Ever had a nurse or doc as a patient?

sayitgirl · Dec 4, 2005

Well I've had both, the nurse was fine, the md was a quadraplegic with a neurological disease that was progressive. The md was quite bitter about his disease and made everyone around him the same way, bitter that he was around. He was instrumental in getting a number of people fired. I was there through the agency and gladly never returned either. I think it goes back to basics it depends on the person and their circumstances regardless of occupation or title.

:imbar

kadokin, ASN, RN · Dec 5, 2005

years ago, i took care of an rn with a brain tumor. she kept thinking she was at work and trying to help. one night when i was in a code, she "helped out" by making my midnight med pass for me. shudder! i'm not sure what she gave to whom, or why anyone would take pills from a "nurse" wearing a patient gown -- or even if they did. but everyone lived through the night and i didn't lose my job.
as for me, when i woke up in the recovery room after my surgery, the old man on the next cart was confused. he was yelling and trying to pull out his iv. i extubated myself and climbed over my siderails to "help." i thought i was at work. so i can understand why the lady above was passing meds!

good gravy! we never take a break do we? if i had known then what i know now, i think i would have stayed in food service, because, we never stop thinking like nurses do we? it's exhausting, but rewarding.

kadokin, ASN, RN · Dec 5, 2005

I guess I was an irritating family member......My 88 y/o grandmother was in the hospital,and we requested a private room for her. I stayed with her most nights. One night her nurse came in with an injection for her while she was receiving her abx. When I asked her what she was giving her she informed me it was Valium...for agitation. My grandma and I were watching T.V and no where near agitated. So I questioned the order...mean while she was proceeding to inject the drug into her port,at which time I told her to please stop....from what I know you cannot mix valium with anything and on top of that i would like to see the order or MAR. She left the room and did not return. I went to the nurses station at which time it was told to me that her shift ended at 10p, and our new nurse would help us. I asked for the supervisor. Long story short..grandma never had it ordered to begin with,and she had received it the last three nights before I got there. I was very hot:angryfire :angryfire Not to mention the nurse did not know proper administration of drugs. But most of all refused to come back and face us after she found out the med had never been ordered. :angryfire :angryfire

A hospital can be a dangerous place.! Although I don't usually tell people I am a nurse, I ask enough questions to be a pest. Oh well. Imagine what happens to the people who don't have a family/friend advocate that is a healthcare professional! And let this be a lesson to ALL of us. Don't just follow orders blindly. Find out WHY we are doing things and IF they are still necessary. We ARE the pt advocates for those that DON'T have vigilant and knowledgable friends/family!

sherylchaynes · Dec 5, 2005

I have had both Nurses and Doc as patients. The nurses are the ones who try to intimidate you. You just have to be bold and assert yourself. Be confident in your ability as a professional and treat everyone the same. If you are kind to all your patients you don't have to be putting out extra effort to impress members of the heath team.

I have been a patient on more than one occassion and my second experience was the pits. I happened to be a patient on the Surgical ward that I worked with a diagnosis of Acute Renal calculi. On day two of admission no RN reported for work, there were only third year Students( I should have been on that weekend) . I had to get out of my bed with IVI in hand and assisted the students with IV meds . I was in pain and yet working. No one in admin said thanks, the students did and now RNs themselves , they still remember.

Runt · Dec 5, 2005

I have had both nurses and docs as patients. They both can be trying at times, but I have to say the docs were the worst. A few of them think we are there personal servants and run and fluff their pillows every 5 mins. I get nervous with some of the nurses because they are watching you at what we are doing. :rotfl:

felixfelix · Dec 5, 2005

This is an interesting thread as in my previous careers it was always doctors and lawyers that were the worst customers. Lawyers, especially. The nurses were cool!

mackrn · Dec 5, 2005

So... how bad was it?
And while you are at it, ever BEEN a patient? How bad were you?
:chuckle
Com'on... be honest!

I was a patient in a Kaiser hospital in Los Angles and less than 2 hrs. after returning to room from OR after having a ruptured appendix removed, was put in a w/c and taken into a room to assess a traction set up. Was recognized as one of the orthopedic instructors from LA County Hospital/USC Medical Center and since they didn't want to bother calling in the ortho tech, asked me. Told the unit manager the next morning (who couldn't beleive they did that) that had so much MSO4 on board it could of been upside down and still said ok.

The same hospital stay (in a semi-private room) had 4 roomates die in the middle of the night. Seems like everytime I turned around they were coding someone in the next bed. Asked to be discharged so could get some sleep

boulergirl, CNA · Dec 5, 2005

At our facility we had a retired ENT surgeon. (Apparently he helped develop instruments for microsurgery. Cool!) Anyway, this old guy had a fascinating Irish accent and he KNEW his meds. One of his meds was twice a day and one of the doses was a half-dose. The pill was TINY, but he could see if the dosage was correct or not and would let us know. His conscientiousness saved me from giving him the wrong dose once! (I rechecked the book, and doggone, he was right.) He didn't stay with us long, but he's one of the most interesting residents I've ever had.

kadokin, ASN, RN · Dec 5, 2005

I have had both Nurses and Doc as patients. The nurses are the ones who try to intimidate you. You just have to be bold and assert yourself. Be confident in your ability as a professional and treat everyone the same. If you are kind to all your patients you don't have to be putting out extra effort to impress members of the heath team.
I have been a patient on more than one occassion and my second experience was the pits. I happened to be a patient on the Surgical ward that I worked with a diagnosis of Acute Renal calculi. On day two of admission no RN reported for work, there were only third year Students( I should have been on that weekend) . I had to get out of my bed with IVI in hand and assisted the students with IV meds . I was in pain and yet working. No one in admin said thanks, the students did and now RNs themselves , they still remember.

YIKES!!!! Is that even legal?:uhoh21:

kadokin, ASN, RN · Dec 5, 2005

I was a patient in a Kaiser hospital in Los Angles and less than 2 hrs. after returning to room from OR after having a ruptured appendix removed, was put in a w/c and taken into a room to assess a traction set up. Was recognized as one of the orthopedic instructors from LA County Hospital/USC Medical Center and since they didn't want to bother calling in the ortho tech, asked me. Told the unit manager the next morning (who couldn't beleive they did that) that had so much MSO4 on board it could of been upside down and still said ok.
The same hospital stay (in a semi-private room) had 4 roomates die in the middle of the night. Seems like everytime I turned around they were coding someone in the next bed. Asked to be discharged so could get some sleep

Doesn't pay to get sick, does it?:rotfl:

TrickieTam · Dec 5, 2005

I had a patient once on the Skilled Nursing Facility that wasa retired Urologist. I was a CNA at the time. He complained about everything, from the room temperature to the way the food was prepared. There was just no way in pleasing this man at all. He stayed with us a full 4 weeks and it was the longest month of my life. But he did however thank me for taking care of him so well and the nurse that I was assigned with.

Balder_LPN, LPN · Dec 6, 2005

:) 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.:)

and dont forget that HIPAA also ensures your records are available to you. Covered entities must make them readily available to you in a manner acceptable to you. (like, if you live 3 states away, they cant say you have to come in person and sign or anything)