Have you noticed a difference in how various populations treat nurses?

I lived in CO and I loved the people. They were more respectfully and more sincere. Nurses are in such short supply and if you have any experience, they really appreciate your knowledge. I have worked and lived in several parts of this country and really miss living out west. We moved to KY and lets just say it was a rude awakening. Currently in SC and the people are fairly nice, but then I'm only here for a short time. Just extended my contract at my coworkers request.
So what part of the west are you in? I hope to get back out to CO, sometime in the spring or summer.

I do find the people in the west to be in general more open and welcoming, as long as you are not in the large metropolitan centers. Those areas have so many transplants they don't seem to fit the general "tenor" of any region.
It may just be a matter of "fit" with my own personality, but I feel most comfortable in the west, least so with the more "reserved" population of New England. (People there were not unfriendly, just less open)

Oh, we have our rude ones out West, too. But then, I've lived here all my life and don't know how it would be to work back East, or in a large city, or where socioeconomic status is more of an issue than it is here.

However, I think the way a nurse is treated has a lot to do with the kind of respect the nurse her/himself commands. Maybe it's because I was older when I started out in this profession, but I have only rarely been treated badly by patients or doctors. I have to confess that the occasional family member gets under my skin, but even with these, I make it very clear that I am not there to be abused. If I myself have done something wrong, I immediately own up to it and make it right if I can (which takes the wind out of their sails more often than not). If not, I assume that they're angry with someone else and direct them to the person who can best address their problem.

I don't know about other parts of the country, but I'm pretty sure people are people all over, and that they behave better when healthcare professionals demand some measure of respect. JMHO.

I haven't heard a truer statement in almost all my life.. I have lived in the south my whole life. I recently took a job in ca.. There is a HUGE work ethic difference for the better. I feel like i'm in heaven everyday when I go to work just b/c people do what there suppose to do and want to do it. I can't believe it. Even if i'm having a bad day it's not really that bad and I realize it. The patients and family members as you say are so nice and thankful and the way the take care of their own family members touches my heart.. I have not had one person writing down everything I do, every medication I am giving, and as you say with the threats as of yet. Its so nice. I'm kind of glad I worked in the south and have the oppurtunity to compare it to the west. When other nurses I work with are complaining about their day at work I think I had a pretty darn good day (though I never say it out loud). I feel very thankful to have the oppurtunity to be able to see this side of the country. its a nice eye opener. I'm glad someone brought this up, I could talk about this all day long.. but for ya'lls sake.. I guess I won't.. ha ha ha

Have found the same thing with the patient population in the North East. Must be a Southern thing, for sure. In the NE, nurses were treated as a profession and generally, with some respect (for the most part). In the South, I feel as if I am one step away from being considered slave labor. Not only is the average patient, the way you describe, management and doctors are verbally abusive or condescending (for the most part). Sure feel like the 'Southern Hospitality' I keep hearing about is just lip service.