"That's where they keep big needles to stick bad little boys."

Nurses General Nursing

Published

A man tells his little boy as they walk by my med cart, "Know what that is? That's where they keep big needles to stick bad little boys."

I didn't say anything because I was super busy and didn't feel like arguing with him, but I really wanted to say "Seriously, what is wrong with you?? You just lied to your child and made him associate nurses with punishment! I hope your kid never ends up in the hospital because you're going to be the one who has to calm your hysterical child down every time a nurse comes in the room."

Why would anyone tell their kid something like that?

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Specializes in Cardio/Pulmonary.

Ouch... that's like the most horrible idea ever...

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I hear it all the time. I work in peds and the parent will tell their hospitalized child that if they don't behave that I'm going to give them a shot.

I usually smile and tell the chid that I only have mommy and daddy shots today.

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Specializes in Cardiovascular, ER.

Maybe the parents thinks they are being witty? They obviously don't think about the consequences.

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It's like when people see a policeman and warn their kids that the policeman will take the kid away if they misbehave.

Nothing like making kids afraid of the very people who can help them.

I don't understand it at all.

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Specializes in School Nursing.

That drives me up the wall! I'm an elementary school nurse and I get parents coming to pick their kids up for discipline issues, and since my office is attached to the main office, they sometimes take notice of me sitting there and tell the child "you better behave or I'll make the nurse give you a shot!". OK, #1 You, Mom, ain't "making" me do anything. #2 I do not give shots in my clinic except insulin for diabetic students, and #3 What do you think is going to happen now when your child becomes sick while at school? You think he/she is going to be real excited to go see the school nurse after you have threatened them with me giving them shots? Niiice.

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Ugh, really? :grn: Yeah, I definitely don't like it when parents do this. I don't have any children, but many of my friends have kids. A good friend of mine recently told her 3 year old son (I was not present) that I would spank him if he didn't behave. I saw the two of them later that day and he freaked out when I came around thinking I was going to spank him. He kept saying how much he didn't like me. I wondered out loud why he was acting this way all of a sudden and she told me with a laugh that she threatened him that I would spank him. I didn't like that very much and told her so.

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Specializes in ED/ICU/TELEMETRY/LTC.

When I heard this in triage, I looked them dead in the eye and told them "Don't say a word to them when they kick and scream the next time you tell them you are taking them to the doctor's office or coming here. It's your own fault." I STILL hear in the nursing home when visitors bring their children in to visit.

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

They do it because (in my experience anyway) they have few other methods of controlling their kids' behavior. I used to work in a clinic that did peds and every time a parent would tell their kid that, I would stop what I was doing, look the kid and the parent in the eyes, and say, "I do not give shots for discipline. That's your [the parent's] job. I only give shots to help you feel better or keep you from getting sick. I promise."

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It's like when people see a policeman and warn their kids that the policeman will take the kid away if they misbehave.

Nothing like making kids afraid of the very people who can help them.

I don't understand it at all.

This was exactly what I was going to say! My husband's a police officer and he gets this allll the time.

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Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, nurses giving punitive shots - what else is new?

Why do we do it? You tell me.

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Specializes in LTC, Hospice, Case Management.

Ok, I'm going to admit to being a dumb orifice once when my son was small.

He was probably about 6 and he had been acting up all day and I was about to my whits end with him (he was typically a good kid and I was typically a patient Mom - just one of those days). Anyways, we walked into a gas station and ended up in line right behind a cop. "Squirmy pants" was touching everything in site, trying to run off, etc. I finally said "I'll just give you to this policeman and let him take you for a while".

Well the cop turned around and chewed me out right on the spot for saying that to my kid. As you all are saying his message was correct and I got it, BUT his tone was loud and nasty to me (which I may have even deserved). The end result - squirmy pants sticks right up for his Mommy and can't wait to tell Dad how mean the cop was to his Mom and how awful cops must really be..glad Mom didn't make me go with him...etc.

Just a reminder - set the parent straight but do it kindly or the kid WILL think you really are mean.

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