Are small jokes accepted?

Nurses General Nursing

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I wouldnt call myself a comedian, but I eventually love to make little jokes. Is there some kind of rule that perhibits small jokes with patients?

Example: I just thought about this one today....

I'm male, so in many cases I assume that patients may think I'm a doctor instead of a nurse, so then I go into my patients room that I am assigned to by my clinical instructor and say... Hello Mr. Smith I'm Dr. Frankie your gynecologist LOL!!! Just kidding Im your nurse and Im here to give you a bed bath!!! (Im cracking up, just by writing this junk) THIS IS JUST AN EXAMPLE, I DID NOT DO THIS.

So, the question is.... how would your clinical instructor take this? Is it OK? Or its absolutely not tolerated.

Specializes in ER/Trauma.

Frankie:

I'm with ya all the way. Most of my classmates agree that if I'm around, I tend to take the edge off the situation.

What can I say - I'm a natural clown :rolleyes: :chuckle

I don't even have to try - sometimes people just LOOK at me and start cracking up :D

I avoid the potential "offensive joke" pitfall by making fun of myself :)

But I do have to agree a bit with the other posters here - doesn't hurt to be aware of the situation. Some people sometimes might just not be in the mood for kidding around.

Good luck.

If a patient is in pain, s/he might not appreciate humor. If they've had an abdominal surgery, and they do appreciate humor, laughter hurts the tummy quite a bit.

Just be wise and be professional FIRST, and after you have some rapport, you can take your cue from the patient and add some humor if they feel up to it. Remember, it's not about *you*, it's about *them* and what *they* need.

From my point of view I think it depends on the situation and the person and you need to be aware and just use your best judgement. For example, a few years ago I was at the hospital for my yearly CT. A tech was adminestering my contrast and was telling me joke after joke. The first two or three were apreceated but after that it just got annoying (they were all at once while he was injecting me). So that one illustrates both sides of it. In general though, when I am in the hospital, I do appreceate a little bit of humor. For another example, before my geneticist moved, his nurse would always make the joke while pulling out a measuring tape, "Do you know what this is for?" I would nod. She would respond, "thats right to measure your teeth" It was actually to measure my head.

I always follow the patients lead, if they start conversing about something funny, I will follow with a funny story. This is especially helpful while taking out sutures, changing dressings etc. At the end, I always say " and the entertainment is free". I usually do get a laugh at that.

Specializes in Emergency.

I think it's fantastic to joke with patients. It's a great tension reliever. I was starting an IV on an older guy, I was all ready to go and he had good looking veins, he said "I've never had a needle stick before, this is my first time" I said, "That's okay, this is my fist time too."

We had a good little laugh and it relieved some of his tension. However, if I thought it might be a hard stick I might not have said that...

Specializes in ICU.
I think it's fantastic to joke with patients. It's a great tension reliever. I was starting an IV on an older guy, I was all ready to go and he had good looking veins, he said "I've never had a needle stick before, this is my first time" I said, "That's okay, this is my fist time too."

We had a good little laugh and it relieved some of his tension. However, if I thought it might be a hard stick I might not have said that...

Great one. I'll be sure to keep that one in my mind.!!

Thank you all, for your posts. And keep them coming!!

Ofcourse I have the sense of some what knowing when a person is open to this kind of "medication". I will sure police myself when I start clinicals next month. But when opportunity knocks, I'll give a crack at it!! I just hate to be so serious all the time. I know the job is serious, and I will sure take it very seriously.

Frankie

Specializes in Community Health Nurse.

I never teased with a patient until I became a LEGAL registered nurse...not as a student. Once a nurse, I would tease with patients who I knew had a silly disposition like myself. The more experienced I became as a nurse, the easier it became to read even the most difficult of patients, and would tease the onery ones too...they would always smile or laugh. BUT...you gotta really know what you are doing, and careful in how you say it. :)

I ask most of my male patients when doing their admission assessments when their last period was. They laugh all the time, especially the wife if she is sitting there listening. They love to hear their husband's answers. But again...this comes with years of nursing experience dealing with all types of characters. :)

When I'm discharging a patient home, I usually joke about the "free waxing" they receive when I pull off the tape on the IV - especially if it's a hairy male. Note that these patients are generally in a pretty good mood because they're getting out. Humor is great but you have to be careful, especially as a student.

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