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Hospital nurses awful. Please advise

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Amberzak

Amberzak

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
hi. Please help me.

Okay, so I’m in hospital because I woke up and couldn’t walk on Friday.

Anyway. Not in hospital for anything to do with diabetes. I made it clear I’m looking after my own sugars.

They gave me a sepository (thing for when you’re constipated) and I had a hypo. Nothing bad. Just a 3.8.

My mum grabbed a nurse and asked them for some hypo treatment and they took ages to get it. Another nurse wanted to take my blood pressure. Mum said ‘no, she’s hypoing’.

They took ages so mum went looking for someone. finally I got one shot of the liquid hypo stuff, they immediately started bombarding me with questions. At what level do you feel low, what are your symptoms, do you go low often. And the other nurse came back to test again.

Anyway, I asked for more as I don’t have any hypo treatment stuff and I know that I go low and then drop again. They said no, I should cal them using the buzzer. I lost my temper. I said ‘it takes too long for you to come.’ Mum went off to find me some sugar so she wasn’t here for this.

Then the nurse started questioning what I’ve got. She didn’t believe me that Diet Coke has no sugar. She was insisting it does. She questioned my ability to look after my sugars.

And here’s the worst. She said ‘are you in insulin’ I said ‘I’m type one. Insulin dependent’ she said ‘yes but do you take insulin.

She started questioning my ability to control my sugars and whether they take over the control. I repeat, my sugars are fine and nothing do with diabetes.

I handle my own care.

She was so rude to me.

There was more but I’m falling asleep since writing it.

I hate it here.
 
Really sorry to hear this @Amberzak :( I remember being told by a diabetes consultant that if ever I was in hospital I should ask (demand?) to see the hospital DSN or doctor so that my diabetes needs would be properly considered - every hospital should have at least one person specially trained.

I hope that you are able to obtain a supply of hypo treatments so you don't have to rely on others. I also hope that you recover quickly so you can get back home very soon {{{HUGS}}}

Please let us know how you are when you can.
 
Really sorry to hear about your experience @Amberzak

Hope you can get a stash of treatments and continue to manage your own diabetes. As Northie says, seeing one of the hospital DSNs who have more understanding of T1 should help. Perhaps if you are able to explain what happened, the staff on the ward can get some extra training?

I hope they can get to the bottom of your mobility problems too. (((Hugs)))
 
Amberzak said:
hi. Please help me.

Okay, so I’m in hospital because I woke up and couldn’t walk on Friday.

Anyway. Not in hospital for anything to do with diabetes. I made it clear I’m looking after my own sugars.

They gave me a sepository (thing for when you’re constipated) and I had a hypo. Nothing bad. Just a 3.8.

My mum grabbed a nurse and asked them for some hypo treatment and they took ages to get it. Another nurse wanted to take my blood pressure. Mum said ‘no, she’s hypoing’.

They took ages so mum went looking for someone. finally I got one shot of the liquid hypo stuff, they immediately started bombarding me with questions. At what level do you feel low, what are your symptoms, do you go low often. And the other nurse came back to test again.

Anyway, I asked for more as I don’t have any hypo treatment stuff and I know that I go low and then drop again. They said no, I should cal them using the buzzer. I lost my temper. I said ‘it takes too long for you to come.’ Mum went off to find me some sugar so she wasn’t here for this.

Then the nurse started questioning what I’ve got. She didn’t believe me that Diet Coke has no sugar. She was insisting it does. She questioned my ability to look after my sugars.

And here’s the worst. She said ‘are you in insulin’ I said ‘I’m type one. Insulin dependent’ she said ‘yes but do you take insulin.

She started questioning my ability to control my sugars and whether they take over the control. I repeat, my sugars are fine and nothing do with diabetes.

I handle my own care.

She was so rude to me.

There was more but I’m falling asleep since writing it.

I hate it here.
Click to expand...
Really feeling for you, what a dreadful experience you are having, so unjust and unfair. I hope now you have your own hypo treatment so you don't have to deal with their uselessness. Please keep on sharing with us and hope today is a better day and you get out soon.
 
Sorry to hear you're in hospital Amberzak. Hope you are better soon. x
 
Hospital and diabetes. Bad mix.

I always stash biscuits from the tea trolley and juice cartons from breakfast away for emergencies.
 
