Do you tell people where you work?

[psu_213]

A fellow nurse with whom I work told me this story. She was at the gym in the hot tub (that's as risqué as this story gets :)). A fellow gym-goer said something to the effect of "boy, it's nice to come a weekday afternoon. It's not very busy." Leaving out the minutiae of the rest of the conversation, eventually the person asked this nurse what she did that let her be free on Wednesday afternoon (the conversation had been and at this point continues to be very pleasant). After saying that she is a nurse, the other person says "oh, that's great. Where do you work?" After the nurse names the hospital, the person's facial expression changes and she says "how can you work for such a corrupt hospital? Not to mention, that place is terrible...they killed my mother." After a short, awkward pause the nurse got out of the hot tub and walked away.

Do any nurses out there not tell people their line of work and/or not tell the hospital for which they work? I realize I was not there, but it seems like a not-to-personal question, but, hey, who knows where it will lead?

[mustlovepoodles, RN]

I do. I work for a non-profit that does foster care and placement of persons who have developmental disabilities. I've never had anyone make an unkind comment about my job.

[Julius Seizure]

I generally don't volunteer that I'm a nurse unless asked.....I have a friend who is a surgical tech/first assist and he brags and goes on and on about hospital stuff enough for both of us, so I never need to bother :)

But I think in this situation, I would simply say something like "oh, I'm sorry to hear that you had a bad experience there." And try to make it sound distant enough that he doesn't assume I am asking for the story, then I'd start thinking of a place I need to be, or something I need to do, because he's probably gonna want to tell the story anyway... :)

In all seriousness, I do try to put on my little nurses empathy/listening cap on when people decide to share their boring hospital stories. They trust me with a story that was significant in their life because I am a nurse....and in some ways, while it can be annoying, it's also some small honor that a stranger will open up to me. Maybe? I dunno. I'm sappy tonight.

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

I am in customer service.....

In all seriousness, I say "I am a nurse" and IMMEDIATELY turn the conversation back to them----"so what do you do? Really? That's awesome! Do you like it? It must be nice to blah, blah, blah......So nice to meet you, but I have to go....."

[hopefulwhoop]

I tell people I know where I work. When strangers ask, I give a vague description, i.e. "I work at a local hospital."

[tryingtohaveitall]

I always have as I've always been proud of the hospitals I've worked in. There's the rare rude person who will tell me about a bad experience but I apologize for that and move on.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

I don't talk to strangers. Problem solved. My friends all know where I work.

[NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

If they ask I tell them because I ALWAYS work very, very far from where I live. So there response will be, "oh, ok. Never heard of it." Exactly!

[Kencanwin]

You should have stayed... Why let em ruin an other wise peaceful day? Your response should have been Oh I'm sorrry for your loss but if someone at the hospital killed your mother you should contact the authorities. Its still illegal to kill people after all.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I don't like volunteering the fact that I'm a nurse because I'd rather not deal with annoying queries for medical advice that would best be addressed by a physician...

"What do you suggest for my runny nose? Is it an allergy or a sinus infection? And by the way, my lower back has been hurting for three years, so what do I do about that?"

[NurseDirtyBird]

I don't on airplanes, because who wants to be stuck in a flying tin can for hours listening to every medical malady your seatmates have had? Otherwise I don't normally volunteer the information, but if someone asks, I'll tell them. I usually get "I don't know how you can do that job, because I sure couldn't!"

Occasionally I've had some rude responses because I work in a nursing home, but I work in the highest rated SNF in my area and have nothing to be embarrassed about. Usually when someone has something bad to say, they're looking for someone to blame for their own grief/bad feelings and you're the easy target.

[Sadala, ADN, RN]

My info is kind of on a need-to-know basis. A guy in a hot tub probably doesn't need to know. Probably...

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

I just say I work in the ER if the person seems real annoying. Then the next statement is always "Oh I bet you see a lot of crazy things".....