Im so BLOODY angry with my practice nurse...

[tiredemma]

...considering that Im going to be one myself, you would think that she would show some kind of respect/kindness/any kind of bloody feeling other than contempt.

Right, this may be a bit long and rambled.

To do my nursing degree, I have to have a course of Hepatitis B injections for obvious reasons.

I recently had to change Dr's as my old one was useless and I worried that at some point he could make inaccurate diagnosis's for me or my children ( he was really that bad), however my old nurse at that practice was lovely and when I told her that i would need injections, she said no problem, just let me know when, but ( and now i wish i hadnt) i left the practice before my Hep B forms came through.

So joined new practice in june and made appt with new nurse to get jabs- she straight away said " No - Its not what we do here- go back to your university and tell them that they are responsible" - So i contacted the uni and they said
"just explain it all in a letter and send it in, we will look at it at this end"

So I do as the Uni says and then last week ( I start Uni in less than two weeks)- I get a standard letter from the Uni informing me if anyone has not started or completed a course of Hep b jabs, they will be withdrawn from the course

so of i trundle down to practice nurse, show her the letter and begrudgingly she agrees to adminster, making lots of noises about how its wrong/up to uni/blah blah blah- so she writes a prescription( which i pay for) and tells me that she will do a rapid immunisation over a month so that i am covered. i book appt for today to have the first jab.

In i go today, she gives me my jab and tells me to come back in a month- so i say " i thought you were going to do a rapid immunisation"
she looked at me with sheer contempt and said "well i wont be- and when your next imm is due i am on holiday for two weeks"

so to cut a long and very boring story short- i have no one to administer the second jab, and even if the nurse was around to do it, It will still leave me not immunised in time for uni.

Im so ANGRY, i realise that its not standard procedure to give them out, and its at each practices discretion- but I want to be a nurse for fucks sake- whats her problem?? she is a nurse also - is there no honour amongst nurses???

cant get through to occupational health till monday so basically i am buggered.

sorry for the long post but im absolutly fuming..
ive waited over two years, through college to go to uni and know it looks like im fucked BIG TIME
ARGHHHHHH..

Can a GP at the practice do it, if you explain the exceptional circummstances? Or can you possibly go private (have no idea how much that would cost)?

If neither of those are an option then - can you either a) tell Uni the whole story and hope they will see that this is not your fault, and that you will get them done asap? or (feel terrible suggesting this) do you get a certificate to say you've had the jabs? If not, can you lie and get them done asap? How soon on your course will you be in contact with patients and thus at risk of Hep B?

Sorry - not very helpful. No wonder you are furious - but you can't just give up on your course.

But if the letter from Uni says "if anyone has not started or completed a course of Hep b jabs, they will be withdrawn from the course" aren't you covered because you've had one? Can you not get the others at the Uni?

Very good point - wish I'd noticed that

Oh you poor thing. I can't believe that nurse was so nasty to you. Isn't there another practice nurse at you GP surgery? There is about 4 at mine and they are all lovely and helpful. Ask another one to do the Jabs.

As for the Uni thing, I'm sure you won't get kicked off your course for that reason alone. Explain to your course lecturer or whoever is in charge that you practice nurse is not being helpful at all.

Sorry, can't be of any more help to u, but I hope u get to do your course as We always need good nurses.

Good luck

you see, im just enraged at the mo because i have only just got back from the dr's and cant get to speak to uni until monday, so i know that it will be on my mind all over the weekend ( its ds's birthday party tomorrow aswell )

the logical, normal person in me tells me that occ health should sort it for me, but then i think- they knew that i had been refused by my gp's practice so why did they not sort it before.

im really pissed of with the fact that she was so nasty to me, im having the jabs because i want to be a nurse- be what she is. whats her problem with that?

I go on placement mid november, should have all jabs by then ( and really be immune- but I think it will be too late.)

there are no other practice nurses,just her.

