Patients thinking others are their nurses?

[maddiecat]

Do you have a problem with, and how do you handle, patients and family members who think that the aides, etc. are actually nurses and no one corrects them? Example, you go into a patient's room and they say something about the "nurse that was just in here"...do you say anything or just let it slide.

[MandyInMS]

I always introduce myself..and explain that I will be their nurse for the night until 7 am. Guess a lot of folks don't do that anymore...they laugh when my pt calls and says " I need nurse Mandy pleaseeeee" ..lol

[Energizer Bunny]

You can put a small dry erase board in the room. Permanently afix things like the phone # to the room, the word "nurse", etc. Then, at the start of every shift, write (dry erase markers) the name of the nurse du jour. That may help, but it's hard when you're in an unfamiliar place, not feeling well, worried about yourself or your loved one, to then try and figure out who's who in the zoo. Thinking everyone who comes in is a nurse is not surprising.

They had this dry erase board in my local hospital when my son was in and it was invaluable. I couldn't remember anyone's name, so it really helped when I was super stressed and unable to think.

[Nur_1996]

My husband thinks nurses should start wearing their "caps" again , and people would know who the nurse is. Remember this is my husbands thought, not mine. He is not a nurse, I asked him "If you were a nurse, would you were a cap" he also beleives we should were white dresses! :chuckle

[flashpoint]

Our hospital is considering a policy that ONLY nurses and nursing assistants can wear scrubs. Right now, we have everyone from the nurses to the housekeepers to the people in billing wearing scrubs. They're also considering that nurses can wear any scrubs they like and nursing assistants would wear a certain color like blue or green.

I honestly don't usually correct people when they refer to a nursing assistant as a nurse...sometimes I do, but not always. I will, however say something to a nursing assistant who inroduces herself to the patient as a nurse.

[zacarias, ASN, RN]

One gal patient I had was in for a PE. One day, the med student and docs came in around her and started talking about her case. I stayed there wanting to be "in the know" to help explain anything the docs say that the patient doesn't understand.

Later the patient said, "Zach, so you're studying to be a doctor too huh? Great!" I informed her otherwise but her image of me must have been strange. I would leap around the unit taking care of patients, wiping bottoms, drawing labs, and then find the group of docs in a room and take place among them apologizing to them for being late for rounds, sweat dripping off me as I begin "54 y/o female presented to ER with...."