Sorry to hear about your experience @Amberzak, it's so disappointing when you are not trusted to manage your own health condition, that you manage every day. Improving inpatient care for diabetes is one of the things that was highlighted in our 'Future of Diabetes' report as a key area to improve on.
We're looking for people to share experiences so that we can better understand the challenges people are facing when in hospital and find how best to overcome these challenges. If you would be interested in sharing your experience, you can contact the team here: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/professionals/resources/improving-inpatient-care-programme

For now though, I wish you a very speedy recovery so that you can head home -and hope that your mother is able to locate a hypo stash for you.
Best wishes and keep us updated 🙂
 
Sorry to hear you're in hospital, I wish you a speedy recovery x
 
Really Good Luck Amberzak. There are a lot of people who have not got a clue about T1 &T2.
 
So sorry to hear this Amberzak. I hope that you get home soon xx
 
Hope you get sorted and out of hospital asap, sounds like my local hospital hate going there due to lack of care in a lot of the wards.
 
Hi Amberzak, I’m so sorry you have had such an awful experience with nurses who clearly should know better! If you can’t make contact with a diabetic nurse specialist then get your mum to pop into the hospital PALs rep, every hospital has them, they are patient liaison and should represent your needs with the nursing team.
Sounds like you have enough on your plate wondering about your mobility so you certainly don’t need to deal with ignorance as well. Sending you a big (((((hug))))) x
 
The care of diabetics has been a cause of concern in Scotland, so every ward in every hospital has guidelines as to how to treat diabetic patients, including allowing them to care for themselves. So the answer to the problem is to move to Scotland, or, for NHS England, in it’s stupid fractured state, to follow suit.
 
Amberzak said:
hi. Please help me.

Okay, so I’m in hospital because I woke up and couldn’t walk on Friday.

Anyway. Not in hospital for anything to do with diabetes. I made it clear I’m looking after my own sugars.

They gave me a sepository (thing for when you’re constipated) and I had a hypo. Nothing bad. Just a 3.8.

My mum grabbed a nurse and asked them for some hypo treatment and they took ages to get it. Another nurse wanted to take my blood pressure. Mum said ‘no, she’s hypoing’.

They took ages so mum went looking for someone. finally I got one shot of the liquid hypo stuff, they immediately started bombarding me with questions. At what level do you feel low, what are your symptoms, do you go low often. And the other nurse came back to test again.

Anyway, I asked for more as I don’t have any hypo treatment stuff and I know that I go low and then drop again. They said no, I should cal them using the buzzer. I lost my temper. I said ‘it takes too long for you to come.’ Mum went off to find me some sugar so she wasn’t here for this.

Then the nurse started questioning what I’ve got. She didn’t believe me that Diet Coke has no sugar. She was insisting it does. She questioned my ability to look after my sugars.

And here’s the worst. She said ‘are you in insulin’ I said ‘I’m type one. Insulin dependent’ she said ‘yes but do you take insulin.

She started questioning my ability to control my sugars and whether they take over the control. I repeat, my sugars are fine and nothing do with diabetes.

I handle my own care.

She was so rude to me.

There was more but I’m falling asleep since writing it.

I hate it here.
Click to expand...
I’m sorry to learn this but having had major surgery last year I also noticed the hospital had little knowledge of diabetes. The menu choices were all white carbs and they couldn’t understand why I didn’t just avoid the desserts. As above I’d get the PAL or DSN person in to help. Wish you all the best for speedy recovery 🙂
 
Sorry to hear that you are in hospital Amberzak, and hope that they get you sorted soon.
If it is any consolation that happened to me two years ago, and apart from loss of sensation in parts that leg and foot I am back to ‘normal’ now.

Ask to see the Diabetes team and explain to them how you are managing your condition. For your hypos can mum go and get some JBs. My experience has been that so long as I didn’t ask anything of the ward team they left me to get on with it.
 
Sounds like very poor nursing to be honest. They should know how to check for bg and how to manage hypo.
 
A few things. Always have Dextrose tablets with you everywhere. They do the job for all but the worst hypos. Never let the hospital take your insulin away and insist you manage your insulin. Never, ever allow Sliding scale kit to be used as many nurses don't know how to use it or aren't around to adjust it or top-up the fluids which can be very dangerous. I've always had good experiences on this with my hospital stays but they have all been as a private patient.
 
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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
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