Do nurses talk about their patients when the leave

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Okay, this is a very personal issue for me. I have some stretch marks on my arms that I am very self conscious about. Once I went to the dr. for a check up (i had to for employment) and I outright refused to let the nurse take my blood pressure. I have a complex about them and think people notice them and I always wear long sleeves. The nurse had to get someone to come in the room and encourage me to let them take my blood pressure, after some serious coaching I let them do it. I refused another time and the nurse had to take my blood pressure over my clothing.

Whenever I reveal my arms I just feel like the nurse is looking at the stretch marks in disgust and will go tell the other employees in the clinic about them and laugh. I am hoping that nurses are more professional than that. Are stretch marks the least offensive thing RNs/LPNs encounter on their patients?

I dont think her reactions sounds way over the top.My own mother had stretchmarks since she gave birth (since she was 18).She could never wear two piece swim suit and had low-self esteem because of it,so tell her that this is not a big deal is simply ignoring her need to vent,thanks..

Freaking out to the point of not being able to endure a simple exam, and needing to be talked down, is most definitely an overreaction. It's not "ignoring her need to vent." It's pointing out that she needs some help, and venting on a message board is not going to relieve her of some obviously very extreme anxiety.

Frankly, lovehospital, given your posts I really don't think you're in a position of authority here.

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Yeah, as other people before me have said, generally doctors, nurses, and everyone in the healthcare field in general. have seen it all. Stretch marks are not a big deal at all...many of our patients have stretchmarks. Many of US have stretchmarks, too! I know I do!

Please don't allow your insecurities about your body to cause you to skip out on medical treatment! Everyone has things on their bodies that they dislike.

The fact is, it is part of our jobs, whether we are doctors, nurses, techs, aides, whatever, to give you as a patient respect and dignity. No one is going to make fun of something you consider a "flaw".

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Specializes in LTC, Hospice, corrections, +.

Sorry, I'd be thinking track marks. I have twins so my stomach looks like Freddy Kruger had at it as well. Nurses may share information but I agree with the poster who said any nurse who would notice and bring up stretch marks would be met with a bewildered look from her colleagues.

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Specializes in LTC.

I have to join the chorus of "Don't worry about it"'s. Stretch marks are something that most medical people don't really notice because they aren't that huge of a deal.

If this is keeping you from exams and so forth. I would see a counsler to help you work through the self confidence. We are all allowed to be self confident, but if it's effecting out lives or making us anxious it may be a bit too much.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.
from my experience they do! my daughter was in the hospital for a staph infection for 3 days. once one nurse saw that i was studying microbiology, and asked me what i was studying for, it only took a day for all the other nurses to start conversations by saying, "so your studying to be a nurse huh?..." lol.

this i think is different...it speaks to psych/soc patient/family history. the info was likely passed on in report...when we know that x patient's (fill in family member) is a nurse, doctor, whatever, we pass it on to the next shift, it can be helpful. i don't think this was necessarily casual convo....

as far as stretch marks, that would be different. i doubt they'd even be noticed, or if they would even register on anyone's radar.

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Specializes in Med surg, Critical Care, LTC.

To the OP, I read your post, and it made me think of myself. As a nurse, I cannot think of a time I looked twice or thought twice about stretch marks, hairy legs, hairy underarms, sagging boobs, chin hair on women, etc... you get the point. Honestly, no one ever come to the hospital with these listed items as their problem, so I don't pay any attention to these things while I'm listening to lung sounds, applying EKG patches, cleaning a leg wound, and so on.

Well, one day I fell down my steps, I fell in such a way that my right foot was under my buttocks all the way down the stairs. When I hit bottom, I tried to stand, and went down immediately. I called my mother for a ride to the hospital, and all I did was worry that I didn't shave my legs!! LOL I knew no one would even notice, but now I was the patient, and subjected to the same silly insecurities everyone else has.

Trust me dear, the stretch marks are evident to only you. I seriously doubt any one would waste their energy talking about the stretch marks on your upper arms - if the average person EVEN remotely noticed. I'm not trying to minimize your insecurities, we all have them. I have such damaged skin on my abdomen from my ten pound son, he himself was as big as most twin pregnancies, that I hate to undress in front of others, like in a locker room.

The nice thing is, I make myself do it. And no one treats me any differently. Guess what, even their bodies aren't perfect either!!

