Ever had a nurse or doc as a patient?

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So... how bad was it?

And while you are at it, ever BEEN a patient? How bad were you?

:chuckle

Com'on... be honest!

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Specializes in Family.

I had a nurse manager as a pt once and it went remarkably well. The few nursing students that I've had have been horrible though. I was a pt recently, and I really hope I wasn't a bad pt, but I was in serious pain. The night nurse finally took pity on me and removed the packing that was hurting me so badly. I don't remember her name, but I still think she was an angel!

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Specializes in Emergency Room.

i have had alot of nurses as patients and 3-4 docs. it wasn't a big deal. i feel confident in my role as a nurse so i wasn't super careful or super cautious. i always practice universal precautions with all patients so i wasn't worried that i was doing something wrong. when i am a patient i don't tell people i am a nurse because i don't think it makes a difference how you are treated. in fact, some nurses may think you are trying to intimidate them when you have to make it known that you are a nurse. one of my doctor patients was a cardiologist with chest pain,so i was thinking "oh,lord he's going to tell me how to push these meds" but he didn't. he was to worried about having a MI. to be on the safe side, always assume your patients are well informed about tests and procedures because now days even the most layman person knows more than you think. i once had a physician assistant complain to me about how the ER doc didn't assess his abd for pain that he had over a week. he felt that he shouldn't have to make it known that he was a medical professional in order to get a thorough exam. the ER doc assumed he had GERD because of his subjective s/s when in fact he had appendicitis. once he told the ER doc that he was a PA, naturally the doc changed his tune. goes to show you that you can never be too careful.

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I had a nurse manager as a pt once and it went remarkably well. The few nursing students that I've had have been horrible though. I was a pt recently, and I really hope I wasn't a bad pt, but I was in serious pain. The night nurse finally took pity on me and removed the packing that was hurting me so badly. I don't remember her name, but I still think she was an angel!

I was a patient, I was in a fire and ended up w/smoke inhalation, (I have asthma too).

To this day I pity my poor nurse. What I do recall is each time I opened my mouth he loaded my IV with MS04 and Versed.

Gee, do you think it was me??? (innocent look) Suffice it to say I was not thrilled with being in ICU.

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i have had alot of nurses as patients and 3-4 docs. it wasn't a big deal. i feel confident in my role as a nurse so i wasn't super careful or super cautious. i always practice universal precautions with all patients so i wasn't worried that i was doing something wrong. when i am a patient i don't tell people i am a nurse because i don't think it makes a difference how you are treated. in fact, some nurses may think you are trying to intimidate them when you have to make it known that you are a nurse. one of my doctor patients was a cardiologist with chest pain,so i was thinking "oh,lord he's going to tell me how to push these meds" but he didn't. he was to worried about having a MI. to be on the safe side, always assume your patients are well informed about tests and procedures because now days even the most layman person knows more than you think. i once had a physician assistant complain to me about how the ER doc didn't assess his abd for pain that he had over a week. he felt that he shouldn't have to make it known that he was a medical professional in order to get a thorough exam. the ER doc assumed he had GERD because of his subjective s/s when in fact he had appendicitis. once he told the ER doc that he was a PA, naturally the doc changed his tune. goes to show you that you can never be too careful.

One of my mostest favoritest patients was a GI doc. I absolutely loved the man, he was so sweet and considerate. I took care of him for the most part of 6 weeks.

I didn't know until after he died (of lung CA and he never ever smoked) that he was dearly loved by those that had known him for years.

I rarely go to patient funerals, but I went to his. His wife and I have become friends since then.

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Off the top... I'm a lousy patient. My new nickname after my hyst was " THE BEAST".

I remember being right out of nursing school, and working as a new nurse on a med surg unit. I was assigned a doc as a patient. I must have really been stressing about it because the day shift charge nurse was right there to console me..." Honey, Don't worry about him... this morning he peed in his denture cup!"

Was an easy assignment and a few lessons learned!

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Off the top... I'm a lousy patient. My new nickname after my hyst was " THE BEAST".

