I'm afraid a nurse thought me inept last night. I'm fairly good at reading social cues and determining what is going on with a person's thoughts by their actions and glances.
There was a resident who had a brown blowout, and of course the call light wasn't working in the hallway. (This was not my fault and not at all relevant except as a factual aspect of the evening). By time I got to him during the progression of my round (working overnight where the ratio is higher it can sometimes take a while to reach the resident), the family member who is always sitting there stated it had not been long since the call light initiation. Suffice it to state, it was a complete bed change which is an easy enough task for me.
The issue, at least from my perspective, was during the second round when I was informed by the nurse that the same guy had another explosive BM. He was next in the queue anyway, so that wasn't the issue. It was not a complete bed change that time, just the draw sheet, but there did appear to be a problem with his feeding tube whereby I'm guessing it was leaking. The plastic bag in which it was contained, wrapped in a towel, was soaked and full of liquid.
I stated aloud, so the family member could hear, that it appeared to me as something I couldn't touch (some things are out of the aide's scope of practice) and I mentioned that I would inform the nurse to take care of it.
I think the nurse was upset with me and she possibly discussed it with her morning relief, because maybe it was within my scope of practice to take care of it?
Whatever, compartmentalizing is a wonderful tool.
There was a resident who had a brown blowout, and of course the call light wasn't working in the hallway. (This was not my fault and not at all relevant except as a factual aspect of the evening). By time I got to him during the progression of my round (working overnight where the ratio is higher it can sometimes take a while to reach the resident), the family member who is always sitting there stated it had not been long since the call light initiation. Suffice it to state, it was a complete bed change which is an easy enough task for me.
The issue, at least from my perspective, was during the second round when I was informed by the nurse that the same guy had another explosive BM. He was next in the queue anyway, so that wasn't the issue. It was not a complete bed change that time, just the draw sheet, but there did appear to be a problem with his feeding tube whereby I'm guessing it was leaking. The plastic bag in which it was contained, wrapped in a towel, was soaked and full of liquid.
I stated aloud, so the family member could hear, that it appeared to me as something I couldn't touch (some things are out of the aide's scope of practice) and I mentioned that I would inform the nurse to take care of it.
I think the nurse was upset with me and she possibly discussed it with her morning relief, because maybe it was within my scope of practice to take care of it?
Whatever, compartmentalizing is a wonderful tool.
"Never trust a fox. Looks like a dog, behaves like a cat."
~ Erin Hunter
~ Erin Hunter