Absence of Manners

Nurses General Nursing

Published

i'll admit to being somewhat cranky today, and this is a vent. this is only a vent. please do not accuse me of being mean to or mistreating anyone i'm venting about! but i swear, people's parents neglected to teach them manners!

the hospital cafeteria has wifi, and i know that you're bored waiting for uncle zeke to get out of surgery. it's great that you can sit in the cafeteria with your laptop and surf the net. however when lunchtime comes and you're not eating, just surfing, please get up and go somewhere else so that all those people standing around with trays full of food and peering around for an empty table can sit down and eat!

didn't your mother teach you that it's rude to sit in front of grandma, who is npo for the or, and eat your tacos or fried chicken? grandma can't eat and she's very hungry. please go somewhere else to eat your bagful of fast food and come visit grandma when you're done.

poppop had surgery, he's getting diuresed, his mouth is dry and all he wants is a big glass of water which he cannot have. it's rude to sit there and slurp on your big gulp in front of him.

i know you're a brand new np and all, and very proud of your degree, your knowledge base and your new prescribing priveledges. you would look every so much more professional, though, if you weren't chewing a big ole wad of gum with your mouth open and snapping, cracking, popping and blowing bubbles!

yes, the intensivist is slow, he's boring and he's old fashioned. it's excrutiating to watch him tackle the keyboard on a cow. but that's no excuse to be on the other cow shopping for stilettos during rounds! nor is it cool to be texting your husband, your best friend, or your husband's best friend instead of paying attention to what the nurse has to say.

i know you graduated from man's best nursing school last month and that therefore you think you know everything. but please, i'd rather have you ask what you think is a really stupid question than try to give blood through a d5w carrier, use ffp as a carrier or push dilantin through tpn. and it's really not cool to give the 20 meq of kcl iv push, either!

i know that you think 15-b's 20 or so relatives who average two teeth and thirty-two tattoos each are immensely entertaining. i might think so, too, if i could get past them to take care of the patient. we have rules that state only two visitors at a time -- please enforce them. if you let all and sundry hang out in the patient room eating their kfc and drinking their big gulps (see above) and then i tell them they need to follow the rules about no food, no drinks and only two visitors at a time, i become the mean nurse. that's not fair!

i appreciate that you're 30 years younger than me and ever so much more good looking than i ever dreamed of being. that does not mean, however, that it's cool to roll your scrub pants down to your hips so that your thong pokes out the top even when you're not bending over. nor is the push-up bra that's spilling the girls out your v neck very professional, either!

please hang up the cell phone so i can assess you. please get off facebook -- you're sitting in my chair and using my computer and that's just not cool. and please, if you work here, come and help me clean up poop even if the packers are winning in the next room!

Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.

Don't get too frustrated Ruby--remember the adage--ya can't fix stupid.

Specializes in Geriatric Nursing.

LOL I understand how you feel........ I would also feel the same way,,,,

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
iv pole dancing class....i love it!! (i mean, i love the joke....not hoping it actually comes to fruition!)

it would be a nice idea for an end of year skit or something! could be hilarious!

Specializes in Med/Surg, DSU, Ortho, Onc, Psych.

Yes we've all experienced this I think. My Dad used to say 'Good manners cost nothing'. I never push by people for example in the supermarket or at work, I always say 'Excuse me could I get by?' But when you ask relatives in the hospital to move cos you need to get to the patient or whatever, they roll their eyes and sometimes won't move till you have asked them twice. And I don't actually mind a lot of relatives visiting if they are not in the way, but those hospital rooms are usually really small and visitors don't realise, as they're all having fun! and forget you have work to do.

Yes rudeness seems to be the order of the day unfortunately.

Meh... the freakin' scrub thing!! Drives me absolutely NUTS!! Wear cute scrubs girl, do your thing! But for goodness sake PUT YOUR BUTT CRACK AWAY!! Don't make me start referring to you as "the Cracken". To your face, of course. In a pirate voice. In the middle of the full nursing station.

