What's Rude?

[Ruby Vee]

We all have our pet peeves, something that we are SURE is rude whether it bothers others or not. So I'm wondering -- what bothers you?

Things that bother me:

In a nurse's station with four or five unused computers, why does anyone have to sit down at the one I'm using, clearly marked with my scut sheet, my pen, my drink and my charting all pulled up and not finished? They take my spot, log me off (so I have to start over with any charting I didn't sign before the arrhythmia alarm jolted me out of my seat) and log in over me. Then when I return, they tell me "I didn't see your name on it." Why not just use the computer with the screensaver up and no ones stuff there?

People who put their feet up on the chairs in the nurse's station. Not only does it look totally unprofessional to anyone who visits the station, including families, but the C. Diff that that they' we picked up on their shoes is now transferred to the impossible-to-clean fabric chairs in the nurse's station.

Saying "no prob" in response to a thank you.

Taking the nurse's chair. Our rooms has a sofa and two chairs for visitors, a recliner for the patient and a chair at the computer station for the nurse to use when charting. So why do the visitors always have to take the nurse's chair? Clearly, the nurse can't chart from the sofa.

After you've taken the nurse's chair, why give me attitude when I ask you NOT to sit in front of my computer, but to sit in one of the five spots provided for visitors?

Visitors using the patient bathroom.

Staff who let patients use the staff bathroom. I've never been able to figure that one out.

I'm cranky today, I have lots more. What's yours?

[djh123]

I once had a doctor answer his phone "What?" I replied "is this Dr. so and so" he lost his mind in anger because "You f*ing call me, you should know who the f* you're calling."

This is really infuriating when calling through an answering service, you don't know if you were connected to the correct person if they refuse to identify themselves. Ugh!

Was that Dr. Excremental Orifice, MD?

[RNforLongTime]

Things that bother me:

Coworkers who cannot be bothered to perform the basic components of their job.

Bosses who DO NOTHING when you inform them via incident reports and emails that your coworkers are not doing their job.

Coworkers who feel that it is their business to monitor what you are and aren't doing while you are at work and they are not.

Coworkers who confront you in front of your coworkers! IF you got a beef with me, Discuss it with ONLY ME behind a closed door. DO NOT run to the boss with a beef you got with me UNTIL you have discussed it with me first! We are NOT in middle school anymore!

Coworkers who cannot clean up after themselves so you gotta spend 20 minutes clenaing up after them so you can then do your job!

Coworkers who 'forget' to pass on pertinent information during report. Like a pt with a PICC LINE...or a pt with a wound vac. UMM...ya should've told me that in REPORT!! I shouldn't have been surprised by that during my rounds. (I work in a prison so we don't do bedside handoff)

Coworkers who think that us 3rd shifters do nothing all night but watch TV and gossip with the Correction Officers. Then argue with us when we didn't do something that THEY were told BY THE BOSS to do the day before but they're so lazy they prefer to pawn it off to other staff. And the laziness is allowed to continue by management.

Snitches and two-faced coworkers. I've learned in my 20 years in this profession that the ONLY person I can trust is ME! SO it's a very rare occasion when I 'vent' to a coworker....somehow my 'vent' ends up in the ears of the bosses :/

Patients and families that think they can DEMAND certain treatment otherwise they'll get me FIRED because they're paying my salary!!

I'm so glad I work in a prison because I can tell an inmate NO and not have to worry about a Press-Ganey score

[RNforLongTime]

True story: patient's 20-something daughter at bedside, being totally obnoxious with unnecessary questions, unnecessary bustling around the bedside, etc. All while wearing blindingly white, fresh out-of-package scrubs. I did not bite and did not ask daughter what part of healthcare she worked in. Night nurse tucking patient in that night asks patient where in healthcare does daughter work? Big sigh from patient. "She doesn't. She just bought those scrubs to make you think she does." Which is both crazy & kinda sad, now that I write it out.

Sounds like someone has a mental illness. Now I'm not knocking legit people with mental illnesses but I can think of a LOT more things to spend money on than scrubs.

That said, the day my grandmother was dying in the hospital and I'd come down the street to her hospital from mine. I had bubblegum pink scrubs on. Hospital staff thought I was their new Infection Control nurse!!

[AutumnApple]

Things that bother me:

Coworkers who cannot be bothered to perform the basic components of their job.

