i was just wondering why some of the health care professionals feel the need to baby our patients. on several occasions, i have heard other staff and even on this bb say that they had to talk their (adults who are mentally and medically competent are the ones included in this post only) pt into staying or talk thier pts into coming into the er in the first place!
in my experience, i have found that these "babyied" pt's are the ones who often become demanding, rude and well, just plain ignorant.
why do we as health care workers think we know better than the patients. yes, we may know more about health than the ones with no health education but these people are adults who when told once about their conditions are able to make an informed descion, not a "preformed descion".
i am tired of begging the preforming arts crowd to stay in my er for their own good. fine, if they think they know so much, let them leave. who cares? they are adults and i am tired of treating them like children. my 9 year old listens better than some of the adults that i have come into contact with over the years! some people are just down right rude and stupid.
i was wondering if anyone else felt like that and would like to vent!?!
It's very frustrating for me to have a patient come in and want us to fix whatever is wrong while essentially refusing treatment. I agree that patients have the right to refuse procedures, but I also believe that doctors have the right to refuse treatment unless they are able to make a diagnosis. If the patient refuses lab, x-rays, etc the doctors can only go by what the patient tells them and what we are able to see on physical exam...most of the time the doctors make the right call, but who is at fault if they miss something because the patient refuses diagnostic tests?
I can't imagine babying a patient to get them to agree to a procedure/treatment/med. What some patients fail to realize is that while I would prefer that they get better, I won't be upset if they want to leave AMA. I mean come on, someone else could use the bed.
When i volunteer at my local hospital ER i do tend to baby patients. I do it cause almost everybody is in their cause of mental or physical problems so i try to make them as comfortable as i can cause i feel bad for the poor bastards.I guess when your a volunteer its easy to baby them cause other then doing the beds thats all their is to do.
I am all for not "babying" patients... but through my limited experience I have seen nurses and other health professionals talk to patients like they are idiots... especially if they are incontinent and/or older... (apparently if you are over 65 you are demented and stupid)
Also I think some nurses forget what it is like to be in the shoes of the patient... with everything out of their control... ie. being told you need this test.. and this needle... and these bloods taken.... with no rationale being explained in terms they can inderstand....
Having said that, frequent fliers really know how to pull the wool over the eyes of the newbies... I think we have all been there.... at least once......
Having worked many years in the ER I have to agree with Fgr8Out and RN_Amy.
We, who choose to work in emergency care, can very easily become jaded, hard and mean. I've seen ER nurses ridicule, demean and embarrass patients, ignore thier complaints and talk badly about patients and their families within hearing range of them and then when there is any fall-out to these behaviors they will become self-rightous and hand over the AMA forms to be signed. ER nurses can also be very judgemental of other nurses and that whole "nurse-eat-their-young" theory probably started in a badly run emergency center.
I know that most of you are not like that, I can tell from your posts, and I do understand the need to vent. I've driven home many a night grumbling and talking to myself to just get rid of the nights frustrations.
But I also think we need to be very careful not to let our stress level (level of discontent, fatigue, depression ...fill in the blank to fit you) bleed over into your relationship witrh these patients who are sick, confused and frightened.
Now, before you flame me or tell me to get a real ER life, let be be clear that I am not talking about frequent flyers, or those that continue to refuse normal care, even after you have explained and taught ad nauseaum...I'm just saying that part of our job is to make patients understand what they need and why we are doing it BEFORE we get angry that they will not do what we ask...some people do need a little extra time...and that's not babying, that's our job.
Does anyone have to baby their Doctor's and do they get the patients thru the ER as quickly as possible and not hang on to them for 8 or more hours @ a time?
We just have baby docs! The nurses tell them what to do otherwise pts would sit in the ED for 8 hrs.
i was just wondering why some of the health care professionals feel the need to baby our patients. on several occasions, i have heard other staff and even on this bb say that they had to talk their (adults who are mentally and medically competent are the ones included in this post only) pt into staying or talk thier pts into coming into the er in the first place! 
flashpoint
1,327 Posts
It's very frustrating for me to have a patient come in and want us to fix whatever is wrong while essentially refusing treatment. I agree that patients have the right to refuse procedures, but I also believe that doctors have the right to refuse treatment unless they are able to make a diagnosis. If the patient refuses lab, x-rays, etc the doctors can only go by what the patient tells them and what we are able to see on physical exam...most of the time the doctors make the right call, but who is at fault if they miss something because the patient refuses diagnostic tests?