Ignorant Stupid Patients

[KY RN]

:angryfireWhy do the patients that do not pay for any healthcare complain and gripe the most? It irritates me when a patient is on Medicaid and expect to be treated like they are at the Ritz Hotel. "GRRRR"!!!! It seems like a vast majority do not want to accept responsibility for their own actions. Perhaps if they paid for some of their healthcare, they would be more willing to be compliant with their treatment plan.

I had a pt. today post op with a BKA. She already had a previous BKA a year ago. I walk into the pt's room and the family has brought in 6 Snickers bars. Ok, your BS is 600, you just came from surgery 2 days ago, you have no legs, you weigh 600 lbs. and you are in the process of eating 6 Snicker bars at once!!! I have tried to educate the pt. and the family and I feel like I am banging my head against the wall.

She told me, "Honey, it's ok for me to have Snickers. I know how to control my blood sugar." UMMM, NO YOU DON'T!!!! You would not be in this situation. If she was responsible for a portion of her medical bill, then I think she would be more compliant. Since there is no incentive to change, these populations continue making poor choices. It is SO frustrating!

[chenoaspirit, ASN, RN]

I dont think the OP was upset that people get medicaid. I think it was the combination of free medical care and not doing what they can to have better health. I think EVERYONE should try to take care of themselves, which would decrease healthcare costs and make our jobs easier. The ones who are noncompliant are the ones who upset me...in and out of the hospital for the same thing and get mad at me when the outcome is poor. I try to help them, they do the opposite of what they need to do, which only results in more doc visits/hospital stays, and taxdollars. But for the ones like studentnurse5548, I wish they would get better healthcare when they need it. I do feel the frustration you are referring to, I had one patient who was on medicaid, was alcoholic, threw the IV pump in the floor and broke it and then told me that its ok because he was paying for it. THAT type of behavior is not acceptable. I have been bitten, slapped, spit on, you name it. But if someone is trying to help themself, then I will bend over backwards to help them.

[Valerie Salva, BSN, RN]

It seems as if the majority of health care professionals who put so much thought and caring into a variety of solutions , will have this problem of " Ignorant Stupid Patients " solved relatively soon . Just keep treating them with disdain , and disgust . Ignore the fact that each of them are someones mother , father , sister , brother . Never touch them unless you are wearing gloves . Roll your eyes and act bothered at every request . Since they are stupid and ignorant they need you to confirm that they are losers . If you do a good enough job , they will meet all your expectations and you can ship them off to another unit .

Please don't give me your "non-compliant " excuses . If you don't like your assignment or the PEOPLE you have been entrusted to take care of , quit ! I am not telling you this because I want you to find a job you will enjoy : I am telling you this because you have no right to continue working with your crappy , superior views .

You work in the OR and do not have to deal with alert pts- nor do you have to deal with the same bs from the same pts over and over again.

I looked at your posts, and every one of them is a criticism of your fellow nurses.

Personally, I never let on to my ignorant and stupid pts that I do not like them. I am a very good actress- and nurse. :)

But I am not acting when I give them my best- I give all my pts my best and treat all of them with respect- even the ones I can't stand. Nurses are PEOPLE, too. And we do have real, valid, and sometimes negative feeling about some of the people we care for.

This does not mean we behave unprofessionally, or that we do not treat our pts well. If this were the case, why would I continually attempt to teach the pt I spoke of, in spite of the verbal abuse and frustration I receive for my efforts? If we truly didn't give damn, we would stop trying.

Have you ever heard of venting? That is what we are doing here.

Instead of so harshly judging nurses and feeling bad for the poor, victim pts who must have no responsibility at all for their conditions, why not show a little empathy for nurses?

Who are you to say that the nurses venting here "have no right to continue working"?

You are doing to the nurses of this thread exactly what you acuse them of doing.

I think it's very judgmental and hypocritical.

[NursingStudent5548]

A person could argue continuing circumstances all day... so leancy would be made in these cases. I am not unreasonable. If need be these people can get out of these situations. One way or another a person can get out of these situations. Even if they relocate with absolutely no funds to an area with lower crime rates. Even in a town with a small population, they can recieve help.

I just relocated from a town that had no options to raise my family. I was working hard at a dead end job.

I relocated 2 hours away, I am 7 months pregnant with no job. I am barely paying rent and groceries but I do not let this be an excuse.

I live in a metro area with high crime , with shootings heck a man was ran over today blocks from here. This city is rated as just as dangerous as any area in NYC.

Yet once again a good budget,and several sacrifices I can provide a healthy meal, and roof over my families head.

As Americans we have the right from want. This is loosely translated but still means people should not go hungry, and are given chances to get assistance. All of these are conditional though that the people try to help themselves.

I get tired of hearing excuses, I lost everything in a divorce over a year ago. By everything I mean everything car, furniture, and all my possessions. Yet in the time since then I have got a car, new furniture, and everything. I did all this while going to school. I did the first 2 years of nursing school in 1.

Hopelessness is lack of motivation!!!

I do not have rich parents who helped me out, I didn't live in a town with a bus system.

Sometimes I had to walk miles one way, to insure I got to work on time.

[~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN]

If you have no job, how did you just get a warning at your job that you posted about in another thread.

I won't argue this with you though, like I said previously, it's pointless, people that haven't actually LIVED in that life, grew up with it, always are the ones that seem to have the solutions.

