I had an experience this month that I thought was something I should share. I had surgery on my foot. One of the toes was shortened and a place was removed from the bottom of the foot. Both places at the front of my foot very close to the toe area. Everything went fine for the surgery. I was told to stay off of it completely for the first week until I came in for my first appointment (except to go to the restroom, of course). I was also told not to remove the dressing for any reason. I did all this like I was told.
Then I went in for my first appointment. The nurse was a nightmare! When she removed the dressing, she just ripped it off. I thought I'd come up off the chair! Thought for sure she had taken some stitches with it! No effort taken at all to remove it gently.
Then the doctor came in. He was very good. He examined my foot and said it was healing nicely. Showed me how I could start using the foot to get around with. Gave me a "boot" to wear and told me how to walk in it. Told me I could walk as long as it didn't hurt and to rest when it did. Also told me I could start changing the dressing and keeping it clean.
The nurse then came back in after the doctor had left the room. When she went to put the boot on me, she literally yanked the two sides together over my toes, squeezing the toes together till I came up screaming in pain. She kept insisting it had to be real tight till the doctor came back in after hearing my screams and told her it did not have to be tight, just snug enough not to slip around on me.
Then after he left again she insisted that I was not to walk on the foot at all until my next appointment 2 weeks from then, I was not to change the bandage at all, or take a bath/shower at all till the next appointment. Everything the doctor had said I could do she said I couldn't.
I've been following the doctor's instructions and NOT THE NURSE'S. I change the dressing twice daily, putting Neosporin on it both times. And I take a bath every day, and soak my foot in the warm water when I do (OMG does that feel sooooo good!). Also I use the boot and walk some every day. I'm finding I can walk more and more day by day. When it starts hurting I sit. If it hurts too bad, I take a pain pill. But so far have only had to take 3 in the last week.
I thought this was important to share so people can see that sometimes what the nurse says is not what the doctor has said. And between the two, I think it's more important to follow the doctor's orders than the nurse's.
I know when I go back for my next appointment I'm going to refuse to let her come near me. I'm going to insist on a different nurse. She was down right cruel! And could have really done some damage if the doctor hadn't come back in.
By Cricket from Parkton, NC
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Update.
I went for my second appointment. This time the nightmare nurse wasn't there and I was seen by a different nurse before the doctor came in. This nurse told me that the other nurse was well known for her bad attitude and for her bad treatment of the patients. He told me to be sure and tell the doctor about it (I had planned to tell him anyway).
When the doctor came in I did tell him about the other nurse and the way she had treated me and also what she had told me about not cleaning my wounds. He told me it's a good thing I followed his advice and not the nurse's. He said if I had gone that long without cleaning the wounds they would have been well on their way to being infected. And also by not walking at all my foot would have stiffened up on me and caused me a lot of problems.
He said I had done everything right and my wounds were healing nicely. He took the stitches out and told me to keep doing what I had been doing and to ease myself back into walking without the boot and back into driving.
So did he get rid of the crazy nurse? I hope so. If not, he's got a problem. I worked for a psychiatrist, and we hired a nut like her. She lasted one day, and that was too long.
Stingray, I don't know yet but I have an appointment on the 21st so I'll find out then. I don't have much hope of her being gone though.
Unfortunately there are nurses like that around. My friend has been telling me of the nightmare she has been having with one of the nurses in her doctors office who is not very gentle and asking questions only the doctor should be asking. She told the doctor but he just kind of laughed it off and said that she was just a little rough around the edges. My friend goes every couple of months for bp check and such and the nurse is still there. My friend refuses to let this particular nurse near her. If they don't get rid of her just make sure she stays away from you!
My mom had a nurse like that at her doctor's office.The nurse didn't like my mom & did everything she could to cause trouble when my mom came in or called. She wasn't nice to other patients either, but the doctor has kept her for years even when she's had to get after her for something! My mom changed doctors!
