:banghead:hey... i know there has been many threads about how people are so rude now-a-days...but i have just have to vent...i usually do not like working with my age group (20s) and love working with the elderly because generally they have more manners. however, last night, this 87 year old woman (a&ox3) from a nursing home, just ordered one thing after another, no mention of please or thank you or anything but rudeness!!! i just hate that.....i feel like a servent, not a nurse. i dont expect to get chocolates at the nurses station (although that would be nice) but at least a "thank you."
so at the end of my 12 long hours with her, i finally said, "you welcome!!" she looked stunned, but said nothing.....
people "forget" their manners when they come into the hospital. nurses don't require them i guess, we aren't people, just servants. one particular elderly man kept coughing in my face after being asked politely to cover his mouth. this having not worked, i asked if his mother taught him to cover his mouth when he coughed....again, no positive response and the coughing continued. i had enough....i coughed in his face.......funny, he covered his mouth from then on
I don't know if patients are necessarily being "rude". Granted, I've worked at Bellevue Hospital's ER and ICU and have encountered quite a few personalities. I've come to realize that when people are ill, sometimes the last thing on their mind is how you feel.
It sucks when you don't get a "thank you" but honestly, so what? You know you are doing a good job and you know when not let someone take advantage.
I feel like there is more rudeness from nurses and doctors than from patients...
i had a little old lady get very angry with me one time because i would not let her smoke a cigarette in the ER. i would not take her outside to smoke one either. she started screaming obscenities at me, and finished her rant with "and by the way, you're ugly as sin". i smiled and said "thank you very much!" and i think it made her 10x madder than she already was.
i had another patient, no more than 100 lbs, who could ambulate independently, had abd pain, but wanted tons of things done and would not hit her light, just would yell "heeeeeeeellllllllppppppppp" for things like ice chips, move my blanket, fluff my pillow, when can i go upstairs, do you have any graham crackers, etc. so missy decided she wanted to get her sheets changed after being in the ER holding for 7 hours, and peed on herself (mind you she was 35, and was fully capable of walking). she said "now you have to change it, humph". so i said "ok, cathy, you are going to stand up while i change this bed and look for something for me" and she said "i dont work here" and i said "ok cathy stand real still, look to your right, and left, front and back. what do you see?" cathy said,
"nothing. what does this have to do with my bed? i wanna lay down" to which i replied, "well after this exercise we've both decided we didn't see the universe revolving around you. you are in the emergency room, not the holiday inn." she was pleasant as could be after that.
but it really, really is amazing how alot of people really do think that the world is actually revolving around them.
i don't know if patients are necessarily being "rude". granted, i've worked at bellevue hospital's er and icu and have encountered quite a few personalities. i've come to realize that when people are ill, sometimes the last thing on their mind is how you feel.
it sucks when you don't get a "thank you" but honestly, so what? you know you are doing a good job and you know when not let someone take advantage.
i feel like there is more rudeness from nurses and doctors than from patients...
i disagree. we work very hard at our jobs and deserve a thankyou.
Specializes in ER/SICU/Med-Surg/Ortho/Trauma/Flight.
Sorry about your patient from hell brandi!!!!!!!
i got a break in triage last night also as my mother came in, she was sick vomiting, abd pain, nausea- Gastroenteritis, anyways shes a nurse to you know one of the older white dress and cap nurses whos been a nurse for along time!!!
Well anyway she told the ones waiting to nock it off from the start, she told them she was my mom and was going to have to wait forever also, and if they cause a fuss about it, it only takes longer!!!!!!!
I say we should just have are family members come and wait in the waiting room while were on shift and cntrol the crowd she seemed very effective!!!!!!!!!lol
i disagree. we work very hard at our jobs and deserve a thankyou.
we do work very hard... that's why one rude person shouldn't have to spoil the day. i just feel that one shouldn't be quick to feel unappreciated-- in the grand scheme of things it's really just a drop in a bucket of water.
especially when it comes to the er... you find may find more rudeness and that's because everything is happening at once--nurses, doctors and patients are overwhelmed and overstimulated... it's an environment that breeds rudeness and short tempers. i'm more amused than offended though. there is a degree of desensitization to those types of things. wouldn't you agree?:typing
we do work very hard... that's why one rude person shouldn't have to spoil the day. i just feel that one shouldn't be quick to feel unappreciated-- in the grand scheme of things it's really just a drop in a bucket of water.
especially when it comes to the er... you find may find more rudeness and that's because everything is happening at once--nurses, doctors and patients are overwhelmed and overstimulated... it's an environment that breeds rudeness and short tempers. i'm more amused than offended though. there is a degree of desensitization to those types of things. wouldn't you agree?:typing
i believe people treat you as you "allow" them to treat you. when patients are coughing on me i educate and tell them 300mph germs from their rudeness are flying in my face. on the other hand i also will always ask a patient if there is anything else i can get them before i leave the room. if they are rude about it, it will take longer...plain and simple. a warm blanket from the blanket warmer or a glass of ice will eventually get there,but, i am not there to kiss their a$$...i am there to save it. i have been in the medical field long enough to know service is as service does. i get excellent comments on my care and do not apologize for pointing out when someone is rude, that i am trying my best to take care of their needs, whether minor or major.
i once had a woman in severe resp. failure who demanded i give her something for her chapped lips before i was even able to put her on the monitor, listen to her breath sounds, ect. i did give her a glycerin swab, opened it and placed it on her bloated abdomen as i said i need to listen real quick to your breath sounds. her daughter popped out of the chair, yanked the swab rudely saying out loud...here mom let me do this for you since the nurse won't.........(the woman had two flippin functional arms).....i stood up from the this woman's obvious "chf quickly dumping on me, chest", looked at the daughter and said..." mam, i am more worried about your mother's heart and lungs than i am of her chapped lips, so please leave the room and if you have a problem with the care i am providing....i can get my supervisor in here asap to take over the care i am providing, which btw.......is not going to be any different than what i am currently doing!" i waiting for her response..........which was apologetic immediatley........stress or not...i refuse rudeness....and by the way...got a thankyou soooo much for your care and for saving my mother's life. so, yes, i expect to be treated with respect, and expect that thank you...i don't always get it...but i expect it......
mpccrn, BSN, RN
527 Posts
people "forget" their manners when they come into the hospital. nurses don't require them i guess, we aren't people, just servants. one particular elderly man kept coughing in my face after being asked politely to cover his mouth. this having not worked, i asked if his mother taught him to cover his mouth when he coughed....again, no positive response and the coughing continued. i had enough....i coughed in his face.......funny, he covered his mouth from then on