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Fed up with district nursing team

7 replies

gingeroots · 10/08/2012 19:13

Ok I'm just venting here .

I go away for 4 days ( first in 3years ) having made loads of arrangements to support aged mother .

I come back to find that the DNT have randomly ordered honey dressings to apply to ulcers on mothers legs .
Despite fact mother has found them incredibly painful in past and team leader aware of this .

Care plan is months old and not updated .

Mother in pain ,I take dressings off ,large weal on leg where honey dressing was .

I phone team leader ,explain and he tries to update care plan on phone .
I protest and we arrange a meeting today .

15 mins before appointed time HCA arrives . Argues with me - she is going to dress ulcers and team leader can do care plan later .
I persuade her to wait .
While waiting we argue ( apparently it's just me arguing ) about possibilty of dressings being done ocasionally after 1pm so that mother can wash .( both legs dressed and she hasn't showered or washed in 6 months )

No .no .not possible people can't request time of visits .

Team leader arrives ,very nice ( though totally unresponsive to my questions about finger nails dropping off and concern over deteriation in skin on finger that hospital say we have to keep permanently dressed because bone missing ) .
No problem about nurses coming after 1pm so I can wash mum .

But I am fed up !

Oh and the ankle ulcer is worse because not on care plan because should be seen by podiatrist so not on care plan and still waiting for pod .

Cross .

OP posts:
gingeroots · 10/08/2012 19:16

Should add that out of date care plan does not incl;ude honey dressings ,only acquacel .

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Fluffycloudland77 · 10/08/2012 22:04

Why are the pods being asked to do an ankle dressing? we usually let dn do them as we tend to do wounds that need dead skin cutting off them.

Complain to PALS, frightens the life out of managers.

gingeroots · 10/08/2012 22:15

Why indeed fluffy .
They were very cross when we went in January and made their feelings known .
Team Leader for DNT says when I ask him " it's protocol".
He says DN will do dressing but the pod needs to advise .

I'm p*ed off with it all .
The ankle causes mother more pain than all others put together .
And has now gone backwards because as soon as it was nearly healed the DNT ignored/missed it because not on care plan....

Its not rocket science .

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Fluffycloudland77 · 10/08/2012 22:32

Tbh I've seen dn check one limb but ignore the other, I cant think thats how they are trained, I think it's more time constaints .

I wouldnt know what advice to give a patient with an ankle wound, unless it was a person who was in a fixed position and couldnt pressure relieve and it needed a felt pad making. I'd probably stand there thinking its a frigging ankle we do FOOT wounds, then try and be really helpful while the patient sits there feeling awkward.

If you changed gp you'd probably get a diff dn team.

gingeroots · 10/08/2012 22:42

I think you're right about time constraints .
Which is why I'm not going to complain ,I think they're busy busy and the HCA was having a bad day .
The team cover a lot of surgeries in the area so I don't think we'll be changing GP's .

I'm just fed up .I'm really very reasonable and bend over backwards .
Always buying dressings myself when they've not been ordered in time .

And I didn't enjoy being shouted out by podiatrist when we went earlier this year - it wasn't my idea to go .
Really don't want to go back .

Oh well ,could be much worse !

OP posts:
Fluffycloudland77 · 10/08/2012 22:46

I'd arrange to be there when the pod and dn meet up to assess the ankle. If only for the spectacle of the pod trying to tell dn to sod off in a polite and professional manner, and dress their wounds.

None of my training prepared me for ankle wounds, only foot wounds.

gingeroots · 10/08/2012 22:53

The DN won't be there ,fat chance .

DNT are referring us to pod .
Long waiting list for home visit .
I said I would take mother to clinic .
Team Leader says pod team will contact us ( eventually ) to arrange appt and I can discuss that then .

Sigh .

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