Bosses who DO NOTHING when you inform them via incident reports and emails that your coworkers are not doing their job.

Coworkers who feel that it is their business to monitor what you are and aren't doing while you are at work and they are not.

Coworkers who confront you in front of your coworkers! IF you got a beef with me, Discuss it with ONLY ME behind a closed door. DO NOT run to the boss with a beef you got with me UNTIL you have discussed it with me first! We are NOT in middle school anymore!

Coworkers who cannot clean up after themselves so you gotta spend 20 minutes clenaing up after them so you can then do your job!

Coworkers who 'forget' to pass on pertinent information during report. Like a pt with a PICC LINE...or a pt with a wound vac. UMM...ya should've told me that in REPORT!! I shouldn't have been surprised by that during my rounds. (I work in a prison so we don't do bedside handoff)

Coworkers who think that us 3rd shifters do nothing all night but watch TV and gossip with the Correction Officers. Then argue with us when we didn't do something that THEY were told BY THE BOSS to do the day before but they're so lazy they prefer to pawn it off to other staff. And the laziness is allowed to continue by management.

Snitches and two-faced coworkers. I've learned in my 20 years in this profession that the ONLY person I can trust is ME! SO it's a very rare occasion when I 'vent' to a coworker....somehow my 'vent' ends up in the ears of the bosses :/

Patients and families that think they can DEMAND certain treatment otherwise they'll get me FIRED because they're paying my salary!!

I'm so glad I work in a prison because I can tell an inmate NO and not have to worry about a Press-Ganey score

During my short stint as a supervisor at an LTC facility, nurses came to me a lot with this complaint. Sometimes the information left out was truly vital too................

I don't like to admit it but: I came to find out, most of the time when they don't report such things it's because they didn't know.

And which nurses are least likely to know? The ones who turn in the chair after getting hand off report and begin doing their documentation/assessments. Haven't even risen out of their chairs to go into a single room yet.

No surprise there I guess.

[NICUNurseEliz]

I work in a locked unit so when the secretary has stepped away from the desk, visitors call my number when I'm in charge. I answer the phone and often hear "Let me in!!" barked at me. Umm, who are you? It's a locked unit so I kinda want to know who you are before unlocking the door. Also..try the word please.

We work in pods so there are anywhere from 3-8 babies in a room. I really hate when visitors wander over to a bedside of a baby who they are not visiting just out of nosiness. Would you walk into some other patient's room in the hospital? Half the time, they get defensive/angry when we tell them they can't and say "I'm just curious! I wanted to see this baby!" We're in a NICU, not a premie petting zoo. Mind your business.

I also think it's rude when people on a shift (both days and nights do this where I work) order food and then leave the leftovers on the break room table when they're done and never throw the rest of the food away. No one is going to eat your cold rock hard garlic knots from 9PM when we come in at 7AM. Ewww

[Nursewifemom]

Family member who insist they know more than the staff

Pts that yell out 5 seconds after hitting call bell, needs her foot scratched. 5 seconds later, no call bell, just yells for bed repositioning.

Family that comes looking for PRN pain meds that haven't been requested because she wants pt to continue sleeping without being interrupted for pain. Does this every two hours.

Pts setting alarms for PRNs

I guess in general it boils down to people not realizing they're not the only people we're taking care of

MDs writing orders saying a pt can go outside to smoke.

And don't get me started on the 95 year old full codes, family decision.

Oh and pts families who pick up admission paperwork and try to go through it all to see what the Dr wrote about the pt. Needless to say the paperwork that was in the room was just the stuff I had filled out writing answers to questions that I had just asked, there were no Dr orders in it.

[mc3, ASN, RN]

That's freaking brilliant! Why don't all hospitals do this?!?

Pet Peeves from the school nurse: Not saying "Thank you"

-Walking into my office demanding things-I have a 4th grader that I've trying to retrain since I started here, he walks in and yells what he wants "Ice pack" "bandaid" whatever, makes me crazy-

-Parents that repeatedly send their kids to school ridiculously ill-once I can forgive, sometimes you can't get that last minute sitter, but a heads up would be nice!-

-Parents that berate the nurse because their special snowflake has head lice, yep it's totally my fault; in fact I sprinkled them on their head just to inconvenience you!

-Teachers who constantly question my nursing judgement or make diagnosis- snowflake coughs r/t allergies and walks in saying "My teacher said that I have pneumonia"

I Triple like this!!

