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I respect your opinion, but I did have time to care for my patients. I would NEVER have left for the day if a patient needed something like a catheter removed, or an IV removed. There are ONLY so many beds on a floor. I think this is in-excusable. Shortage or not. I totally respect nurses, and I know there is a shortage. We need to address this as a nation. Hospitals need to hire more medical assistants to answer call lights for bedpans and to give baths, etc.

We need to put an END to the sue happy madness that has dis-allowed volunteers to answer call lights!! Candy stripers used to be able to assist nurses!! I did so as a teenager! There are a multitude of answers, if we honestly looked for solutions.

But to NOT give vital care to a patient like Marilyn, then to continue to say "our poor nurses".. "it isn't their fault".. " is inately UNFAIR to patients, and is even cruel when a patient like Marilyn is lying there in PAIN!!

I also think patients could be dying because of neglect like this.

Beach_Babe must continue to insist on the proper care for Marilyn. She should find out the extension of the nursing supervisor and call her if Marilyn isn't getting proper pain control, or if the Picc line isn't put in after all these days. Orders from Marilyns physicians, should be filled in a timely manner.

No offense meant TEX,.. but Marilyn needs her problems fixed, and that won't happen if her doctors orders aren't being filled.

Prayers continue,.. and yours are especially beautiful TEXOKIE.

"We need to address this as a nation. " That is precisely my point. I am simply pointing out that because nurses are on the front line, and they are therefore visible, it is all to easy for those unfamiliar with the health care system to place all blame for the things that go wrong on the nurses. I do NOT suggest that a nurse should ever leave her shift with tasks not done...but I'm also pointing out that with burn-out and numbing tiredness after long shifts, things are sometimes overlooked...and the nurse IS accountable! Our system has put nurses in an untenable position in all too many cases.

"Hospitals need to hire more medical assistants to answer call lights for bedpans and to give baths, etc. We need to put an END to the sue happy madness that has dis-allowed volunteers to answer call lights!! Candy stripers used to be able to assist nurses!! I did so as a teenager! There are a multitude of answers, if we honestly looked for solutions. "

Amen.

"But to NOT give vital care to a patient like Marilyn, then to continue to say "our poor nurses".. "it isn't their fault".. " is inately UNFAIR to patients, and is even cruel when a patient like Marilyn is lying there in PAIN!! "

Again, as I said in my post,"It is an outrage that Marilyn or anyone has to be subjected to such poor care, but I certainly have empathy for the nurses as well..." Poor care is unacceptable, and I'm sorry if my comments could be taken as cruelty by a patient. They were not intended as such. I offer my apologies if I have offended. I was simply trying to point out that nurses ARE meeting themselves coming in many hospitals and it is all too easy to blame them for all the ills we are faced with in our health care system, for they are the most visible....and the most missed if they are not there.

"I also think patients could be dying because of neglect like this. "

I'm certain of it. And it breaks my heart. These things ought not to be.

"Beach_Babe must continue to insist on the proper care for Marilyn. She should find out the extension of the nursing supervisor and call her if Marilyn isn't getting proper pain control, or if the Picc line isn't put in after all these days. Orders from Marilyns physicians, should be filled in a timely manner. "

No argument. I concur with this.

"No offense meant TEX,.. "
None taken. I hope I have been able to clarify where I was coming from.

"but Marilyn needs her problems fixed, and that won't happen if her doctors orders aren't being filled. "

No argument. I concur with this.

Thank you for your kind words, VHAW, I'm so grateful that you have been such a staunch prayer warrior and advocate in the forum.