What is your biggest nursing pet peeve?

Cubby · Mar 24, 2004

Two words. LAZY & STUPID :angryfire

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Mar 24, 2004

Nurses who have, what i call, the Florence Nightengale Complex. The ones who think that the place would die without them, when in fact it would be better off. GRanted there are some places that if it weren't for a select few, they'd go under, but do not have an attitude like it would.

Students who will not answer the emergency call lights (or any for that matter) of the pts. their not assigned to. Maybe policy's different for some places but at our facility ANY employee or healthcare student can at least answer the bell and see what the pt. wants.

Alert and oriented pts. that smoke in their rooms, and think that leaning out the window makes it A-OK. Uh NOOOO!

Drama, drama, drama.

People who confuse the HOTEL with the HOSPITAL. I know they begin with H-O but it's not the same deal.

The customer service crapola. We're not Kmart, although some people seem to think that the ER is the Returns Desk. And that their room is Layaway. LOL

Oh here's a big gripe. Walking in a pt's room that's 2 hours post op and their spouse is laying on their IV line. And the spouse whines and moans that she has to get up because of it. Hey lady you're not supposed to be IN this bed as it is.

Pts. that complain that we don't get HBO or Cinemax. Remember HOspital, not HOtel.

The pt. with 18 body piercings that freaks out over an IV needle. :stone

jkaee · Mar 24, 2004

Nurses who have, what i call, the Florence Nightengale Complex. The ones who think that the place would die without them, when in fact it would be better off. GRanted there are some places that if it weren't for a select few, they'd go under, but do not have an attitude like it would.
I certainly know about that one! At the last facility I worked at, there was a nurse that had worked there since the place opened. She would come in at least a half an hour early, do some work, punch in and then start her regular shift. She made is SO impossible for other nurses to work on her floor, because the residents were so "spoiled" by her....."Well, Nancy nurse does it this way....Nancy nurse told me I have to take my pill this way.....Nancy nurse is ALWAYS in my room by 12:30 and spend at least 45 mins putting my cream on me...." UGGH! She would also call in on her nights off and make sure the aides were doing everything they were supposed to...."Make sure you turn Mrs. X every hour!"
One of my biggest pet peeves is report time. I hate needless interruptions! I either want to get started as soon as I can, or get out as soon as I can. Get in on time, get started right away and quit chatting. If I feel like staying over, then I will and we can talk then. Just not during report! One place I worked was so bad with that that when they would go off about something else I'd just keep giving report.....then they'd have to shut up and start listening!

lllliv · Mar 24, 2004

i dislike the "pass the buck nurse". the shower or dressing change or whatever was due at night but the nurse told the patient it would be done by the morning nurse. then the patient expects you to do it even though it is not scheduled for your shift and you don't have time. usually that nurse will be off that night.

i also dislike the BS report. they tell you everything BUT what you need to know. "well he said this and i said that". i ask what the diet is---they don't know. it's ok. i can look it up, but when report takes 30 minutes on BS i don't want to know, it's irritating. i mean it's fine to be friendly with report but i don'twant to hear your funny anecdotes when i'm trying to get started on my assignment.

the whiny nurse. the one that complains that noone helps her but spends her time doing stuff that is not necessary. then she comes and asks for help for routine things. she coulda done that stuff way before if she hadn't been BS'in around. dang--i'm busy too!

finally the control freak.these are the worst. please do not become one whatever position you have.

YOU are not the only one with opinions. YOU are not the only one who knows how. YOU are not the only one with feelings. YOU are not the only one who has a life outside work. YOU are not the only one who cares about the patients. YOU are not the only one that should have every say so. listen and think about what others tell you. it matters. if you are not asked---and it is not a chain of command thing--back off.

sorry -- can you tell we have a control freak now as charge.

LolaRN · Mar 24, 2004

nurses who say aw-toe-log-us instead of autologous. emphasis on "log" instead of "tol".
nurses who say orientated instead of oriented.
people who don't know the difference btwn good and well, as in i did good on that test instead of i did well on that test.
i know they are silly, but butchering the english language drives me nuts.

I couldn't agree more. Also spelling errors which are consistent drive me crazy. We all make mistakes but it's hard to have faith in your nurse when they can't even spell. Also, nurses who say "o2 stat" instead of "o2 sat."

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Mar 24, 2004

If you say "o2 stat" on our floor, someone wants to freak, grab a cannula, and the o2 can.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Mar 24, 2004

The nurses that feel the need to inform me when they are menstrating. Had a tech today "don't mess with me today, I've got PMS".....ummm....thank you very much, I'll walk on eggshells, allow you do be lazy and short-tempered, appreciate the info. :)

Grant Morgan · Mar 24, 2004

Patients that tell me :

"i'VE GOT MEDICAL AID, AND I WANT YOU TO DO........cos I'M PAYING YOUR SALARY!!!!!"

