Ever feel like..."STOP COMPLAINING"..

Sleepyeyes · Dec 9, 2002

Originally posted by BuffaloLPN
Ok. I am understanding. I have medical knowledge. STOP WHINING!
It seems like EVERYONE around me is DYING of something. My dear husband made the coment that someone has to be full of tubes and machines in order for me to feel bad for them. I'm sorry. It just seems like everybody I know has some MAJOR health issue. I want to bring them to work, so they can see a 23 yr oldCF patient admitted once again, or a 13 yr old SCD kid crying because of yet another pain crisis. Am I supposed to feel bad because you need back surgery to finish the final touches on your lawsuit, or discover another illness while surfing the net.????
Am I the only person who can see you are exaggerating, or I am so heartless I don't see your disease process as real.?
Please tell me if I need to get out of nursing or if it's a fashionable trend to be sick.

I understand what you mean, but....

I was sick for 2 months before I finally told people I worked with what I was sick with, because I was just not able to work as fast as normal, and they all didn't know me very well, and thought I was slacking. (I was trying to conserve my strength and breathe well enough to get through the shift without fainting.)

So now I keep 'em updated. It also helps me to SAY that I'm getting better and make myself work a little harder or a little faster; I can go home and gloat to hubs, "Hey, I pulled this lol up in bed all by myself tonight!! Gettin' better! Whee!!!"

I have my good days and my bad days, but damned if I'm gonna quit my job and stay home--even if, on my bad days, I notice that some of my patients who are in for the same thing I am working with, are breathing better than i am. :chuckle: whatta hoot!

Agnus · Dec 9, 2002

I say, "You really need to see your doctor about that."

This covers every situation, shows concern, keeps me out of litigation, ends the conversation.

Granted some times they persist. So, I persist with, "You really need to see your doctor about that." They soon figure out that is all they are going to get out of me, and stop.

they fall into two catagories: Those who really do have a problem. These folks take my advice.

Those who just want sympathy. These folks just shut up realizing they are getting no where with me.

I love the ones who are not embarrassed to ask about very personal private problems very loudly in very public places and expect me to diagnose and treat them there.

For example one woman I casually knew stopped me in a bussy crowded post office lobby in a very loud voice started describing in great detail her husbands constipation and wanted me to tell her what to do about it. EVERYONE was staring. She didn't care.

Or at a dinner party or restaurant they start discussing gross body functions and don't stop when you ask them. Even after you tell them your dinner is ruined they persist. Now mind you these are not immature teens. They are in thier40's 50 and 60's.

Just because I am a nurse and some times have to scarf my lunch between removing impactions, treating infected wounds, collecting sputum samples, and measuring emesis does not mean that I want to spend my off duty time listening to them describe the contents of someone's barf.