Rude nurse?

Specialties Emergency

Published

The other day I took my father to the ER because he was having severe symptoms that made me believe it was the flu. Mistakenly I thought my dad said he had chest pain as well so I wrote that down during his admission. After waiting 2 and a half hours to see the doctor the nurse came in to do an assessment. She asked if he had chest pain and he denied. She walked out to the nurses station to speak with another nurse. I'm assuming she was the charge nurse. My fathers room was RIGHT in front of the nurses station with the door wide open where we can hear EVERYTHING. I myself plan on becoming an ER nurse soon and just thought both nurses were being really disrespectful. They were laughing when they said there was no chest pain. It's pathetic to see and hear that happen...are they not aware that we can hear everything they're saying? I felt like walking up to them and say "excuse me but be aware of what you are saying, we can hear you guys discussing this LOUDLY." I know a lot of nurses tend to do that once in a while but still...do it somewhere where the patient can't hear you. It looks bad on you guys.

So say something to THEM. And remember once you pass boards and get a job to NEVER laugh in the hospital outside of the breakroom.

Specializes in Med/surg, Quality & Risk.
I come here to read/learn about peoples experiences, and it's like there's always that one person throwing in their bitter opinion like it even matters.

Welcome to Allnurses.com!

Specializes in ER.

I read the OP, and I'm not sure if I'm missing something? I'm not sure exactly what (Laughing?) the Nurses did that upset you. You are in a difficult place, being a graduate nurse, so you know how things SHOULD be, in your opinion....unfortunatly, I think your views on what constitutes rude might change a bit once you have worked in nursing. I hope your Dad is feeling better.FYI- In the ED, a lot of people do come in with a multitude of complaints, but always throw in the "And I have chest pain" because they know it will get them bumped. Also, I have had my fair share of triaging patients....asking questions about history and sx....only to have them turn right around and tell the provider something TOTALLY different. It makes us look really stupid, and can really affect the course of treatment. I'm sort of fuzzy on how chest pain can get accidentally put down as a complaint? I guess you can always take it as a lesson learned....make sure you know exactly what complaints your own patients have. Good luck! :)

I am sorry with your experience.

I am so sorry this happened to you! :(

I had a similar experience 10 years ago. My 1 month old daughter had a fever of 102, so I called the ped. It was after hours so I was forwarded to the on-call nurse, who told me to take my baby to the ER to be checked. Anything over 101 should be seen, she told us. So we bundled her up and drove the hour drive to the children's hospital, where we waited 3 hours in the ER to be seen. I had to take her in to the bathroom to nurse her, my husband and I had both worked all day, we were exhausted and worried.

When we finally went back to be seen, the nurse told us it was ridiculous for us to bring her in for a 102 fever. She said the doctor would be right in. We were sitting right outside the nurse's station. A half hour later all this laughter erupted. She was telling the other nurses how we panicked and brought a baby in for 102 fever, and that we were new parents who didn't have a clue. Apparently this was hilarious to all of them. I was dumbfounded that they would make fun of us right in front of us! And seriously, did they think we WANTED to be there? I made eye contact with her and it was clear she knew I had heard everything, but of course there was never an apology and she avoided us the rest of her shift.

We complained to the doctor, who brushed it off. The doctor wanted to do a spinal, labs, etc. It was a long night, and in the end we were thankful that she was ok. We were new parents, and we didn't know, and we followed the medical professionals' advice. We didn't do anything wrong. The nurses' behavior that night was so insulting and hurtful.

I wrote a letter to the hospital and I did get a phone call from the DON, who assured me I was mistaken and nothing like that would have ever happened. :/

Anyway, long story short: people like her taught me who I don't want to become!

Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

@NB19938 - A temp in a neonate (baby under 30 days of age) needs a full sepsis w/u for a fever >100.6.

Thats the standard of care! You were totally correct in your assessment.

Once again, Pres Gainey speaks - say something on your customer service survey - folks (suit folks) read this....things can change.

Specializes in Med Surg, Home Health, Dialysis, Tele.

CapeCod Mermaid, I couldn't stop laughing at your post. It sounds like something that could happen on my former unit.

I'm not going to complain about this once I get a survey. As much as it did upset me I'm taking this as a lesson and experience. Im learning things slowly here by reading a lot of posts and what to expect once I become a nurse. I appreciate all of your comments and views and I'm seeing where all of you are coming from. Looking forward to my future as a nurse where there will be many ups and downs...but at the end of the day I know I helped someone.

I lifted my 3-week-old (second baby) to nurse him at 10:30pm before I went to bed (hoping to get another half hour of sleep out of it, haha) and when he latched on his mouth was as hot as blue blazes. I had his father bring my stethoscope and got a pulse of about 220; this in a child who had been sleeping peacefully and was now alert and nursing normally. I called my beloved pediatrician, figuring he'd tell me to bring the kid to the office in the morning. He said, "I'll meet you in the Emergency Room at Children's Hospital in twenty minutes."

Geez. He never said anything remotely like that to me before. I got dressed and put the kid in the car seat and drove through the soft warm damp spring evening through the city. Little guy was cooing and ahh-ing-- Look! Lights! Movement! Full tummy! Extrauterine life is great!

I pulled into the ER parking and carried in the whole car seat (in those years they were smaller and easier to pick up). Parked him on the desk and said, "Dr. M told me to come." I could see the eyes rolling and the thoughts behind them. "Ah, another nervous mother, don't you think we have enough to do with really sick children?" I could hear the sounds of major trauma and status epilepticus going on in the back and felt like a fool with my smiling happy little newborn.

Dr. M was waiting for me and hustled us into an exam room with an eye-roller. Ten seconds later, temp 104.4 deg F and a pass with the otoscope, and the answer is clear-- two hot ears. Not common to have bilat otitis media in a 3-week old breastfed baby, but there it was. He said it was a good thing that was it, because otherwise it would have been the three-day admission and work up for sepsis-- blood cultures, LP, the whole nine yards. As it was, the first of many amoxicillin rxs (I know that's not std of care anymore, but it was then). Kid still has an amazing pain tolerance, nothing bothers him much.

And I never forgot those rolling eyes.

Specializes in ER.

There are some things we hear every day, like "the doctor is meeting us here," or "the doctor said we should get right in/admitted," and they turn out to be true only about once a year. It's so unlikely to be true...but a decent triage nurse doesn't roll her eyes to anything. Most people aren't intentionally trying to deceive us, they're just misunderstanding what was said.

Chest pain in triage, is one where people DO intentionally lie to get in faster. If I was the OP I would have written the exact same CC, but it was an honest mistake. Relatives in triage have a different story than the patient, almost 90% of the time, and the differences can make a huge difference in how we treat. Drives me nuts when I ask the patient a question and the family INTERRUPTS the patient to answer for them. So the OP hit a couple of pet peeves at one time. I get why the nurses were laughing, I get why the OP was upset, I don't see a solution.

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