so, do you feel as I do, as a nurse, that it is because nurses are stretched too thin, have too many patients to care for and because of this can't give the attention to their patients as they should? This is VERY disturbing to us nurses. Complain to the hospital administrators if this concerns you. We as nurses have no say in the nurse to patient ratio which is getting dangerously out of whack. YOu can only stretch a nurse so thin before mistakes and even fatal errors are made. And this is not the nurses' fault. It is the hospital administrators trying to increase profits and cut costs and add to their own over inflated salaries.

Answer 1

As a nurse, I agree. I worked in an emergency room for 20 years. I gave it up after Katrina and took a MASSIVE pay cut to work in a clinic where I actually HELP people.

Every year, hospitals want to earn more than the year before. It is horrible, sad, and an outrage. Hospitals are killing patients and nurses. They don't listen to their employees when they tell them they need more help. They don't listen when employees tell them that lives are being endangered. THEY DON'T CARE. Healing and saving lives costs too much.

They are dangerous places to go. I would NEVER leave my family member in the hospital alone. Nurses only have time to deal with life threatening issues. And, when there is no in-hospital care or observation by the nurses, more issues become life threatening.

Many times I have felt GUILTY for not having time to assist someone who asked for a pillow or blanket. I felt guilty for the horrible care that I was basically forced to give. Patients were always understanding when I showed up an hour later with a blanket, but WHY should they have to be? They pay a small fortune for the care they recieve.

Hospitals are out of control. Thank the powers that be who decided we need to develop a report card system and that if they don't meet (very few) minimal standards they loose federal money. I can't wait until that program really starts taking control of the hospitals. The threat of loosing money for the crappy care they provide is the only thing that will straighten them out.

Answer 2

Nurses are stretched too thin and patient acuity is higher now than ever. With all of the one day surgeries, patients that do stay for long periods of time in the hospital are in real bad shape. So not only are nurses taking care of way too many people, but it is people with serious health issues. So yes, I would stay with a family member in the hospital. As a nurse, I understand the administrations agenda. And will protect my family accordingly.

Answer 3

i have been on both ends of hospital care---as a patient and as a daughter of both parents who had long hospital stays

when i was in the hospital i was 33 years old and i wasn't bedridden---i could do the little things for myself---like going to the bathroom, getting my own water and food, etc.
so i really didn't need or want a lot of attention

however when my parents was in the hospital they were in their 70's and needed much more care
my mom was bedridden which made her very fussy and she needed and wanted more attention from her nurses
i could see how overworked the nurses were so i helped out with the little and in some cases the big things too
i put her eye drops in her eyes every 4 hours---i got her out of bed, put her in the wheelchair and took her to the bathroom and i would help the nurse change her bed and clean her
so on most days i was at the hospital for at least 10 hours
but i felt that was my duty as a daughter---i didn't want my mom to suffer

i agree with you that nurses are overworked and don't get the respect or salaries they deserve
but i also feel very sorry for the patients who don't have family members to help take care of them when they are in the hospital

Answer 4

AMEN!

Recently, when my father was discharged, there was one massive SNAFU. No, I was not there. Blissfully ignorant, I thought. this is the XXXXX Hospital, they take care of things.

This occurrred in 2006. When I complained, I heard" the hospital has a nursing shortage."

Imentioned to the nurse ( RN) who works at the Assisted Living facility where my dad lived. She said she worked there in 1985, and there was a shortage of nurses then!

I blame it more on the idea that hospitals provide better health care by building new facilities, than taking care of the basics.