My two relationships since my ex-husband broke up, the men were wonderful. They knew how I felt about my belly, and my ex-boyfriend would poke at it because it "shook like jello", he also likes to lay his head on it because it was soft. He said "I didn't fall in love with you belly, isn't that the belly you carried your son in??" My current husband basically has the same idea. He say's "I fell in love with you, your belly is part of you, and It doesn't bother me in the least!" So, I've mellowed some

Just hold your head high, wear short sleeved shirts and strut your stuff!! It's way more in how you behave than how you look, that get's attention.

Blessings

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In change of shift we would never say Ms. So and So has stretch marks on her arms. We would report about wounds/wound care, an ostomy, skin breakdown etc. I am one big stretch mark and would have my nerve talking about someone else having them. And yeah when I was smaller I would wear a two piece in a heartbeat. Stretch marks on my hips showing and everything and I never once saw anyone bat an eye.

I know we can say don't worry about it but if you can please seek some counseling about it. I have seen MUCH MUCH worse than stretchmarks. Stretchmarks I tend to overlook anyway.

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As a Phlebotomist i must have seen thousands of arms during my career and I can honestly tell you I never noticed stretch marks. As a healthcare professional your only focus is the task at hand and doing it correctly. To worry about patient's flaws is unprofessional and would be mentally draining. Try not to worry so much --let your inner beauty shine! :icon_hug:

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Specializes in LTC.

LOL. This reminds me of when my water broke I told my significant other that I needed to shower and shave my legs THEN we could go to the hospital.

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Specializes in Acute Mental Health.

I was a nursing assistant for 12+ yrs before becoming a nurse. I've taken thousands of blood pressures and can't recall anything that ever stood out. I can care less if you have stretch marks anywhere. Most people have them and they certainly don't interfere with your ability to do anything, so I don't even notice them. I also don't notice cellulite, acne, birth marks, or anything else people might be afraid of revealing.

The only time I'm interested in anything regarding blood pressures is where your iv (or PICC) is and if you've had a mastectomy (because we can't do bp's on that arm).

My advice is to just let it go! We honestly don't care. I'll take stretch marks anyday to a dangerously high blood pressure that goes unchecked due to vanity reasons. Believe me when I tell you that stretch marks are so minor, they are pretty much invisible. Now, that ugly mole on my butt.....(ha ha)

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Specializes in Med surg, Critical Care, LTC.

Hey chevy, I have a mole on my butt too!! lol, TMI right?

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I was a nursing assistant for 12+ yrs before becoming a nurse. I've taken thousands of blood pressures and can't recall anything that ever stood out. I can care less if you have stretch marks anywhere. Most people have them and they certainly don't interfere with your ability to do anything, so I don't even notice them. I also don't notice cellulite, acne, birth marks, or anything else people might be afraid of revealing.

The only time I'm interested in anything regarding blood pressures is where your iv (or PICC) is and if you've had a mastectomy (because we can't do bp's on that arm).

My advice is to just let it go! We honestly don't care. I'll take stretch marks anyday to a dangerously high blood pressure that goes unchecked due to vanity reasons. Believe me when I tell you that stretch marks are so minor, they are pretty much invisible. Now, that ugly mole on my butt.....(ha ha)

Forgive me for my ignorance, since I am not a nurse, but how do you get a BP on a patient (male or female) who has had a double mastectomy? You have piqued my curiosity.

Stretch marks seem to be very common on the biceps of black men, and I see them walking around all the time in hot weather in tank tops, stretch marks and all. I didn't have kids, but I too got them on my thighs during a growth spurt around age 11 and was very embarrassed about them until I noticed how many other girls had them too. Two-piece suits were never my thing, even before I put on 40 pounds in my mid-30s. :stone

I once had a brief relationship (never sexual) with a very nice man who walked with a cane, which around age 30 is quite unusual. When I met him, I was pretty sure he had undergone a BKA, although it turned out not to be the case. He had been in a serious car accident and had a lot of hardware in that leg. My sister asked me if that would bother me, and I replied, "Why would it? I don't have a perfect body either!" She's had several major abdominal surgeries, and wears a bikini anyway (and yes, she has the body for it).

I'm starting to think that the OP might have some stage of Body Dysmorphic Syndrome, where people think various appearance flaws are more grotesque than they really are.

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