I want to Make a Formal Complaint about the District Nurses? Help?

meritaten

sali_mali wrote: »

Hi meritaten. Just wanted to defend the nurses a bit - I am a doctor and actually, nurses are specialists in wound care, catheterisation and much more - they do know more than most doctors in these areas. Nurses aren't just there to follow doctors' orders, they also have clinical autonomy, plus areas of expertise doctors don't have. They're part of the team, not dogsbodies! I'd go to a nurse for wound care over a doctor, we're rubbish at it!

Having said that, if the GP and urologist have a particular reason for wanting female catheters used, this should have been clearly communicated to the nurses, so that everyone's in the know. If the nurses disagree, they should explain to the doctors and to your mum the reason they think the male catheters are more suitable. They definitely should not be going against your mothers express wishes without explaining to her why, it's disrespectful.

Bit of a lack of communication here I think. I hate it when patients are kept out the loop, it must be so frustrating and upsetting to feel out of control. I'm sorry she's having a tough time with her care.

Perhaps you should read your notes more carefully - I am NOT the Original Poster! It isnt MY mum!

DylanO

meritaten wrote: »

Perhaps you should read your notes more carefully - I am NOT the Original Poster! It isnt MY mum!

Not that anyone would know with your posts. You've done everything and know everything better than everyone else apparently.

sali_mali

meritaten wrote: »

Perhaps you should read your notes more carefully - I am NOT the Original Poster! It isnt MY mum!

Err I know. The first paragraph was for you, the rest was for OP. Maybe should have spelt it out a bit clearer for you, but I'm sure the OP understood. Sheesh.

MentalMinnie

Thanks for the responses.

I've spoken to mum and we're going to try the meeting option, with the nursing manager, and her GP. I'd also like to point out that my mum is fully compus mentos (SP?) She's only 52, but some of the responses looked like people thought my mum might have been old, and not quite 'all there'? I'm just so p!ssed off that I wanted to try and help. Just wanted to clear that up!

With regards to the nurses not taking orders from Doctors/consultants regarding wound dressing/catheter changing...i've never heard anything so barmy in my life!! :mad: So i'm to believe that a nurse has greater authority than the consultant whom my mother is under the care of?!

Off the top of my head, my mum possibly has a 14mm catheter ( i could be wrong though)

Person_one

MentalMinnie wrote: »

With regards to the nurses not taking orders from Doctors/consultants regarding wound dressing/catheter changing...i've never heard anything so barmy in my life!! :mad: So i'm to believe that a nurse has greater authority than the consultant whom my mother is under the care of?!

I'm afraid nurses do have autonomy these days, honestly.

They aren't the doctors servants, they don't just do what they're told, they have different skill sets and yes, in some cases, they do know better than the doctors.

Doctors hardly ever change dressings or catheters, district nurses do it multiple times every day and keep up to date on the latest technologies and techniques.

A consultant surgeon can fashion you a cracking stoma, but if there are any problems with it it'll be a senior specialist stoma nurse who sorts it out.

I'm sorry your mum is having these difficulties and I hope you can sort these things out at the meeting, but you do need to adjust your idea of what nurses do.

FBaby

It's not the nurses who make these decisions, it is an array of people, managers as well as clinicians that would most likely include a GP, a consultant and a nurse who devise care pathways/service specifications. It is however not for individual GPs or consultants to decide.

sunnyone

MentalMinnie wrote: »

Thanks for the responses.

I've spoken to mum and we're going to try the meeting option, with the nursing manager, and her GP. I'd also like to point out that my mum is fully compus mentos (SP?) She's only 52, but some of the responses looked like people thought my mum might have been old, and not quite 'all there'? I'm just so p!ssed off that I wanted to try and help. Just wanted to clear that up!

With regards to the nurses not taking orders from Doctors/consultants regarding wound dressing/catheter changing...i've never heard anything so barmy in my life!! :mad: So i'm to believe that a nurse has greater authority than the consultant whom my mother is under the care of?!

Off the top of my head, my mum possibly has a 14mm catheter ( i could be wrong though)

Catheters dont come in mm sizing its ch's, chazel or some other weird first word, I forget as I dont need to know anything apart from the number and sex of the one I currently have fitted.

Im 43 by the way and I have been catheterised for more than ten years on and off with a perminant catheter for fitted for the past four years, if your mum is going to be a perminantly catheterisd a SPC is by far the better option for a whole raft of reasons.

butterfly72

MentalMinnie wrote: »

With regards to the nurses not taking orders from Doctors/consultants regarding wound dressing/catheter changing...i've never heard anything so barmy in my life!! :mad: So i'm to believe that a nurse has greater authority than the consultant whom my mother is under the care of?!

Hi I'm a district nurse. We are automonous practitioners and dont 'take orders'. We are in 2012 not the 1800s! We work closely with our GPs and less so consultants. Consultants might refer a patient with a plan of care..eg directions on how to dress a surgical wound. However once a patient is in our care we use our professional judgemnt, knowledge, experience and clinical indications to direct care. This may mean changing the consultants plan. Indeed if a consultant or a GP asked us to do something unsafe or contra indicated we wouldnt do it and would refer back. We plan care and prescribe.

butterfly72

I know that some areas now only use male catheters due to a number of safety alerts:http://www.npsa.nhs.uk/corporate/news/catheter-mix-ups-in-nhs-prompt-new-guidance/

If this is the case in your area, then the dns should have discussed this with you.

thescotsman

mynameistallulah wrote: »

Would it be possible to arrange a meeting between the GP, mum, and the district nursing team leader, try to resolve the issue less formally

That would be ok in an ideal situation but what happens when its the district nurse team leader and the gp him\herself that you have issues with? Who do you go to for help then? I think I will explain my own personal situation a bit more. I have Spina Bifida and am doubly incontinent and use a wheelchair at all times for mobility. For over 2 years now I have had a pressure sore on the back of my leg. Now in that time I have only seen the GP twice because a) he first forgot that he was supposed to see me at home because I was actually confined to bed because of the severity of it. and b) he went on his holidays TWICE to Australia which was where he came from. My wound got so bad that I had to be admitted to hospital and the consultants said that he should never have let the wound, which after being tested was found to have 4 different kinds of bugs in it, get so bad and even suggested to me that I consider legal action. The nurse that was originally team leader was great but due to her own health issues she had to retire. The nurse that took over is the one that is causing me issues. Firstly she decided after only being in the job for a few days that I should only be visited once a fortnight and I dont understand how she came to that decision without first seeing the would herself. I know the nurses have meetings but I think she herself should have seen the wound before making her decisions. Now she wants my 77 year old mother to look after me on her own even though they know that my mother is diabetic, has arthritis in the spine, has angina and on top of that has just recently had a mastectomy due to breast cancer. In my opinion its like it was long ago before anti-discrimination laws came into force where nurses just dont care about their patients especially when the patient is disabled or elderly. They talk at you rather than to you and dont seem to care about your dignity or feelings as long as their jobs are made easier.