Baby Vaccines

[MrsBlob]

So I went to the GP surgery yesterday to get the second lot of baby vaccines, my daughter.

Unfortunately, I forgot the damn red book.
The nurse asked if I had it, and I told her I had forgotten it.
She then said
'Oh, you've failed today'.

I got a bit emotional, thanked her, and informed her that another person telling me I had failed was exactly what I needed that morning.
She then said ‘well, I thought you might apologise for being late’.
I asked for another nurse in terms of having the baby vaccines.

Yes, I hadn't brought the damn red book, and I was 5 minutes late, honestly no more than this, but I am looking after a baby who is very colicky. 4-5 hours sleep would be a very good night. I noticed a cup of tea on the desk; I know that would technically be against infection prevention rules; I don't really care about this but I hadn't been able to have a cup of tea yet that day, or wash, or have breakfast due to the demands of caring for my baby.

I also think there's a bit of a sexism element, I just can't picture a man getting these sort of comments.

Anyway, I was going to go and see the practise manager/ and or make a complaint. I did consider deregistering and seeing if I can register her with a different practise, I wonder if that might be a bit of an overreaction.

that was an inappropriate comments. Esp at that stage where so many people are struggling.

I forgot my daughter's red book for her three year jabs. Was so organised and planned every details but just forgot that. you know what they said "that's fine. We have it on the records so if you want to bring it in sometime we will complete it for you or you can just write in the name and dates yourself if you want".

That's it. no guilt. Accidents happen, people forget things. life happens. the way she behaved was awful

I don't think it's a sexist comment, but I do agree it's an awful thing to say. I would give it a few days and see how you feel, if you still feel like complaining then do so. I forgot my red book and they said pop in with it anytime or bring it next time, no big deal! X

Well it is rude to be late and not say sorry. You do realise how busy most practices are don't you? They have thousands of patients to treat so you can't be showing up late, even if you are a mum. If you are more than five mins late in my place then they cancel you. As op is a nurse she should have known this, yes mistakes happen but blaming the nurse for her own lateness and forgetting the book is her own doing. Seems rather petty to try and get the nurse in trouble because of her doing.

I'm sorry she said that!

Bad wording but I would not de-register your baby or yourself from the surgery and I would cut the nurse some slack. It was just a silly, unpleasant comment.

I forgot the Red Book and the nurse said "I'm amazed when anyone remembers."

I'm a healthcare professional and I'd never speak to a patient like the one you saw today.

Hope you're ok

Please point out in my account of the events where I blamed the nurse for me being late.

Yes it sounds like she was a bit unpleasant and lacking in empathy for a new mom. I also can’t stand the nurse doing my babies injections and it’s really just she gives super bad vibes when you have your tiny baby getting upset. However, the needles go in and it’s done so I would move on and not waste your time. What she did isn’t worth her getting fired - it just sucked a bit.

That's what you got from the comment...
You were late, emotional, tired and had forget the book then also rude to her, thanking her for pointing it out then asked for another nurse. This is what you said. Seems like you were the problem. Blaming it on sexism then trying to get her in trouble for having a cup which is not against IPC. Then wondering if you should deregister...come on it's a lot of overreacting here. As a nurse you should know we cant always cater for people who are late, DNA costs millions each year on the NHS, then you end up running late for the next patient. Take a breath and calm down. You were having a bad day and aimed it at the wrong person, I'm sure you have had that yourself. It's not a big deal, Move on

No I haven’t worked for NHS and it still makes zero sense now you’ve explained it. Why the red book then…just for health visitors? Do they not have laptops or iPads then? The whole system is archaic

what a nasty post. So the nurse is entitled to make a comment like this to a tearful mum but it’s ok because as a nurse she has a hard job to do!

having nurses in my family I know how hard they have to work, but no need for such a comment, people do forget things, ok someone may have to make up the red book but a nurse dealing with babies should be well aware how tough it is for mothers, not make comments and in this case appears not to have apologised for upsetting the op

Op I do think changing doctors is an over reaction, just make sure you don’t see that nurse again when your book appointments

Why have you posted this twice?

Her comment was flippant and not very professional. But you being late with very little excuse other than poor time management (you weren't caught in traffic and your car didn't break down) is not really acceptable and not apologising for it is just plain rude. You work in care and should know that. What if very was 'just' five minutes late because they didn't get their act together.
Had you showed up on time and forgotten the book, it would have been less of an issue. But you had already hacked her off by not sticking to your time.

The red book is used to track the baby’s development, some areas do use it on an electronic system but I find the book quite an outdated system, very easy to lose or misplace. The book came out years ago so was seen as an easy way to record information before laptops and ipads were accessible like today. But if you lose it it’s not the end of the world due to everything already being recorded when the baby visits the nurse for vaccinations. Waste of money and effort if you ask me.

The first was not formatted properly; mumsnet doesn't give you an option to edit a thread/post.

I would have apologised for being late, and I’d have apologised for forgetting the book.

I probably wouldn’t have taken the comment about failing too personally to be honest, I’d have thought it was more of a jokey comment.

No, I did have a reason. Read my post. I mentioned in my original post the baby is very colicky.

In case you don't know what the word 'colic' means, it means the baby screams inconsolably for hours a day, no matter what I do. It was a miracle I managed to get to the surgery without crashing my car somehow, even though I'm close to falling asleep at the wheel.

And yes, I've taken her to the doctor. Yes, I've tried infacol. Yes, I cut out dairy, and gave gripe water, and tried skin to skin and tried a baby wrap. Car works, but I can't drive around all day. Just rock her for hours on end at this point when I'm not being told I've failed.

Would she know your line of work? Just wondering if she was a bit sharper with you because she expected more of “colleague” approach rather than the usual “professional to patient” approach.

It sounds like you’re having a really difficult time with your baby, lack of sleep is horrible and really affects emotions. Have you had reflux looked into? My baby (11 weeks) got a bit like yours v briefly but was prescribed Infant Gaviscon and it really changed things around, straight away.

Pull your socks up, wipe your nose... move on.