Are you or someone you love the worst patient ever?

[dudette10]

I love my brother. I really do. Through my talks with my brother about his many hospitalizations, I have come to the conclusion that he is the Worst Patient Ever, heretofore known as a WPE or a "wipper."

In the course of our conversations, he has said or asked the following:

"Is the worst time to ask for something really around 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.?"

"I always ask about all the pills they give me. Nurses make a lot of mistakes."

"How many pillows can each patient have?"

"The nurse never knows when my doctor will be around. Why doesn't she ask him?"

Because I love my brother, and because siblings are allowed to be total jackasses to each other, I have "educated" my brother on his above statements/questions. He hasn't hung up on me...yet.

In one particular ER visit with a family member before I was a nurse, I was probably a wipper-by-proxy as an HCPOA. It started out with her doctor directing us to the ER for a problem that he had known about for a little while, but it had mildly exacerbated. That in itself irritated me. Why didn't I get an office visit and outpatient lab draws when I first brought this up to him a month previous?

Already irritated with the doctor, I became more irritated about the wait. ER nurses, please don't hate me when I tell you that I asked the triage nurse how long it would be, and did we really have to be there for this? Yes, I asked it. Eep!

Everything went smoothly from there on out, but I don't think the triage nurse liked me much.

Share with the world how you or someone you love is a wipper.

[Mandychelle79, ASN, RN]

When I had my last baby, I tried to be the pain in the butt patient that I see all the time, but in the end I couldnt.

I am however a strong advocate for my children ( or grandpa when he was alive), which may make me seem like I am a pain in the butt person.

I am sorry but you have someone in End stage lung fibrosis, who pulse ox is hovering in the low 80's and he is SOB. Oh and he had dementia to top it off. Maybe you should check to see if his o2 that was in his nose was actually attached to the wall oxygen ( yes, I turned it on 2 L and asked the nurse when she came in to make sure that was how much he was supposed to get). Or I can see what time that IV started, I can see how long it was supposed to run, I do not think asking someone to check the IV and turn off the beep is too much to ask after 2 or 3 hours after it was done. And if a patient has a CODE BROWN, maybe you want to send a CNA in to assist or offer to help shower, instead of having me ask for a ton of periwipes to get him cleaned up.

[cav5]

I am beginning to believe I am related to some of you-or at least have the same relatives:)

[Purple_Scrubs, BSN, RN]

My mom is an RN of 40+ years, but she has been in admin/consulting/risk management for around 20. Before I went to nursing school my husband had to have abdominal surgery. Mom came for support and gave the nurses a run for their money. Hubby spiked a mild fever after surgery (duh) and Mom was just bonkers about it. I guess she forgot about inflammation...she was convinced it was an infection and was very vocal about it. Kept throwing the RN card. The surgeon, God bless him, finally sat her down and reminded her of some Med/Surg basics she had forgotten since he bedside years.

The same surgeon removed my gallbladder a few years later, and he remembered her :) My procedure was outpatient, so I went home and crashed to sleep off the anesthesia (it affects me horribly...I am not myself for days after). Within hours of being home she was all over me to get OOB. The nausea was awful, even with meds for it, and I kept telling her to leave me alone. She drug me into a sitting position to try and force feed me, and before the food even made it to the room I vomited on her. I could not stand without vomiting violently. She finally called the surgeon's office to complain to him that I had not gotten OOB yet. He sweetly told her to leave me alone. :) Love him.

I would classify her as a family member from hades. She has been remarkably healthy, but God help us all when her own health fails.

[Morainey, BSN, RN]

I call them PITA chips :)

My mother in law is not quite so bad, but the family is nightmarish. They watched each and every healthcare provider like a hawk and were quick to jump to "This room is terrible! Look at the view!" (largest room on the floor but overlooks air handling systems) and "That nurse only came in once since 7AM!" (at 8:30AM).

[sweetnurse4u]

Sounds very familiar!! lol! :)