My reply:

"Even if you went to another hospital, I'd still get paid at the end of the month!"

Rocknurse, MSN, APRN, NP · Mar 24, 2004

tehehhehe! This drives me insane too ... especially the orientated part. What's up with that?? Another thing that doesn't really qualify as a pet peeve but it does make me laugh is when in report nurses say things like "he didn't vomit on me today" ... meaning on their shift ... I always want to say "I should hope not". :rotfl:

Orientated is actually correct English...the type we invented in England! Oriented is an Americanism that drives me nuts!

orientated

Orientate \O"ri*en*tate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Orientated; p. pr. & vb. n. Orientating.] [From Orient.] 1. To place or turn toward the east; to cause to assume an easterly direction, or to veer eastward.

2. To arrange in order; to dispose or place (a body) so as to show its relation to other bodies, or the relation of its parts among themselves.

Darchild77 · Mar 24, 2004

We have a nurse who couldn't answer the phone because she had "already clocked out". This same nurse, on a different occasion, watched late decels in a laboring patient for 2 hours without a single intervention-such as a scalp electrode to get a more accurate reading. Of course, when I arrived, she told me I should put a scalp e on. She knew this patient would be a C-sec and just wanted to pass the buck.

TaraER-RN · Mar 24, 2004

I hate the "When will I be seen?", or "why did you take that patient before my daughter"...daughter in for nausea/vomiting, guy I took clutching at chest, diaphoretic, can hardly speak. Lazy nurses who get mad when nobody is helping them, but have the time to check their e-mail on the internet. People who won't clean up their code browns or yellows and the patient obviously stinks and is festering in their own stuff. Oh and I loved the day that I was talking to a fellow nurse, and the family member of a patient asked me if I could go talk somewhere else becuase their girlfriend was trying to sleep. Or the ones who are "so sick, I need to be seen right away" and then gripe when you're doing IV's, labs etc trying to figure out whats wrong with them. I hate the ones with tatoo/piercings that are scared to death of IV's and lab draws....I have both and have had IV's...tatoos are DEFINITELY worse, I'd take an IV again any day. hmm...what else...The ones who gripe and gripe about when are their results going to be back because they want to go home and then once the results are back and you're getting ready to discharge them their are all the sudden in too much pain and how dare we try to discharge them..grrr (that happened tonight).And I really hate those that before you even have them in a room are telling you what kind of pain medicine to give them..because nothiing else works, and that you need to start an IV in this spot and it has to be a butterfly! Had one, one day that sweared up and down that Toradol wouldn't work for her pain and that I needed a butterfly/baby needle to poke her...well I put an 18g in her and gave her Ketorulac ?sp (the other name for Toradol)...and low and behold it worked! wow...I could go on and on...I love the ER its just crazy sometimes!

teeituptom, BSN, RN · Mar 24, 2004

I hate the "When will I be seen?", or "why did you take that patient before my daughter"...daughter in for nausea/vomiting, guy I took clutching at chest, diaphoretic, can hardly speak. Lazy nurses who get mad when nobody is helping them, but have the time to check their e-mail on the internet. People who won't clean up their code browns or yellows and the patient obviously stinks and is festering in their own stuff. Oh and I loved the day that I was talking to a fellow nurse, and the family member of a patient asked me if I could go talk somewhere else becuase their girlfriend was trying to sleep. Or the ones who are "so sick, I need to be seen right away" and then gripe when you're doing IV's, labs etc trying to figure out whats wrong with them. I hate the ones with tatoo/piercings that are scared to death of IV's and lab draws....I have both and have had IV's...tatoos are DEFINITELY worse, I'd take an IV again any day. hmm...what else...The ones who gripe and gripe about when are their results going to be back because they want to go home and then once the results are back and you're getting ready to discharge them their are all the sudden in too much pain and how dare we try to discharge them..grrr (that happened tonight).And I really hate those that before you even have them in a room are telling you what kind of pain medicine to give them..because nothiing else works, and that you need to start an IV in this spot and it has to be a butterfly! Had one, one day that sweared up and down that Toradol wouldn't work for her pain and that I needed a butterfly/baby needle to poke her...well I put an 18g in her and gave her Ketorulac ?sp (the other name for Toradol)...and low and behold it worked! wow...I could go on and on...I love the ER its just crazy sometimes!

Welcome to the wonderfull world of the ER

Aint life grand

remember golf helps

take frustrations out by beating an innocent little ball to death. works well.