I remember being right out of nursing school, and working as a new nurse on a med surg unit. I was assigned a doc as a patient. I must have really been stressing about it because the day shift charge nurse was right there to console me..." Honey, Don't worry about him... this morning he peed in his denture cup!"

Was an easy assignment and a few lessons learned!

That is a step above my "B" name. :)

I once had an RPh pt that hid his Bud beer in his "full" urinal. And no, I'm not kidding. He had every intention of drinking that nasty thing. Gahhhh

The absolute worst and best patients I have ever had were medical pros.

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Specializes in Public Health, TB.

I have had several nurses and MD's as patients. The most challenging ones are the retired, "old school" type. They often remind you that you're not doing they way they did in their time. Rather than retort that things have changed a lot, I've learned to ask them, especially the retred nurses, about their experiences.

I've been a patient, too, and hated every minute of it. I had a Demerol PCA that did nothing for the pain but screwed up my ability to communicate. So I had dry heaves for 8 hours after an abd. hysterectomy but couldn't seem to let my nurse know the Phenergan wasn't helping. When I tried to tell a different nurse that my IV was infiltrated she patted my IV site (ouch) and said it was fine. 2 hours later when my hand was the size a softball I asked her to reasess it. She clucked at me and said I would have to wait for the supervisor as she was just too busy. That was okay because I had quit using my PCA 2 hours ago because it was too painful. I dc'd my last IV after it infiltrated because I didn't want it patted either. Only 1 nurse in my 3 day stay asked me about my pain level. I looked at my records later and saw 6 different nurses rated my pain for me, at 4/10. I remember it as 7/10 for most of my stay.

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I dc'd my last IV after it infiltrated because I didn't want it patted either.

LOL... not really funny, but it is. :)

Only 1 nurse in my 3 day stay asked me about my pain level. I looked at my records later and saw 6 different nurses rated my pain for me, at 4/10. I remember it as 7/10 for most of my stay.

I looked at my records too. I never received a PO med yet my records said I received my meds on time. My narcs were on the money, my POs were not.

I can't complain, I am an absolutely horrid patient. What nurse wants to see their patient using their med keys to get their own Tylenol??

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I have had several nurses and MD's as patients. The most challenging ones are the retired, "old school" type. They often remind you that you're not doing they way they did in their time. Rather than retort that things have changed a lot, I've learned to ask them, especially the retred nurses, about their experiences.

I've been a patient, too, and hated every minute of it. I had a Demerol PCA that did nothing for the pain but screwed up my ability to communicate. So I had dry heaves for 8 hours after an abd. hysterectomy but couldn't seem to let my nurse know the Phenergan wasn't helping. When I tried to tell a different nurse that my IV was infiltrated she patted my IV site (ouch) and said it was fine. 2 hours later when my hand was the size a softball I asked her to reasess it. She clucked at me and said I would have to wait for the supervisor as she was just too busy. That was okay because I had quit using my PCA 2 hours ago because it was too painful. I dc'd my last IV after it infiltrated because I didn't want it patted either. Only 1 nurse in my 3 day stay asked me about my pain level. I looked at my records later and saw 6 different nurses rated my pain for me, at 4/10. I remember it as 7/10 for most of my stay.

OMG about your hospital stay!! Poor thing! Also, how ridiculous that they were mischarting for you!! That is scary! Is it easy to obtain one's own medical records?

When I was in the hospital for the 1st time recently...I was afraid of being the annoying patient. But, I think I did ok! I hardly needed to bug them for pain meds, I used my I.S., walked alot! I did all the things I was asked.

Yes, I have also taken care of nurses and docs and have not had any problems or issues with them. Actually, they usually are my most compliant patients :)

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I was a patitent last year and I had to program my own IV pump because none of the nurses ever needed to use them so they didn't know how to work them.

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Specializes in Public Health, TB.

:) Thanks, TweetiePie. We do most of our charting electronically, so that so is how I was able review my nurses's charting.

I thought I was being a good patient by trying not to ask for much, but now I realize that I should have spoken up, which we all hope our patients would do rather than suffer. And that experience convinced me that Demerol is a horrible drug for pain.:)

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