But it works both ways with the advice.Sometimes the nurse knows better than the doctor on some things.
I like my doctor, but she's become a real scatterbrain as she goes through menopause & adopting a ready-made family of several children. She has given me bad instructions,forgotten things I've said & gotten them mixed up. I deal with her nurse to fix a lot of the problems & get the right info. Fortunately I have a medical background myself enough to know when something doesn't sound right.
And then recently my toddler twin grandsons had tubes & adnoids done. The surgeon said they could go back to pre-school the day after surgery if they felt like it!The nurse said to wait as long as possible,at least the weekend & a week if we could. But then the nurse said we didn't need to listen to what the Dr. said about not getting water in the ears the 1st couple of weeks, that it was ok!
I appreciate this persons' comments and the warning is very appropriate. However, as an RN of 30+ years, I would like to say many "nurses" in doctor's offices are not nurses but people that offices hire who may or may not be trained by that office.
Thank you for the opportunity to clarify.
There are some great nurses, but I have found that many are not that great and some really don't know what they are doing. We all have patient rights, and one of them is to decide who will see you, and that includes nurses.
My PCP has great nurses that I trust, but two other offices I refuse to see the nurses due to bad experiences including mistakes on my BP, inaccurate Rx's being called in and inaccurate msgs to the MD's. When the offices share that I have to see a nurse, I tell them I have rights as a pt to see who I have the most confidence in.
Don't get me wrong, I think we need to see RN's when appropriate, and need to allow them the opportunity to do their job. But, if they are not performing their job proficiently, we need to speak up.
I am a LNA and work w/many RN's & MD's and see many w/a variety of skills of trust & competence.
Cricketnc, as a former RN, I can tell you this should not have happened to you. But, when your Dr. came into the exam room you should have told him immediately what happened. It's obvious this woman could be dangerous. What if you had listened to her? As we all know, there are Dr's as well who shouldn't be practicing, but this nurse could & should have been terminated. You do not deliberately cause a patient pain and put their health in jeopardy. I am so glad things have turned out well for you!
I hope you told the doctor about this nurse. At the least she needs re-training, at most, she needs another career.
I am sorry you had such a bad experience. I worked in Podiatry for 15 years and no way in H*LL would anyone on our staff treat a patient like that...much less a post op patient. Feet hurt...that's all there is to it..and when someone has surgery, it sometimes hurts much worse than possibly someplace else on the body because we have to walk on our feet.
I have a suspicion that she was NOT a nurse...she might have been a medical assistant. I was a medical assistant and took sutures out all the time, but I was always as careful as I could be and always apologized if I hurt someone.
People like her give people like me and everyone else in the medical field who care for our patients a bad name. She should be terminated immediately...especially since she has such a bad reputation for her bad attitude. Thank heavens you listened to your doctor instead of that "nurse" which I highly doubt she is.
The more I think about it, the madder I get!! If I were you, I'd issue a formal complaint with whoever you need to complain to and see if she could get reprimanded, fired, or at least get some anger management classes!! There...I feel better.
Wow! I know there is a shortage of nurses but the doctor should have a talk with his nurse and tell her not to give his patients any instructions unless he authorizes her to do so. Either that or find a new nurse. Glad you are following his advice and not hers. I also know some nurses who do a good job of covering for the doctors(especially in hospitals). They are with the patient for at least an eight hour shift and the doctor isn't. So they sometimes know more about what is going on with the patient. Good luck with your recovery. Sounds like you have a good physician.
Hi, Cricket! I have been an RN for 46 years. When I trained in nursing, the pay was so skimpy that the only people who worked as nurses really wanted to be nurses! Unfortunately, these days (because of improved pay rates) there are people out there who are nurses just because of the pay. They haven't got the stamina or the heart to be real nurses. Those individuals should be reported to the office manager or the doctor when there is callous treatment or rudeness. Conversely, pass on compliments about caring and skilled nurses. It's a hard job, and not everyone can do it!
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