I work acute pysch and the other day I was working in the high care area where patients may go if they are pyschotic/manic and needing a low stimulus area. And its often a step down process if they started their admission in seclusion
Anyhow, our patient was on a smoking regime. That is they only got a cigarette once an hour due to the mania they had a tendency to smoke them all at once and then complain they had none left.
I was floating from my home ward and I tended to be a bit sort of 'mehh' but wanting to support my colleagues I adhered to the plan they had developed because not my place. The patient understandably was not happy and began yelling at me "I'm going to sue you, I'm going to sue you for defamation". I had to retreat into the office at that point, mainly because I thought laughing at the patient would be non therapeutic.
Throughout the rest of the shift the patient would continue to mutter and periodiacally yell at me that he would see me in court and I should be terrifyed. All I could think of was the princess bride. It still makes me giggle
Back in the late 90's, I was working in a Very busy LTAC, and passing by a patient room, I heard her nurse say to her cheerfully, Okay Ms. XYZ it's time for your afternoon medications.
Ms. XYZ.: ..DAMMIT!! Why do you people keep bothering me Every Few Hours to Give me Something or another...why don't you just give me EVERYTHING at the same Time!....Just Give it ALL TO ME at Once!!...nurse overheard muttering underneath her breath after exiting the patient room....Oh...Don't Tempt ME....Don't Tempt Me....
When I was a nursing student, I was preparing to give my Very First IM injection. My nurse preceptor could sense that I was shaking like a leaf, and chuckled wholeheartedly and said....Honey, she's got an *** so wide you could throw that thing from across the room and Not be able to miss her fanny. I couldn't help but giggle; her kind heart and empathy really helped me to make it through that first Med/Surg rotation in nursing school.
After learning some facts about the effects of witnessing domestic violence (it was my television in my early childhood--it wasn't one or two arguments--I grew up in this environment watching it like Tom and Jerry on TV and grew up to be abused physically and mentally, too.), I'm surprised I made it through without losing my mind. One person committed suicide right in front of my eyes. The other witness ended up in a psychiatric ward for a few months and several years of therapy.
I have twisted dark humor.
I can sympathize for sure!! Sometimes, when all we want to do is scream and cry, all we can really do is take a deep breath, laugh, and keep moving on through life. If I were to never find humour in anything which had personally affected me, I fear that I would be left an emotionless, humorless shell of a person. A robot. At that point, why would nurses even be required at many bedsides, on the phone, or in outpatient settings? Just program in the patient's affliction/illness, and have the robot computer give an answer or perform the task. Just a thought; hugs to all human nurses!!
Specializes in Hospice, corrections, psychiatry, rehab, LTC.
On 2/9/2022 at 2:13 PM, gemswanson90 said:
When I was a nursing student, I was preparing to give my Very First IM injection. My nurse preceptor could sense that I was shaking like a leaf, and chuckled wholeheartedly and said....Honey, she's got an *** so wide you could throw that thing from across the room and Not be able to miss her fanny. I couldn't help but giggle; her kind heart and empathy really helped me to make it through that first Med/Surg rotation in nursing school.
My first injection was given to a patient on an OB-GYN floor. I was nervous enough as it was, but also the ordering physician had written the order in grains. Fortunately, I had my handy-dandy conversion table with me, and I figured out how much that he really wanted given. She was on a mag sulfate drip for preeclampsia, and she couldn't have been more out of it. To this day, I doubt that she even knew that I was in the room, although I explained to her what I was about to do. She never reacted to anything.
Kitiger, RN
1,834 Posts
A lot of nurses have dark humor - humor that our non-healthcare friends just don't understand.
Tenebrae, I'm glad you're here. You get it.