Because I will, if I have to. ARRRGHH....

:fnypst:

:lol2::yeah:

I totally picture things mentally as I read them and I must say, this right here had my dying!

I've never witnessed this at a hospital, though I've seen it at school.

One word:

NAAAAAAAASSSSSSTTTTYYYY!!!

it would be a nice idea for an end of year skit or something! could be hilarious!

do it!!!

and make sure you roll your scrub pants down and have your leopard print thong hanging out....

my oh my....

you could also get those fake large butts at the halloween stores.

i think i might have my halloween costume picked out!:lol2: or better yet, i think i could get my hubby to wear it. he loves acting funny or wearing crazy things to make people laugh.

Specializes in Gerontological Nursing, Acute Rehab.
Do people actually work with people that do that? Holy crap, is that unprofessional or what? I have NEVER seen anything worse than those hip-huggery, bell-bottomy type scrubs. Seems like once a week someone is on AN complaining about a "whale tail" but I've seriously never seen it happen at work. It seems unbelievable, but it must be true....

Yes, they do that, and worse. I once had to gently explain to a staff member why it was NOT a good idea to wear thin white scrub pants and go Commando. Seriously. NO UNDIES!!! :eek:

If I am a vistor at the hospital when I see the nurse come in with an IV bag or the tech coming to take vitals I automatically will ask if they need to get by or I will move ,so that the nurse or tech has the space to perform their duties because after all that is why their there .

Yes, they do that, and worse. I once had to gently explain to a staff member why it was NOT a good idea to wear thin white scrub pants and go Commando. Seriously. NO UNDIES!!! :eek:

:no:

:barf01:

Specializes in Health Information Management.
Yes, they do that, and worse. I once had to gently explain to a staff member why it was NOT a good idea to wear thin white scrub pants and go Commando. Seriously. NO UNDIES!!! :eek:

To paraphrase the great Dr. Seuss in "Horton Hatches the Egg":

It shouldn't be, it shouldn't be, IT SHOULDN'T BE LIKE THAT!

If I were visiting a hospital and saw something like that, the hospital would probably have a new patient due to my uncontrollable vomiting and aftereffects of my attempts to gouge out my eyes. Maybe she was part of a secret hospital plan to increase revenue? ;)

Specializes in Peds Medical Floor.
Yes, they do that, and worse. I once had to gently explain to a staff member why it was NOT a good idea to wear thin white scrub pants and go Commando. Seriously. NO UNDIES!!! :eek:

Yeah that happened at my place, too. Until recently we could only wear white pants. Several staff member had to be talked to because they liked wearing red or black thongs or bikini underwear under their white pants. Classy! Even a guy had to be talked to about the color of his boxers lol.

Specializes in ER I/CCU Cath lab LTC.

I've been in health care for almost 40 years, and I've noticed that visitor and patient behaviour has rapidly worsened with the elimination of visiting hours. All of the hospitals in my area have the attitude of "Well, y'all come on in and make yourselves at home!" All part of the new "customer service". Feeling tired? Well, that bed over there isn't being used, so crawl on in. Naw, the housekeepers won't mind cleaning the bed again. And I love to pick up your fast food trash because I'm glad you're full and happy. A little shot will fix up Grammy's post-op nausea after smelling your Whopper with extra onions. Not that you would care anyway.

At one hospital I worked at, one family would bring in two grocery bags full of food and a small cooler of sodas to drink while they camped out in Mom's room. No visiting restrictions means many families come early and stay late. And yes, I do try to get them out of the room when appropriate, but y'all know what that's like! When did visiting a sick relative become a social event?

When I was a new nurse, pts and families were respectful and polite. Left when visiting hours were over. Infants were not crawling over nasty hospital floors-no kids under 14 allowed. Moved out of the way without being asked. Left the room when pts roommate used the commode. No eating. No drinking. I must be getting old- some things about the 'good old days' seem pretty good right now! I especially miss the respect that nurses were given. Rant on, OP. I'm right there with ya'!

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