My best friend is a practice nurse at another practice, I could ask her to administer it, but she would have to sign it and stamp it from her practice and im not sure whether that is possible without her getting into strife.

calmed down a bit now, i may even try an Nhs walk in centre.

tiredemma - really there should be no hassle starting course as you will not be dealing directly with patients before November therefore there is no risk. I understand you frustration with practice nurse and i would complain to the practice manager TBH. Does no-one cover her when she is on holiday? I have to say I was not aware of a rapid immunisation being possible. I would have thought you would have to wait the time between injections.
I think Uni is being unreasonable.

God what a cow

You'll get it sorted I am sure, just breath deeply and you'll be fine

as rustybear pointed out you have actually started the course of immunisation so there should be no problem

hi mears- there is a rapid imm course ( mainly used for those going travelling) which you have a jab on day one - another on day 7 and then another on day 21 and a booster at 12 months ( with ablood test inbetween to check if you are immunised)

Im also very angry with Uni- they could have helped out sooner, but until i speak to them on monday - i wont know whats going to happen.

wish I had stayed at my old drs now.....

What about making an appointment to see a gp, ask him to do it, and use the opportunity to say how thoroughly unhelpful his practice nurse has been.

not going to moan anymore about it. going to down a bottle of 'white zinfandel' instead and wait till monday.

Its the nurses attitude towards me which has really, really upset me the most.

There should be a practice manager at your surgery whom you could complain to about the nurse's attitude, at the very least. Lay it on with a trowel about how this could jeopardise your career, shortage of nurses etc too. He might even arrange for you to have that rapid immunisation after all. Good luck.

That's interesting tiredemma but you really don't need to have that done. Out of ineterst, do you know if the Uni will put people of the course if they are non responders? I know a couple of midwives who have not responded to HepB vaccination.

That's a good point, mears- we have quite a few of those at work.

I am sorry about the nurse tiredemma, and I can completely see why you are upset but it does seem weird that the uni don't organise it themselves- ours so, and they come to each site to do batches of us at a time.

I would definitely put in a complaint to the practice manager. It's not up to her to decide if treatment authorised by others is appropriate. After all, if the Dr had told you you needed a blood test, it would be outrageous if she decided on a whim not to do it.

Surely as you have started your imms, and as you won't be getting your hands on a patient on Day 1 or otherwise putting yourself at risk of Hep B, then your uni should be OK? Hope you get some reassurance on Monday.

Apols if these points have already been made but I haven't read the whole thing.

Surely the trust/trusts in which you are going to be working have an occupational health department who are responsible for your jabs. We had ours on campus so no need to see dr or practice nurse.
Also as others have said you will have started your immunisation process so you will be ok. I would think you will do 2 months in Uni anyway before you go out on placement so you should be fully covered by then.

I would speak to Occ Health, it is their responsibility

As a student nurse I got my jabs from GP - in those days you needed smallpox and my GP didn't want to give me it because it was about to be stopped. Anyway, school of nursing insisted I have it. What a mess it made of my arm. It is not the rtesponsibility of occupational health in the trusts as they are not the employer.

Sorry to hear of your experience, tiredemma. Unfortunately, as you pursue your career you will no doubt find some nurses who would have been far better suited to some other job.

Once, as a student nurse (in the 80s, old style training) I asked the staff nurse what an abbreviation meant on an obs chart. She tore me off a strip, told me that not knowing what the letters stood for meant that the patient could suffer terribly by my ignorance, etc etc. It devastated me. I came very, very close to giving up my training totally over it, such was the impact of her cruel words.

It is about power and a spiteful mind and I hope to goodness I never have the likes of her ever looking after me.

Sorry I don't have a magic answer for you tonight, but I can echo some of the thoughts expressed here, not every one responds well to the jabs, there is time for uni to sort it out, and it is a damned shame that the practice nurse's attitude stinks. I would report it to the Practice Manager as heaven knows how her approach affects other vulnerable patients subjected to her care.

mears i know we are not employed by the trust (i am a second year student nurse) but we were all given them by our occ health dept, and our checks etc.

I just told uni i was either trying for a baby or breastfeeding because for years it was true! i was unprotected but it might buy you some time and they cant say anything to that.