when you are a patient, do you tell the attending doctors/nurses that you are a nurse?
i dont for a variety of reasons
*my proffession is rarely brought up, i would never lie about it.
*my training was 20+ years ago and i stopped working in the hospital system 17+ years ago, there is much i do not know and i would never want not to be explained something with the assumption i knew it, when perhaps i didnt.
*i would not want anyone to think i mentioned it because i was seeking preferential treatment
what are your thoughts and if you have been a patient, what did you do ?(this is ofcourse assuming you were not being attended to by people you have worked with/who know you)
It depends on the situation. Sometimes I feel I get better treatment because of my credentials. If that's the case, I volunteer it. When seeking treatment for myself or my family, I will do whatever I have to do to get the best I can get. I know how to play the game ... and I'll play however I think it will serve me best.
llg
That's exactly how I am. When my grandson had a broken arm and was in the ER, I didn't volunteer it but the nurses picked up on it just from the way I was handling the situation. However, when I went to have my gallbladder out, the pre-op nurse and the anesthesiologist especially were a bit arrogent and talking down to me so I finally said, I got it, I'm a nurse. And they immediately treated me with much more respect! So...depends on the situation. If it's going to get better treatment for my family or myself or if there is a nurse who is rather "iffy" in my opinion, I volunteer it. If the nurses are doing great, there isn't any need for it to come out.
As posted earlier, I seldom volunteer any info, for you can always learn from someone elses experience. If it would be detramental to my treatment, perhaps I would say something, but kindness and tact is the rule.
I try to keep a low profile if possible.
The one big exception I had was when a nurse left my KCL containing I.V running wide open. I titrated it down my self.
Yes, I've told them I'm a nurse...but there are ways of doing it . My last experience in the hospital... well they were asking me all sorts of questions...as its kind of hard to hide what you do when there is scrubs, lab coat and stethascope in your personal effects. Any Yes... I've gotten special treatment.... Let a Nurse fall on ice and break leg/ankle and every Nurse she encounters is sympathetic.
Personally, I don't announce that I am nurse. However, there have been two incidents with my mother where I let people know what I do for a living. First one was when my mother was admitted for pneumonia and she was placed on a telemetry floor. I looked at her monitor and she was having runs and runs of VT. When I asked the nurse what was being done to address it...got a wide eyed look like "do what???" I then told her where I worked and emphasized that she notify the MD. She did and she has been on antiarryhthmics since then.
The other one was when my mother (BTW my mom is an RN too) fx her hip. She called me at work early that am and told me what happened and told me to wait until I got off work to come to hospital because "she was OK".
When I got to the hospital, she was stuck on an "overflow area" until an orthopedic bed opened. This was staffed with an charge RN who works on the psych unit. My mom was in excruciating pain, had received NO pain med for 7 hours and when I asked the charge nurse what the problem was, "her doctor didn't want to order anything until the ortho doc sees her". I got the impression it was because she wasn't accustomed to working with that group of docs and she didn't want to "bother them"..........wellllllll...........I told that was unacceptable and I would call them BOTH myself if she had a problem dealing with them. I ended up calling them myself and FINALLY getting her some relief.
Usually I am "discovered" because I go right after work still wearing my scrubs and badge, or I'm in my student nurse uniform. There was one PA that I made so nervous because I let it slip and my other half was there still in scubs from work that she blew two of my "garden hose" veins.
Apparently the fact I was a student nurse rattled the nurse, too, because she used betadine on me before starting the IV after I specifically told her I was allergic. That left a burn like mark on my hand for over a week.
For me hiding it is next to impossible because of being a CNA and using medspeak or the abbreviations, or questioning the use of cipro when a sulfa drug would suffice. I actually asked that NP if he was trying to create a super bug, but accepted his reasoning anyway.
This is a tricky one. I've seen a large majority of nurses disclose their professiona as a way to intimidate and want special treatment. Others mention it as a means to build a connection.
I live and work in a small town. My DD's pediatrician has known me for years through the hospital. She and the other office staff respect the information I give them about my youngest two because they know I am a nurse. Anytime my babies have been admitted to the hospital, the pedi nurses all know me because we work together. It is never an issue that I'm an RN.
When I was pregnant with my twins I had to go on bedrest in a hospital 4 1/2 hours away from where we live. At a check up prior to being hospitalized, the peri asked me what kind of work I did. He came into the room to check up on us while the RN was doing my admit assessment. He told the nurse that I'm a nurse, but my specialty was med/surg. I'm not sure why he wanted everyone to know. I ended up being on bedrest for over 5 weeks and every nurse brought it up with me. Only one nurse was ever rude to me about it and that was in ICU following the twins' birth. The ICU nurse insisted on giving me a bedbath at 4am. She was rolling me over and I asked her to please watch out for my foley and she snapped, "I'm a nurse, too, and I know how to take care of people!" Having that foley in me was one of the most excruciating and uncomfortable sensations I have ever experienced! I was a very sick patient. I was so out of it that I couldn't even remember that I was a nurse. Initially, I was sent to a regular mother/baby bed. I woke up and heard rhonchi, crackles, and wheezing. I finally found the call bell and called the nurse in to check on my "roommate" who was in respiratory distress! It was me who was in distress! It was me in CHF with pulmonary edema! That is all I remember until being rudely awakened for my 4am bath. I have very fuzzy memories of my husband bringing me photos of the babies in ICU. We are all 3 doing fine now. :balloons:
For me it really depends on the situation. Sometimes I would rather not say, because I worry that they may not explain things in detail assuming I understand when I don't. I also worry that they will think I am trying to be arrogant, when I am not.
