Patient requests

Nurses Relations

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We all know patients can be demanding. What's your "favorite" patient request? Mine, an iPhone charger...

For me to straighten her leg that she was perfectly able to do independently.

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Some of these I don't think are too terribly unreasonable. I have snuck into the kitchen to "whip up something" for a patient. But we are a small facility. We can do that. We have a fund set aside just for making them feel more at home. So we've taken the patient from five states away and got banners from the favorite state university and hung in their rooms or purchased a cake so a patient could give his wife something for her birthday since they are in the hospital for extended stays and miss important family events. If it was an acute hospital, though, I could see this being problematic.

The clinker for me was the patient that whined to the point of crying because I told her no when she asked me to pop her zits.

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Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.

20-something year old asked me to "fetch" her laptop that was on the bedside table that she just put there herself. I told her to fetch a new nurse, I wasnt her servant.

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My favorite is after doing hourly rounds or giving a medication, I ask "Is there anything else I can do for you while I'm here?" They answer nope, then the call light goes off 5 minutes later to re-arrange their table top or grab their book from the window sil because they decided to read...!

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Specializes in Critical Care.

We got the phone charger request and a coworker from another wing actually "borrowed" their charger to the patient for the shift. There is teamwork and good rapport between staff and patients. These little things are appreciated by patients and fellow staff.

I once bought some used mystery books for 99 cents for a patient who had an extended hospital stay far from home. He was a fan of this particular author. These little gestures can brighten a person's stay.

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I don't know about you guys, but phone chargers are the number one left behind item on our floor. Our lost & found is full of them.

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Specializes in LTC Rehab Med/Surg.

On this kind of thread I always post, "I need my pillow fluffed."

It never fails to shoot my blood pressure through the ceiling. I don't know why. I've read all the other posts, and while annoying, they don't make my blood boil.

I guess we all have our threshold.

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Specializes in Oncology.

As to the phone chargers, our unit treats them like a "take a penny, leave a penny" We have a bag FULL of chargers, many the same, and if someone asks for one, we bring them the bag. While we probably shouldn't do it (we cavi wipe them before hand) in 4 years, we have yet to have a patient or family member call or come to retrieve a charger. Crazy.

Boldest request was from a "VIP" patient. She wanted someone to run to CVS to get her some cold cream. And do you know what? The head, mind you the head of the radiology department ran out and got it for her. Talk about reinforcing unrealistic expectations...then again, if she purchased the top of the line CT scanner or something, I'm not surprised when she said "jump" he said "how high?" But that's a discussion for a different day...:rolleyes:

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Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

now now Trouble, don't you know the basics of nursing? It's wrapped up in the "3 Ps": PushingPills, PlumpingPillows and PleasingPhysciams.

I had a pt in San Francisco ask if I could stop by an ATM on my way back in that night, and bring him some cash. Using his ATM card. I told him I would have to know his PIN for that! He was well known to me on that floor, with a chronic disease. He said "well I can trust YOU". Jeez.

He wrote down the PIN, I ran across the street to our parking garage, got the money (2AM), and scribbled out the PIN. Ran back up, gave it to him with the scribbled note and he said "only you would do that" laughing about the scribble.

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Hmm...I've been asked for phone chargers a lot. Usually I am able to find someone who has one they can use.

I had a patient one time in the ER who was upset and wanted to talk to the charge nurse. I came in and he told me about how his girlfriend had just had a miscarriage and he was devastated. In the same breath, he asked me if I wanted to have sex with him. Unfortunately I have had more than my fair share of completely inappropriate sexual patient requests. I wonder if my reply was "Sure, hold on let me take my scrubs off" if they'd realize how ridiculous that sounds.

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The charger request wouldn't bug me. At my LTC my patients can't call long distance. I often give them my phone, never mind the charger. It is the requests that are out of sheer laziness that make me want to scream.

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Specializes in Hospital, med-surg, hospice.

"Cover me up! " :laugh:

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