What do patients say that irks you?

Part of our role is to educate our patients without judging what we feel they should or should not know. Everyone had to learn what they know at some point, some just learn certain things later than others.

I always hate to hear:

Why are you being induced? (2 weeks before your due date)

"Because the baby is ready"

I have always wanted to say, "If the baby was ready, you'd be in labor."

Oh, and I always love when the visitors ask, "How far is she dilated now?", even if I've just walked in the room to refill a water pitcher.

I love it when I hear "Nurse....I want service..NOW"

Um if you want good service you can go to Wendy's and get it your way....I will however take excellent care of you"

I hate coming in a room to see the grandmother feeding the baby as much formula as she can stuff in there. Me: "the baby's only 6hours old, why are you feeding him" her: "because my daughter doesn't have any milk yet". When I say the word 'colostrum', they nod like they've heard the word before.

Why, dear Lord, don't OBs teach those mothers anything? I just don't get it.

I need a patience supplement.

I am almost afraid to say after the "rant" thread. I don't want to come off as insensitive or too judgemental.

"So what time is the baby going to be born?" If I could predict this I would be very rich!

"How much does the baby weigh?" Right after birth, while the baby is still on mom's chest, or as the NICU team is bagging the baby. Maybe we should make sure the baby is breathing first.

I know my job is to educate people, but sometimes it takes all of my willpower to not say something I would regret.

Awwww....don't be a buzz kill.

Its good to get things off your chest and this is supposed to be the place to do it. I'm sure everyone's aware of your point already.

Z

SmilinBluEyes, if we can't rant here, exactly where can a nurse rant? With all of your experience I know you've probably heard some doosies. Spill 'em. All of 'em, on the table, now.

OK, mine's not necessarily the patients, it's the residents at our teaching hospital. As a doula, I ask the mom if she wants me to count for her during contractions. Sometimes it's a yes but if she's a primip, it might be a no. It's funny when the resident comes in and automatically starts counting when mom is pushing. These are the same docs who probably think that all the Spanish they need in L&D is "puje" (push), "mas" or "more" if mom is not pushing good enough, counting to ten in Spanish and after the ctx is done, either "otra vez" (again) or "muy bueno." If they need more Spanish than that, they are lost. And look to the nurses as if "RN" somehow translates to "automatically fluent in Spanish."

No kidding, I've seen this many times.