[Nursewifemom]

Was that Dr. Excremental Orifice, MD?

We once had a Dr that called the floor during report, did not identify himself and asked to speak to so and so's nurse. That nurse was still in report, so I took the call, took the orders and then he tells me that whoever answered the call needs more training, that when he calls with orders he don't want excuses as to why he has to wait a min for a nurse, that they are supposed to get the nurse immediately. Well HELLO, identify yourself... and don't be so rude

Also, if our shift finds something the previous shift either didn't do or did wrong, we fix it and go on, of we forget something they run straight to management and report it.

[Guest219794]

Things that bother me:

Coworkers who cannot be bothered to perform the basic components of their job.

Bosses who DO NOTHING when you inform them via incident reports and emails that your coworkers are not doing their job.

Coworkers who feel that it is their business to monitor what you are and aren't doing while you are at work and they are not.

Coworkers who confront you in front of your coworkers! IF you got a beef with me, Discuss it with ONLY ME behind a closed door. DO NOT run to the boss with a beef you got with me UNTIL you have discussed it with me first! We are NOT in middle school anymore!

Coworkers who cannot clean up after themselves so you gotta spend 20 minutes clenaing up after them so you can then do your job!

Coworkers who 'forget' to pass on pertinent information during report. Like a pt with a PICC LINE...or a pt with a wound vac. UMM...ya should've told me that in REPORT!! I shouldn't have been surprised by that during my rounds. (I work in a prison so we don't do bedside handoff)

Coworkers who think that us 3rd shifters do nothing all night but watch TV and gossip with the Correction Officers. Then argue with us when we didn't do something that THEY were told BY THE BOSS to do the day before but they're so lazy they prefer to pawn it off to other staff. And the laziness is allowed to continue by management.

Snitches and two-faced coworkers. I've learned in my 20 years in this profession that the ONLY person I can trust is ME! SO it's a very rare occasion when I 'vent' to a coworker....somehow my 'vent' ends up in the ears of the bosses :/

Patients and families that think they can DEMAND certain treatment otherwise they'll get me FIRED because they're paying my salary!!

I'm so glad I work in a prison because I can tell an inmate NO and not have to worry about a Press-Ganey score

Bosses who DO NOTHING when you inform them via incident reports and emails that your coworkers are not doing their job.

Coworkers who feel that it is their business to monitor what you are and aren't doing while you are at work and they are not.

Snitches and two-faced coworkers.

Wait a second- was this meant to be funny? If you are informing bosses that your co workers aren't doing their job, doesn't that mean that you feel it is your business to monitor what they are and aren't doing?

[AutumnApple]

Bosses who DO NOTHING when you inform them via incident reports and emails that your coworkers are not doing their job.

Coworkers who feel that it is their business to monitor what you are and aren't doing while you are at work and they are not.

Snitches and two-faced coworkers.

Wait a second- was this meant to be funny? If you are informing bosses that your co workers aren't doing their job, doesn't that mean that you feel it is your business to monitor what they are and aren't doing?

Since she stated the one monitoring her was not at work, I took it for: What the person was "monitoring" had nothing to do with pt care or safety. Perhaps they were gossiping and such. Just how I took it anyway.

We had a nurse, close to retirement, who did this. She'd call on her off days and chit chat with the charge nurse about.........stuff.

"Did Sally break up with Bill?"

"Is Jen still refusing to care for room 102?"

I took it as being stuff like this being monitored.

[BabyFood26]

Non-nursing related: When a member of your close family visits your home with a new guest, and the new guest does not introduce themselves let alone even say hello!!!

Um excuse me... you just entered someone's home for the first time, can you show some respect?!?!?!

Maybe it's just me, but I should not have to press you for a proper introduction. I shouldn't have to say hello first, I invited you into MY home. The least you can do is acknowledge the lady of the house!

[dec2007]

Or the opposite - secretary is out on lunch, phone rings, and you're all staring at each other. I've been guilty of this too. You never know what's waiting for you on that other end.

Our unit has a different variation on this. Our unit secretary, who has worked there for 20 years, is usually engaged in flirting shamelessly with any male doctor, family member, visitor and cannot stop flirting long enough to answer the phone, although she is right in front of it and it is part of her job. When not engaged in overtly throwing herself at any male physically present, she is engaged online on "cowboys.com" or some other dating website. Not sure why, but she doesn't do this with our male nurses.