Things you'd LOVE to be able to tell patients, and get away with it.

Yesterday when I was in clinicals, the students in L&D told me they had a 19 year old patient with a second pregnancy. First pregnancy was in her early teens.. and the nurse actually said to her "How did this happen? Why weren't you on birth control?" This nurse was rude and nasty to me and my other classmates when we did our L&D rotation too. According to my instructor, she's so good at her job (or so they say) that the hospital keeps her on. This nurse has also been known to call my school and complain about the students.

I actually said this to a paraplegic gangbanger that was in for wound care. He was demanding is Demerol IVP an hour ahead of schedule and cursing at me.
"This is my job, I have bills to pay and I'm not going to lose my license because of you". I nearly fell over when he backed off.

Really, there is nothing wrong with her calling the school and complain about the students-- if there is a reason. It's just nasty if there is no reason!

From what my instructor said, she just calls to complain. Myself and my other two classmates made sure we asked her a lot of questions, volunteered to run to the lab, set up rooms, etc. and we did ok with her. At post conference yesterday, our instructor said "X (the nurse's name) is just X. She's been here forever and you can't change her. The hospital can't change her. She will teach you everything you want to know if you ask, but you need to put her rudeness aside." I've seen her be rude to patients. She may be an excellent nurse, but she's the kind of nurse I know I DON'T want to be.

p.s. I'm sorry about offending people with my earlier post about "American poverty, 2007." My point was that many people create their own problems, and this includes modifying their bodies in ways that render them unemployable.

Guess I stepped over the line.

I've told pt's this many times when they wanted me to do something I couldn't/wouldn't do.It usually works although I had one LOL tell me "while I'm in here I'm paying your salary and you'll do what I say"I couldn't help laughing as I left her room.

I disagree. Students (in all disciplines) are supervised by clinical faculty, and it is their responsibility to evaluate those students. If this nurse has issues with a student, she should approach the clinical faculty first, rather than jumping the chain of command to complain directly to the school.

It sounds to me like this person misunderstands their role in the hospital, and maintains an exagerated sense of self-importance.

For the dental side of things:

"It's just saliva. Don't you swallow your own saliva all day at home?" to the patient who requests suction every 5 seconds

"Oh, this hurts so much that you need nitrous oxide and valium to complete your cleaning? Tell me about all those tattoos and piercings? How did you manage to suffer through that?"

to the patient who says they don't understand why they keep getting so many cavities. "Do you floss? No? Oh, that's why."

to the overprotective parent who insists on accompanying their child into the treatment room and then hovers over the child repeating: "Don't worry, it won't hurt" I just want to say: "How do YOU know?" or I want to say: "It probably won't hurt, but you're sure giving little johnny plenty of reason to be freaked out about it"

To the patient who adamantly states they don't want x-rays: "Great. because I don't want to take them. This sounds like a win/win situation."

To the patient that says: "I hate the dentist" as soon as I meet them for the first time: "Well, good thing I'm not the dentist! I hate whiny patients...you're not one of those are you?"

To the patient who doesn't want me to lay them back in the dental chair: "Do you sleep sitting up? No? OK, here we go hold on...."

To the parent who doesn't want their child to have fluoride because insurance doesn't cover it: "Does insurance cover your coach purse and iPhone?"

Ooohhh....that felt good, a little too good!

You must work for my parents' vet!

They have the world's most obnoxious little dog (and I used to like little dogs).

Histrionics do not impress me. Get a grip, grow up, and stop whining!!

(Gastroenteritis. I know vomiting is unpleasant, but I've seen women have babies with less carrying-on.)