The patient has no complaints

I know I have high standards of care. And that's exactly what I try to pass on to my trainees, which is why I'm probably called strict. I can overlook a lot of things and it's certainly sometimes due to the stress of the ward. But there's so much adding up here that it's making me really unhappy.

When I arrived here, I was given a questionnaire by the nursing staff for admission; no one asked me anything personally. It was later documented that I had no pain or wounds, which is not entirely correct. Blood pressures of 80/40 are not documented or measured. Sometimes I don't see a nurse for 11 hours. Nobody introduces themselves, nobody has asked me so far (except doctors) how I'm doing. But after the shift it is documented “Patient is fine!” or “doesn't express any complaints”, but girl, you haven't seen me since 7am. I go to the scale every morning, but not a single weight has been recorded for three days. Medications that I request are not documented anywhere. And so on...Nobody talks to you here.

Personal experience as a patient shows me once again what a great team I work in down below. Everyone is warm, patients are greeted in a friendly manner and the ward and the process are explained to them upon admission. You will be escorted into the room.

I was downstairs visiting last night. My dear colleague did her evening rounds: “hey, you're devouring the books” and “is everything OK with your cell phone?” She knows what keeps her patients busy all day. Attention to the needs and concerns in all the stress that reigns below. I miss that up here. A bit of small talk between nursing and patients. I feel out of place here and the nurses definitely do. Nobody here cares about the fact that I almost collapse in the hall, that I tear up when everything becomes too much for me.

But “the patient is fine!”