This happened to me a couple of weeks ago. My patient’s daughter, was complaining to me that we were being too loud next door where we were coding a patient 4x throughout the night.
She was upset how she was not getting restful sleep, all while nurses, a doctor, and EKG tech, an XRAY tech, a pharmacist, and several RT’s were by bedside trying to resuscitate another patient. I took in the comment, and did the routine: “I’m sorry you weren’t able to get the sleep you needed.”
She gave me the shrug and the eye rolls throughout the night as I do my rounds while her mom (my patient) remained vented, sedated with a pacer/aicd, throughout the night –not that that information would’ve changed my care, however just to put things into perspective.
Again, i apologized before i left my shift, and i hope she get some sleep throughout the day. She somehow still insisted that she was in the right, and it was my wrong, or the hospital’s wronging for keeping her up all night. It was my last shift of the week–and i was not about to argue and involve myself in a lose-lose situation.
Apparently, one or two nights later, her mother coded.
I wasn’t there. But i know for the fact that my coworkers ran the routine…
Family members need to understand that the hospital is NOT the best place to get that restful sleep. Things don’t quiet down just because it’s the night time, and your body cycle indicates it’s time to go to sleep.
Alarms and codes remain in place whether it’s day or night–and this is to keep OUR PATIENTS SAFE. I’m writing this, not out of spite, but to remind patients and family members that nurses & hospital staff are entirely human. There are calculated reasons as to why it takes us longer than usual to answer your call light, or why the room next door is extremely loud. Trust that there are reasons. Because more often than not, there ARE reasons.