Feeling like a servant

Nurses Relations

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Do you guys ever feel like the families and sometimes patients treat you like u are the waitress? Or like they are ur only patient? It really irritated me today.

Specializes in Emergency Department, Rehabilitation.

That sounds like a nurse manager to me!

Specializes in Pedi.

Yes, most nurses feel like this at some point or another but it's all about setting limits. I have gladly done waitressing duties (making coffee, finding breakfast, etc.) for parents whose children were dying and who were afraid to leave the room, for parents whose severely developmentally delayed children flipped out the minute they left the room or for teenagers/young adults who were alone and were non-ambulatory. Without extenuating circumstances, if an able bodied parent whose child was stable and could spare them for a few moments said "I need a drink" or something, I would say "Oh, do you know where the kitchen is?" and then show them where they could find the stocked refreshments on the floor. What bothered me the most was when people left their lunch trays on the floor in the hallway... like they would in a hotel.

I do not have any of these issues in home health but I do not work private duty. Doing intermittent visits, I go in and do what I went in to do and leave.

I'm an STNA, on a waiting list for 3 Nursing Schools. I'm a server, a personal assistant, "my helper", "my girl".

I work on the rehab floor. MANY days MOST of my residents DO NOT want to rehab.

my one lady today for example.. "why do i need to go to P.T.? i know how to walk. all i did was fall and break my hip, and they behave like i never walked in my life".

She is now mad at me, because i made her wash herself.. everything she could reach.

I am the meanest person in the world.

its ok, I've been called worse.:)

Do you guys ever feel like the families and sometimes patients treat you like u are the waitress? Or like they are ur only patient? It really irritated me today.

I do home health care for pediatric patients who are trached and often vent dependent. Not only am I expected to take care of my patient... the parents usually think I'm a built in babysitter for their other kids as well. I can't let the siblings be neglected and the parent has usually disappeared so I end up getting their meals, drinks, etc., changing diapers and dealing with their temper tantrums. I just try to remember that they need care too and try not to be bitter about it.

Sometimes. I work 16 hour shifts on the weekends. It means that I get 4 or 5 days off a week and I like that but those weekends can be awfully long.

yeah but home health you're not stuck with them for 12 hours straight, are you?

Sometimes. I work 16 hour shifts on the weekends. It means that I get 4 or 5 days off a week and I like that but those weekends can be awfully long.

I did home health at one point and you have to make it clear each and every time you visit what your priorities are.

When I admitted patients to home health, I informed them that the patient is still the family's responsibility 24/7. It is not the responsibility for the home health agency to take over patient care. We visit to help families complete transition into taking care of the patient appropriately. When families start expecting more from us, that takes away from our other patients we have to see. And it increases their dependency on us making discharge difficult. We need to either tell them the limitations of our services or have a superior tell them because their expectations are not realistic.

Specializes in acute & emergency.

Getting treated like a personal maid is constant in my job... the families are worse than the patients.

It's really just laughable after a certain point. A patient's daughter rings the call bell... "sorry, can you bring my mother a glass of water?" ... while there's two empty glasses on the patient's table and the bathroom with perfectly drinkable tap water is 2 steps away. Same person asked if one of us could possibly stay by her mother's side and keep her company, at all times. Sure, if you pay well!

Me to Pt: Anything else I can get for you before I leave

Pt gf who is not sick at all: I need a sprite

Me: Vending machines are in the hall

Her:.......

The look on her face was like I killed her puppy. If you are not the pt, you rarely get anything from me. The cafeteria is open til midnight and the vending machine is 24/7

This is unrelated to your post but I just saw your picture and had to say...Chive On!

As much as I like my job, I admit to sometimes thinking this. I honestly don't mind doing things for my patients. It's usually the families that tick me off the most. Some of them have this attitude that they must protect their family member from us and are very hostile and take everything the wrong way and pick you apart. Others can be nice but out at the desk every 10 minutes asking for something else. I work in an ICU and sometimes I feel like all I am doing is delivering supplies to the room, changing bags/lines/labels/linens, etc. or doing oral cares/suctioning/turns/pericares for 12 straight hours. Particularly annoying, however, is when family members of my patients ask me to do something trivial (i.e., "My mom needs some vaseline on her lips, can you do that?" or "Could you get me a warm blanket?") when I am obviously right in the middle of programming a drip on a pump to give their mom a drug that could kill her if I get distracted and do it incorrectly. Really, nurses get distracted from doing their work more than any job that really requires focus than I can think of!! This is probably one of the top 5 reasons why I'm a die hard night nurse and always will be until I tip over or can afford to retire, whichever comes first.

Specializes in DD, Mental Health, Geriatric.
Well many people feel we are maids and servers that also happen to dispense medications.

My pet peeve is family that brings in outside food yet expects us to furnish drinks.

At this one job I had, it was written in our "job duties", to "provide refreshments such as a glass of ice water or juice to visiting family members," and we would be reprimanded if we forgot to ask if they'd like anything while they visited their relatives/loved ones in the facility.

At this one job I had, it was written in our "job duties", to "provide refreshments such as a glass of ice water or juice to visiting family members," and we would be reprimanded if we forgot to ask if they'd like anything while they visited their relatives/loved ones in the facility.

Why are Nurses and CNA's responsible for providing refreshments to family members?, if they are well enough to be a visitor then they should get it themselves. I'm disabled and in a wheelchair I wouldn't ask a nurse to get me food or drinks, I would get it myself. They are too busy trying provide care and I have so much respect for nurses and CNA's to not do that.

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