Other times I do because I want the staff/nurse to know that I understand their work load and am not judging them for how busy they are.
Then there are also times when I feel like the care I or my kids are recieving may not be their best. Things are getting over looked or done shoddily, then I tell them, and I do admit I see things step up a bit. I have also noticed that I get treated with more respect by doctors when they know. Good or bad, right or wrong, it is just the way it is sometimes. My husband always tells people I am a nurse when we are at a doctors for him or our kids, he says we get better care once they know.
I don't think it will do me better if I divulge that I'm a nurse unless of course it is needed.The fact that I am more afraid of taking injections than my patients is hilarious.So the less they know the better for me.
I don't tell, but they soon figure it out, and will ask. So I tell them. Then I reassure them - this is their field of expertise, not mine. (Like when my husband had heart surgery)
i read this forum and found it very disheartening. that nurses do not tell others in the medical field that they have worked in medicine too is very sad to me. i have been a nurse for over 20 years (and proud of it) and have seen the "intimadating" or "demanding" nurse/patient. i have experienced the "i am a nuse so you better take "better care of me and/or my family or else......" attitude. but in each of them i have always treated them as i do all my patients and give them the respect that i feel we need to give each other. i have tried to find out what field they work in and then together decide what info they need or that they could help me with. i have been in the position as patient and family member and do inform them that i am a nurse. i do this to share info not to intimadate them or scare them. we do not all know everything and only through sharing our knowledge is there true understanding. have we become so paranoid of each other that we feel we can't share and learn from each other? in any other profession would you hide your knowledge from another just to see what kind of treatment you get? and while i am on a roll - why are so many of you who posted so "upset" or aggrivated to learn that a patient or family member is a nurse? is it because you yourself are insecure in your profession / knowledge? again we must realize that no one knows everything and we can always learn from each other if we are willing to share. thanks for reading my rantings and sorry it was so long.
Here is the deal. Next Tues I go in for open heart with 8 blocked arteries. They can fix 6 with grafts, will wait 2 days and get the other 2 with angioplasty stents. They will know I am a nurse because it is in my files. I do not work at this hospital. If and when I wake up, I really don't care if they know I am a nurse or not. I know the kind of treatment and care I give and that is what I expect. I have been an observer in open heart cases, have recovered open heart patients and know the risks, etc. Would be much better off being a truck driver going into this. And yes, passed two stress tests, thallium scans, many ekgs, etc. Was always "chest wall" pain. Finally had an aniogram last Wed after 3 years and 8 blockages where the result. I always perfer to know the patient is a nurse if I am taking of them or someone in their family is. Gives us a common ground. I know I am a BAD patient. Makes my hospital stay that much shorter. LOL
Having that foley in me was one of the most excruciating and uncomfortable sensations I have ever experienced! I was a very sick patient. I was so out of it that I couldn't even remember that I was a nurse. Initially, I was sent to a regular mother/baby bed. I woke up and heard rhonchi, crackles, and wheezing. I finally found the call bell and called the nurse in to check on my "roommate" who was in respiratory distress! It was me who was in distress! It was me in CHF with pulmonary edema! That is all I remember until being rudely awakened for my 4am bath. I have very fuzzy memories of my husband bringing me photos of the babies in ICU. We are all 3 doing fine now. :balloons:
i have been a nurse for over 20 years (and proud of it) and have seen the "intimadating" or "demanding" nurse/patient. i have experienced the "i am a nuse so you better take "better care of me and/or my family or else......" attitude. but in each of them i have always treated them as i do all my patients and give them the respect that i feel we need to give each other. i have tried to find out what field they work in and then together decide what info they need or that they could help me with. i have been in the position as patient and family member and do inform them that i am a nurse. i do this to share info not to intimadate them or scare them. we do not all know everything and only through sharing our knowledge is there true understanding. have we become so paranoid of each other that we feel we can't share and learn from each other? in any other profession would you hide your knowledge from another just to see what kind of treatment you get? and while i am on a roll - why are so many of you who posted so "upset" or aggrivated to learn that a patient or family member is a nurse? is it because you yourself are insecure in your profession / knowledge? again we must realize that no one knows everything and we can always learn from each other if we are willing to share. thanks for reading my rantings and sorry it was so long.
esrun3
16 Posts
That's exactly how I am. When my grandson had a broken arm and was in the ER, I didn't volunteer it but the nurses picked up on it just from the way I was handling the situation. However, when I went to have my gallbladder out, the pre-op nurse and the anesthesiologist especially were a bit arrogent and talking down to me so I finally said, I got it, I'm a nurse. And they immediately treated me with much more respect! So...depends on the situation. If it's going to get better treatment for my family or myself or if there is a nurse who is rather "iffy" in my opinion, I volunteer it. If the nurses are doing great, there isn't any need for it to come out.