I know all to well what it means to get out of certain situations, I left an abusive BF when I was barely 16 years old and 7 months pregnant with the clothes on my back. I had NO FAMILY in the state. I got tired of getting beat every day, I have had to go and steal food to eat, yes I stole and it was wrong, but I was at the time 15 and pregnant, had not ate in 3 days, and had no where to go, no one willing to help me and no idea where to go to find help. I got desperate and walked into the gas station and got a loaf of bread and pack of lunch meat and walked out. Am I proud? No, but I did what I had to do to survive. It's easy to think that since this is America there are all these resources around that people just CHOSE not to use them. The reality is much different. These people though only make up a small portion of a much bigger problem.

If only people could be forced to spend a few weeks in another person's shoes, this world might be a better place.

[NursingStudent5548]

BTW the healthy options at a lot of FF places are not that healthy and the portions are very small and un-fulfilling

Every salad at Mcdonalds has less than 400 calories. Every meal a person is allowed easily 500. As long as a person avoids the ranch and ceasar dressing. They will easily stay under 500 calories.

These salads are $5 or less

Alot of these salads have and entire days servings for vegetables

They are balanced containing

Vegetables

Meat/Protein

Grain

Fat/Oil (dressing)

Dairy

So pair with a minute maid apple juice and there is a balanced meal!! It is healthy and it is filling. If someone considers it not filling then they are eating too large portions.

[NursingStudent5548]

Actually, the scenario in question was posted by my Boyfriend using my account. Hints why they last post he was a man on the thread.

Also why on other postings I am 7 months pregnant!!

[~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN]

Actually, the scenario in question was posted by my Boyfriend using my account. Hints why they last post he was a man on the thread.

Also why on other postings I am 7 months pregnant!!

Oh well you, I mean he, made a comment about people just assuming you, I mean he, was a female, Well it's hard to know when your sharing accounts. Silly us for not knowing that. :stone

[KatzchenLSW]

BTW the healthy options at a lot of FF places are not that healthy and the portions are very small and un-fulfilling

Every salad at Mcdonalds has less than 400 calories. Every meal a person is allowed easily 500. As long as a person avoids the ranch and ceasar dressing. They will easily stay under 500 calories.

These salads are $5 or less

Alot of these salads have and entire days servings for vegetables

They are balanced containing

Vegetables

Meat/Protein

Grain

Fat/Oil (dressing)

Dairy

So pair with a minute maid apple juice and there is a balanced meal!! It is healthy and it is filling. If someone considers it not filling then they are eating too large portions.

Yep because $5 per meal is so reasonable for some one who qualifies for Medicaid

[Southern Fried RN]

Getting back to the OP and why patients do things repeatedly that are bad for them.....it frustrates me too! I think that an "I don't care attitude" comes in to play for some of them. I've had many COPDers with 2 functional alveoli come off the vent yet AGAIN then continue to smoke. I've had many diabetic and dialysis patients eating spray cheese on saltines or birthday cake snuck in from home. Some of them have actually said things like "Smoking is the only pleasurable thing I have left" or "I don't care about this non-healing wound, I'm going to die anyways so I might as well enjoy." It's sad that some of these people have just given up with a "Screw it" mentality.

[~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN]

I just looked at the nutritional info on the Mc Donalds salads w/o dressing. First of all, the cheap side salad is 3.1 oz. That is NOT fulfilling, and it has LITTLE nutritional value. It's basically lettuce which is not very nutritious. Look at the calories compared to the Calories from fat on these other ones, the ones that are the size of an actual meal. Not to mention that in order to get the portion of calories you need to multiply the grams, I can't remember off hand, I believe Carbs and Protein is by 4 and Fat is by 9. To get the real amount of KiloCalories, that will give you the true amount of fat and carbs and protein from the Calories is really there, but most americans that haven't had nutrition education would just assume that since it's a salad and people say it's healthy it really is. This isn't even including the Salad Dressing, which is listed in a different section on the website. So I stand by what I said, even the "healthy" food at FF places, aren't THAT healthy. I won't even post the info for the wraps and the snack wraps are very small.

A person would be safer buying the stuff and making a salad at home, which is what I do often and I can assure you, it's not cheap to buy the produce or the lean meats to add into it.

Ok I just tried posting the Table here but it's not letting me, so you can see it here. Oh and BTW now that you are talking about the regular salads and not the puny little side salad, it costs more than a few items off the dollar menu.

http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/nutritionexchange/nutrition_facts.html

[rngreenhorn]

Tisk tisk... nurses crack me up... :argue:

[Saifudin]

There are a lot of "ignorant, stupid" people, not only patients, but I understand the frustration and the anger as well. It is difficult to maintain a well balanced mental attitude and approach to every patient, considering all the bio-psycho-social issues, yada, yada...., but is it true, to a certain extent.

This patient will likely not change and she is in denial like most people with addictive disorders. Diabetics often believe they can 'treat their glucose' and do not know, care or ignore treating the disease. And, with the "american express" medical card, she can keep on in this manner. But, even w/o the card, she would just get care for free and the hospital would write it off as 'indigent care', so health care costs keep climbing.

I agree, that if and when our health care system is reformed, much greater accountability must be put on patients in terms of preventive health care. And that includes all of us as well.

I use to tell my patients when I was in NP practice in NY, "I can't care for you more than you care for yourself", so do you best knowing but save your real zeal and passion for a patient who can really benefit by it.