Nothing's quite as lovely as cussin'in the morning.

[ellakate]

Before my story, I want to say thank you to allnurses and our posters. This site has helped me be a better nurse and given me a lot of excellent day to day knowledge. Below, a true story from HH care.

My morning started with a HH visit to a patient with uncontrolled diabetes. Her FBS was 457 and she felt dizzy.

Her grandson enters the living room, speaking to the patient's daughter, his mother. In the course of the conversation, which I am trying to ignore from 10 feet away, he says bad, bad things. Just nasty teenage stuff. I told him that my head would still be spinning if I had ever spoken to my mother that way. Then I asked him to leave the room. He said, "This is my house."

"This is Grandma's house," interjects his mother.

"I am here to see your grandmother, please leave the room." Me

"You can't tell me what to do." Him

"Please leave the room." To his mother, "Does he ever hit you?" Moi

"No, but he yells at me." Pt's dtr

"You know if he hits you to call the police. That is against the law."

Silence. Finally, I can assess my patient. And all before 9 AM.

[leslie :-D]

i'm so glad you spoke up, centex.

some teens need a swift dopeslap to the upside (mine included).

you did good.

leslie

[Boog'sCRRN246, RN]

:angryfire I'm only about 10 years past teenager-hood, but I find it appalling the way teenagers act. Sure, there were bad seeds when I was a teenager too, but I swear these days, if you look at them the wrong way, they're ready to cut you! And I'm not talking a rare few; this seems to be the norm where I live. Just aggressive and angry all the time. I don't get it.

[ONCRN84]

Oy. On my way into work last night I heard a kid no older than 15 blatently yelling at his mother and disobeying her. I'm only 25, but I was so irritated.

On the topic of cussin in the morning...

One of our confused neuro patients kept dropping the f-bomb last night. Sometimes, it's just way too early for the f-bomb.

[ellakate]

By the end of the visit, the young man was listening to my information on his grandmother's diabetes. It felt a little schizophrenic, but I played bad cop/good cop. As horsey as he was, I felt sorry for him. When I left, I pointed out our agency phone number and smilingly said, "All patients come with a family. I am here to help all of you. This is the number." The daughter and patient were relieved when I said my good bye. But I think I made a friend of the boy. He asked some good questions. Mainly, he was amazed that diabetes could cause complications, like kidney failure and poor healing. I really wanted to hug him, but I hugged my patient instead.

[leslie :-D]

I really wanted to hug him, but I hugged my patient instead.

aw, next time go w/your instincts, and hug the kid.

while he may grimace and become flustered, i guarantee you'll make his day.

i like your style, centex.

leslie

[ellakate]

next time go w/your instincts, and hug the kid.

OK! Next time, I go with my instincts!

Muchas gracias, leslie!

[ellakate]

Hey, BoogsGirl724. Your post resonated with me. This is a dilemma that is tough. How do we approach the inscrutable young bloods? Now that I am older, I may remind them enough of their mother or grandmother to gain a small measure of respect. Maybe.

As a nurse who has served in the same general community for several decades, I have developed a method of working with scarey people. First of all, most people really are trying as well as they know how. I act professional and introduce myself, including handshake, to someone in the group. My target is the baddest looking person there. The handshake is important, because it makes me human to them. The handshake is in addition to a friendly verbal greeting. After receiving his/her greeting response, I ask if he/she knows the address that I am seeking. Usually someone on the street will know the resident. We can't tempt fate and an ounce of prevention . . . so these visits are during business hours and by appointment with the client.

The whole handshake thing is something learned from my father, the world's best salesman. At first, I unconsciously imitated his friendly handshake. Then I watched what happens when you shake a person's hand. Maybe what happens is inside me, but it works most of the time.

[Boog'sCRRN246, RN]

"How do we approach the inscrutable young bloods?"

I'm at a loss on that one. Your approach is a good one; someone would have to be just out and out rude to blow off a handshake. I can't explain it, but to me, a shift has occurred at some point and people are becoming less and less cognizant that others do, in fact, co-exist with them.