called me a maid

Nurses General Nursing

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one of my patients called me a maid this weekend. umph.. the lady was a 40 year old very rich lady who just gave birth to a cute baby boy. i think she had to much epidural. she put on her call light and said to the unit clerk " send my maid in please, i need a lortab" . i went in and explained i was not a maid i was a RN , she said to me " whatever, can i get something for pain?" i float to surgical next week and it will be nice for the change. anyone else ever called something other than your job? lol

:angryfireI work in a ICU and often say that I was crossed trained from house keeping. Between the way hosp. are trying to save money and the way pts. treat us sometimes I feel like a house keeper.

I would have done just what you did.

I refuse to empty trash or mop up anything but an emergency spill. I am a nurse. We have housekeepers. They don't do my work, I don't do theirs. Period. End of story.

I keep a stash of TP and paper towels and will put these in the bathroom but that is self-preservation for when the housekeepers can't seem to remembert to supply these - yes, we are open on holidays, 3 shifts, & weekends.

BTW, can you explain the Oedipus Rex thing? Rex = king, yes? Oedipus - didn't he like to be with Mom in a forbidden way? Killed his Dad to keep mom to himself or something?

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Specializes in PICU.
When I worked in a doctor's office, once had a perfectly healthy lady hand me her car keys and describe her car to me so I could " pull it around for her"!:banghead: After picking myself up off the floor and checking to see if I was actually wearing my valet tag, I was so surprised that I actually did it.:) Never lived that one down. Oh well, what are ya gonna do?

That's hilarious. You know you're going to have to do that every time now, right? :chuckle

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Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.
I refuse to empty trash or mop up anything but an emergency spill. I am a nurse. We have housekeepers. They don't do my work, I don't do theirs. Period. End of story.

BTW, can you explain the Oedipus Rex thing? Rex = king, yes? Oedipus - didn't he like to be with Mom in a forbidden way? Killed his Dad to keep mom to himself or something?

I don't refuse, a nurse is responsible for the patient's environment. One night as charge in the ER, I sent my housekeeper home as she was obviously ill but trying to not leave us up in the air. I then took her cart, cleaned beds and mopped floors. So did Flo Nightengale, hygeine saved more lives than anything else.

Oedipus Rex is an ancient Greek play about trying to escape one's fate. His father the king was told his son would kill him, so exposed the baby in a field (ancient custom for unwanted babies). Farmer finds, adopts. Son is on a road, old man on horse insults him. Oedepus pulls him down and kills him, is later made King by marrying the widowed queen. Turns out its Mom. The reference is for the insult M__F__r.:D

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I don't refuse, a nurse is responsible for the patient's environment. One night as charge in the ER, I sent my housekeeper home as she was obviously ill but trying to not leave us up in the air. I then took her cart, cleaned beds and mopped floors. So did Flo Nightengale, hygeine saved more lives than anything else.

Oedipus Rex is an ancient Greek play about trying to escape one's fate. His father the king was told his son would kill him, so exposed the baby in a field (ancient custom for unwanted babies). Farmer finds, adopts. Son is on a road, old man on horse insults him. Oedepus pulls him down and kills him, is later made King by marrying the widowed queen. Turns out its Mom. The reference is for the insult M__F__r.:D

Covering for a sick housekeeper once in a blue moon is different than nurses being expected to routinely do housekeeping. As for Flo, she did not have tele to watch, a billion forms to fill out, drips to calculate, cook, and give, etc. You can't possibly compare Nursing back then to what we do today! No quarrel that hygiene and environment are vitally important. If my housekeeper got sick, I'd do only the essentials but would also have gotten the head housekeeper and told him we need a replacement stat.

OK about Oedipus but what about the insult MFR you refer to? Are you calling me a MFR? :confused: Please clarify.

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Specializes in Peri-op/Sub-Acute ANP.

I was tidying up after a procedure on a lady one day, and she actually said to me that she should hire me to clean her home! I responded as if this wasn't a slight (which it most certainly was meant to be) and told her that I had a very good maid, and if she needed one I would be happy to pass on her telephone number. It pretty much took the fun out of it for her.

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While i am a nursing student--i work day shift (very early day) as a certified Phlebotomist(hence the user name above)---you can not even imagine the things i have been called or the things people think that i do-----one of the worst was when i went into a young mans room to draw his blood and i was trying to lessen his fear of needles so i said " Hi, Im the one who's gonna stick you" and he replied "Funny, I was gonna just say the same thing to you"----needless to say i will never make that mistake again!!!!!:smackingf

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Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.
covering for a sick housekeeper once in a blue moon is different than nurses being expected to routinely do housekeeping. as for flo, she did not have tele to watch, a billion forms to fill out, drips to calculate, cook, and give, etc. you can't possibly compare nursing back then to what we do today! no quarrel that hygiene and environment are vitally important. if my housekeeper got sick, i'd do only the essentials but would also have gotten the head housekeeper and told him we need a replacement stat.

ok about oedipus but what about the insult mfr you refer to? are you calling me a mfr? :confused: please clarify.

i assure you the poster was only defining the reference oedipus rex. certainly not calling you that. :)

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Specializes in ER.

What IS a MFR? Mother-******???

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Before I was instructing, I worked everywhere in our hospital. I was on a med-surg floor and I had a post-op pt and she was up in the shower and I was making her bed and cleaning up her room(yes, we had techs and environmental that day). Her grown son was sitting beside the bed while I was doing this and he said, my sister does this for a living too. I said oh? your sister is an RN? and he said no a CNA. I considered that a compliment, he didn't realize all of this can be a part of nurse's job description.

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Specializes in Rodeo Nursing (Neuro).
lol ... yes nursing keeps us strong... sure isn't a job for the faint of heart... there's gotta be a special place in heaven for us... :uhoh3:

Of course there is...you don't think people in heaven will have to fluff their own pillows and fetch their own ice water, do you?

Eh, maybe that's just a tad cynical, for Christmas:saint:.

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oh and when I say "cleaning up" I certainly wasn't mopping, although I probably did empty the trash. I hate y patients overflowing trash cans. I can see both sides of the arguement though. Given an inch, some might take a mile and yes, I feel also that they don't function as nurses and we shouldn't, blah, blah. But I have the time and it makes my patient feel more comfortable, what's the biggie? (smile)

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No surprise really if she was wealthy. Although she may have thought she was in a hotel. Go figure

I always laugh when patients put their trays on the floor outside the room, like it was room service or something.:smokin:

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