Is nursing "care" a thing of the past?

I have been tossing up whether to vent or not about this, but I'm sick of having it go round and round in my head so here goes...
A friend and colleague recently underwent major knee surgery in a private hospital. her post surgery care was absolutely atrocious and very concerning.
No PCA post op and due to persistent vomiting did not receive any relief from oral meds day 1 post op until 10pm that night when she was finally given one shot of s/c Morph. at one point she was so desperate she truly consdered asking for her vomit bowel back so she could retrieve the meds.
she was left for 3 days with out a wash and her husband had to change her vomit stained gown after >24 hours. the only time a washer came near her was when her husband was there to do it- and once when she insisted they wash her back when the badpan overflowed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Other colleagues and I have encouraged her to write a letter of complaint but she is now so "over it" she just wants to put this humiliating experience behind her.
I i wish I could say this was an isolated incident but my mother was a patient in the same hospital and was left on a commode, day 1 post major hip surgery, without access to either toilet paper or a buzzer for more than an hour. After calling out for attention she tried to get herself back to bed, upsetting the commode in the process. Being of "that generation" she did write a letter of complaint, but given my firends recent experience, it didn't make much of an impact.
What is going on? What has happened to basic nursing care? What about respecting the patients dignity, comfort? I am distraught!
for those of you of my generation you may remember a "film" we watched during our training... "Mrs Jones wants a Nurse". Whilst this was in many ways a parody of the demanding patient, the values and practices that it encouaged us to embrace will always be valid, as patients are still, most of them anyway, human beings with the same fundemental needs!
Are we now in a situation where all Nurses have to go through an operation themselves whilst training. ala William Hurt in The Doctor, to understand the importance of good nursing care and value the importance of the basics like mouthcare, post op washes and adequate pain relief? What has happened to empathy and compassion? Is this symptomatic of the "academisation"(is there such a word?) of nursing. Enough of Nursing theory and a little bit more of the Practice. Something I have alwys kept in the back of my mind is how would I feel and what would make me feel better?
How would you go about making sure that this does not happen again?
Stop sending nurses to these BSN programs. Chalk up one point for diploma schools of nursing!! But the BSN's know how to Google, facebook, tweet, power point and Excel! And basic nursing has been replaced with stupid phrases like"nurse driven", "that being said" and "issue".Sadly enough also gone are: not writing letter of complaint, writing to congressmen, senators or the pres., challenging an incorrect bill, standing up for what someone knows is an injustice .

Maybe it's because I have only worked with BSN prepared nurses in recent years, but somehow I don't think education is related to what is clearly an understaffed unit. As to your final question, I suggest you find out who is on the health and human services committee at your state assembly and right to them requesting minimum staffing standards be addressed in the legislature.

The post is entitled "is nursing care a thing of the past?" and quite simply my answer would have to be no. I have been nursing for over 25 years and although much has changed, generally nurses do what they do because they care and want to make a difference. Sadly there are always going to be examples of appalling care but on the whole most nurses I know would be suitably horrified by the tale above and their practice consistently reflects that they want the best possible care for their patients. Yes training methods have changed but I believe that nurses worldwide aim to give their patients the best possible care they can. Just my thoughts.

This has nothing to do with education and everything to do with staffing. That unit was dangerously understaffed.

Quote from Flo.This has nothing to do with education and everything to do with staffing. That unit was dangerously understaffed.

Quote from kcmylornStop sending nurses to these BSN programs. Chalk up one point for diploma schools of nursing!! But the BSN's know how to Google, facebook, tweet, power point and Excel! And basic nursing has been replaced with stupid phrases like"nurse driven", "that being said" and "issue".Sadly enough also gone are: not writing letter of complaint, writing to congressmen, senators or the pres., challenging an incorrect bill, standing up for what someone knows is an injustice .

it's called understaffing. lots of bean counters feel one tech can take care of a whole floor- and the nurses can add 2 more pts to their assignment of 8 already

Quote from kcmylornStop sending nurses to these BSN programs. Chalk up one point for diploma schools of nursing!! But the BSN's know how to Google, facebook, tweet, power point and Excel! And basic nursing has been replaced with stupid phrases like"nurse driven", "that being said" and "issue".Sadly enough also gone are: not writing letter of complaint, writing to congressmen, senators or the pres., challenging an incorrect bill, standing up for what someone knows is an injustice .

I recently was with my father in a hospital ER following a fall in his ALF. He fell after being given phenergan by a staff physician. My father is 90 years old. He fell and cut open his head with 8 staples put in. He bled and bled and bled some more. No one came in to see him after the night shift came on. No one. I had to beg for x-rays to be taken. At one point I pressed the nurse button because Dad had to go to the bathroom and he won't let me his daughter handle his penis. A nurse came on and basically said "what do you want"? I asked if they could please come and help my Dad with his urinal, and he didn't even reply. No one came. After 20 minutes I pressed again, and asked again, basically same thing. The third time, I just didn't ask and told them that they could either come with a urinal or clean up him and his bed after he pees all over himself. This is a brand new hospital. A beautiful hospital, with the laziest rudest nurses I have ever seen. Also, I left the room at about 2am to go to the bathroom down the hall. While I was in the hallway a gentleman came staggering around the corner yelling for his wife. He was clearly drugged or messed up from an accident. His face was smashed in and he had stitches over his eyes. I yelled and yelled for a nurse while holding him against the wall. I did this for over 10 minutes. Finally a security guard outside of the ER walked by the double doors and I waved him down. He came and got the man in a wheelchair and said "where does he go"?. I said I had no idea but was stunned that no one was watching him. He clearly needed someone watching him or to be restrained. I did what I thought I should do. I called the hospital administrator the next day and told them the story. I thought they would take a report or something, they didn't. And they wouldn't even admit my father. unreal.

Quote from kcmylornStop sending nurses to these BSN programs. Chalk up one point for diploma schools of nursing!! But the BSN's know how to Google, facebook, tweet, power point and Excel! And basic nursing has been replaced with stupid phrases like"nurse driven", "that being said" and "issue".Sadly enough also gone are: not writing letter of complaint, writing to congressmen, senators or the pres., challenging an incorrect bill, standing up for what someone knows is an injustice .

I am appalled that a post op surgical patient experienced such horrific pain control. Why would anyone be getting oral pain medication the post op day of a knee surgery? uncontrollable n/v? I would not even try an oral med knowing full well the pt. would get no relief if they are just vomiting it back up. I would push the iv med slowly, try diluting it, try another med etc. This does sound like a case of understaffing to me. A nurse with an unsafe ratio does not really have time to think, wether it be an ADN or BSN RN, even with such a blatantly obvious issue such as the pain med one you posted above. What happened with your mother is just poor practice. ANYONE who puts a pt. on a toilet whether they be RN or PCT should know that you absolutely make sure the pt. has 1-tp to wipe with and 2-a way to signal you if needed. This could also be related to understaffing but at the end of the day those actions of securing a call light and giving a roll of tp should be automatic. Please encourage your friend to write that letter!

A couple of random thoughts...1. The attack on BSN nurses was totally uncalled for and pretty rude to everyone who worked hard to earn a BSN. Also, some of the best nurses I have worked with are BSN nurses. Some of the worst I have worked with are BSN nurses. The rest of the best nurses I have worked with are ADN/diploma nurses. ADN/diploma nurses make up the remainer of the 'worst' category. (P.S why are 'nurse driven' and 'that being said' "stupid" phrases??)2. To the individual whose father was an ED physician that was not admitted to the hospital--that is a decision of the physicians, so take it to their discussion board. That is not a nursing "care" issue.