phone calls no outsider would believe

Specialties Emergency

Published

Got a call the other night, demanding to know if a man could still have an erection when he was dead, if it happened automatically.

I told him that was not something I was going to answer, he demanded to know why I didn't know, wasn't I a nurse??!! Go get another nurse!!

Told him again, this is not something I was going to discuss with him, so he told me he would be reporting me to both our local newspapers!

What's yours?

I'm not in the ER but, people do that to us all the time!

Me:" Hello . . .. ."

Caller:"I just wanted to see if my Mom's test results were back (or the like)?"

Me: And you Mom is. . . . . ?

I also got this call recently.

Me: "Hello. .. ."

Caller:"I've been try to call so/so's room and the phone is busy."

Me:"I just came out of her room and she was talking on the phone.

Caller:"Oh. . .Well, could you check on her and see if she's OK?"

Really-she's awake and talking on the phone. Wait your turn and you can talk to her too.

You also have to love the people who call in the middle of the night and ask why their loved one is not answering the phone. Maybe they're asleep. . . .they are sick and in the hospital. Maybe they're tired of talking to you.

~Jen

just had a family member ask for a resident - it was 9 pm ( they think these 80 - 100 yr olds stay up till midnight?) and they insisted i wake them so they could talk to them and make sure they were all right and could i hurry they were calling from out of state - no i can not hurry they are asleep and i will NOT wake them call back during daytime hours when they ARE awake -sheesh.

OMFG... seriously! I hate the commercials anymore today. People self-diagnose too much, or they sit there(ala jeff foxworthy's wife) and think they have whatever malady this drug treats. It gets really frustrating. Just over the past couple of weeks, we have had an elderly lady come in SEVERAL times for generalized malaise but comes in and DEMANDS to see a few docs who are not even on call. Just a totally frustrating situation... People

i put part of that onto the drug companies - making prescriptions over the counter from yeast infection creams to reflux meds though they say take only for few days and call doc i have sen way many take stuff forever then when it wasnt that issue complain cause now they have a full blown pelvic infection etc. yet we cant even buy sudafed otc anymore- go figure lol.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Postpartum.

When I was a med sec in the ED a young woman called about her week old baby. The med sec, in those days

(1980), would take the info down and then pass the info down to the nurse.

Caller: I'm calling cause my baby has a temperature.

Me: How high is your babys temp?

Caller(or should I say dumb%&*) says:

I don't know, the baby won't keep the thermometer in her mouth................

Needless to say I was rendered speechless. Maybe they do need to issue licenses for people before they procreate.

we get similar calls in nursery all the time.

"could you come pick up brandon for the night"

"what's brandon's last name?"

"jones"

"maam... we don't have a baby jones... what last name was the mom admitted under?"

"smith"

"maam... the baby is admitted as 'boy smith'. in the future, when you call, you'll need to refer to your baby as 'boy smith' so we will know who you are taking about."

(what i wish i could say..."i have 6 babies to care for of the 18 total in the nursery, i do well to keep up with 'boy smith' - i cannot be on a first-name basis with all 18 babies!")

this problem also happens too often when friends & family members call to see if a certain baby is in the nursery. after the call has been bounced a couple of times back and forth between the nursery and nicu, we finally figure out that they are asking for the wrong last name. i have gotten to the point i just go ahead & ask up front, "is that mom's last name?" since married couples are the minority these days - at least at our hospital.

we also have fathers who get flat out angry when we write mom's maiden name on the crib card - some ranting to the point you can't get a word in edgewise to explain that whatever name mom is admitted under is the name the baby will go by for this admission only.

i finally have gotten to the point, when dealing with a dad that is being ridiculous about it, that i say,

"do you want your baby to be sent home with the wrong parents?"

"of course not!" he bellows - but now i have his attention :lol2:

"well then, the baby's name and mom's need to match so that we can keep them paired up, and not get any babies mixed up when we send them home... you will sign papers for the birth certificate before your baby goes home. you can choose the child's legal name then. this is just temporary."

they usually settle down at that point.

(what i wish i could say is "if you want the baby to have your name, then you should have married the mom!!!!!")

actually unless laws have changed - and they could have - the babies name is what mom ppts down not what dad puts down on a single parent baby - and i do believe on a married person with someone elses baby if they are still married then it is the moms name not the dads also- i could be wrong here but thats what i recall - my ex ( we werent married at the time of our first) was super pissed when i put down my last name.

3 children, 2 different father's, all my last name. After a 8 year relationship, left on my own. Priceless.

We had a call from a pregnant woman wanting to know if her baby would drown if she took a tub bath? :rolleyes:

Specializes in Critical Care.
We had a call from a pregnant woman wanting to know if her baby would drown if she took a tub bath? :rolleyes:

This could be in response to an old wives' tale. According to it, you can't tub bathe or swim without the possiblity of drowning the baby.

tvccrn

This could be in response to an old wives' tale. According to it, you can't tub bathe or swim without the possiblity of drowning the baby.

tvccrn

Must be from the same book that you will tie a knot in the umbilical cord if you reach up over your head while pregnant!

Specializes in Critical Care.
Must be from the same book that you will tie a knot in the umbilical cord if you reach up over your head while pregnant!

Hey, you read that one too!!!:lol2:

tvccrn

Specializes in Case Management.
i had a case once like this. the neo began to explain to the parents - like she does often - about abo incomptibility and jaundice. the dad got up quietly, but abruptly, and walked right out of the nursery.

the dad worked somewhere in the medical field (? lab). when he returned - pacing around, he claimed he was also type 'o', and thus this couldn't be his child. we calmed him down, and since there was a question of whether that was really his blood type or not, we encouraged him not to make any rash decisions until he could verify his blood type.

it was scary for us when he exploded, and sad for the family. i got the feeling that the dad was justified in his assumptions, because the mom was just too cool and too quiet when all this happened. if it had been me, and i was innocent, i'd have been trying to convince him at that point, or at least saying it wasn't true and encouraging him to get a test to prove it. she said nothing. and, looking back, she got a little uncomfortable when the doctor started talking blood types in front of the dad.

this does not necessarily make her look guilty imo. any abused woman can tell you when he starts ranting and raving, any vocalization by her may have been met with physical violence.

We had a call from a pregnant woman wanting to know if her baby would drown if she took a tub bath? :rolleyes:

Let me see if I understand this: the baby dies if mom takes a tub bath? I've heard many great wives tales, but I don't understand the "pseudo rationale" for this one. Why would baby die if mom took a tub bath? Is this with or without the baby?

A while back we had a great thread on various OB myths we've heard in the past. I'm sure it's still there, but it was started nearly 3 years ago.

Let me see if I understand this: the baby dies if mom takes a tub bath? I've heard many great wives tales, but I don't understand the "pseudo rationale" for this one. Why would baby die if mom took a tub bath? Is this with or without the baby?

A while back we had a great thread on various OB myths we've heard in the past. I'm sure it's still there, but it was started nearly 3 years ago.

I think its like if mom is still pregnant with baby and gets in the bath will baby drown inside her!!

+ Add a Comment