Ever been "fired" by a pt's family? (long)

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Specializes in CVICU, CCU, MICU, SICU, Transplant.

I know this sounds negative but bear with me. I'm also venting.

Nowadays, as all of us know, the family's and pt's happiness/"satisfaction"/whatever is a key focus of hospital adminstration. In many places, "ensuring a happy 'client'"-and therefore a positive PG survey- trumps everything else. While maybe a small percentage of complaints are valid, many are not. And nursing seems to have a big bullseye on its back the ____ hits the fan.

The latest trend at my place is this: a family/pt has a "complaint"...and rather than try to resolve it with the appropriate chain of command...they simply demand that the nurse be banned from caring for them ever again. And bc, like I said, of this overwhelming desire to please anyone and everyone, managment backs this up. 9 times out of 10, in my experience, the complaint is something silly like: ice water wasnt brought fast enough, call light rang 2 seconds long than it should have, etc.

I work in the ICU and sometimes when one of these unreasonable demands to jockey assignments comes around, it isnt as easy as it sounds. The charge nurse has to take into account the new nurse's proximity to their other pt (one cant tell the nurses to trade assignments, and have the other half of the assignment clear across the unit) + the stability/difficulty of the other pts, + the skill level of the new nurse (if there are a bunch of machines which he/she isnt qualified to operate). Having been the charge nurse when an issue like this arose, let me say it can be a headache.

All of the staff nurses in my unit find this whole thing ridiculous and laughable. Sometimes we joke about it. "Hey has Bed A's family fired you yet? I got fired last week bc I left them on hold too long on the phone." Stuff like that. In some extreme cases, families have fired multiple nurses, leaving us to wonder if ANYONE would be left to care for their loved one in our unit.

Specific examples of things ppl have been "fired" for in my unit include: a pt calling his wife, even though she wanted him to call her (no joke-she had psych issues); ice water coming too late; not having ice water/chips despite strict NPO orders; apple juice too cold; room temperature too hot/too cold; pt fell out of bed despite restraints and all side rails up (pt not injured in any way); nurse not reading the results of a CT scan to the family (hello, HIPAA); family angry that the doctor hasnt spoken to/updated them, and nurse refusing to call the doc at 2 AM for this reason.

It was a sad day when suddenly families/pts were allowed to dictate daily assignments. Maybe ppl have watch Donald Trump too much on tv...YOU'RE FIRED!

Anyone else in this same boat?

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

I don't care if they fire me. It just means I don't have to take care of them and I'm happy about that.

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Specializes in OB, Med-Surg.

although i have never been fired by family members or a patient......i know exactly where you are coming from. where i work, the patient/ family is always right. A thought i do not agree with. At all. They are people just like the rest of us, who are all capable of being wrong. I once had a family member go to administration because i served the patients toast on a coffee filter. We don't keep plates in the pantry, and it was after the kitchen had closed. But as petty as the complaint was, i still had to talk to administration to give my side, defend my case. Talk about furious . What has happened in society and in healthcare that we have to put up with crap like that? Sometimes i wished i could work in a quiet little space with nobody in it.

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Specializes in ob/gyn med /surg.

yes i have been fired by a family and i am sooo happy to never have to talk to them , see them ever again... i could care less what they think..... i skip down the hallway and clap my hands in joy , when i am fired by a PIA family who are loosers and uncooperative..

good riddernce

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Yup, I have.

And I have "fired" a patient. Simply gone to the charge and refused to take the patient.

I get paid to provide safe, competent care. I'm not there to entertain visitors with my charming personality.

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Luckily it works both ways.

It is not uncommon of to ask the charge nurse not to assign you to the patient/ family for next time. Charge nurses are often understanding about the need to protect your sanity.

Don't take it personally; you are probably not the only "fired" nurse on their list.

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Specializes in LTC, Med-SURG,STICU.
I don't care if they fire me. It just means I don't have to take care of them and I'm happy about that.

LOL, thanks I need the laugh. That is exactly how you have to look at it. You can not take it personal. Usually when someone wants to fire you, you are doing your job the way it is suppose to be done.

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Usually when someone wants to fire you, you are doing your job the way it is suppose to be done.

EXACTLY!!!

I refuse to leave narcotics on the bedside for when you want to take them. My licence cost me a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to risk for you to take your meds when you feel like it. I don't care that every other nurse does it (and I know who I work with and they don't do it either) it isn't happening on my shift.

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I haven't been fired but there are a few patients/families that I wish would fire me. lol Sometimes the fired nurses are the lucky ones where these patients/families are concerned.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
I haven't been fired but there are a few patients/families that I wish would fire me. lol Sometimes the fired nurses are the lucky ones where these patients/families are concerned.

I hear you there.................:(:(

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Specializes in Med-Surg/Telemetry.

I was "fired" for the first time recently by a patient, about 3 hours into my night shift. I am considered one of the most "patient" nurses on my floor, and have received compliments on how well I deal with "difficult" patients/family members...but not this time!

The evening was wonderful for me afterward however it did pose some problems for my charge nurse who ended up taking the patient herself because no one else wanted to switch out patients. And in the ICU I can imagine it would be even more difficult for the charge to change assignments due to the acuity of patients in the unit and proximity/equipment/nurse experience issues

In my case it was an argument about pain medications that got me "fired". As it often is when nurses on my floor get fired...I swear I don't know who these patients think they are, ordering us around like (highly educated) servants but it makes me ill. I give the meds as ordered, and unfortunately (or fortunately?) I do not have MD behind my name so I cannot change the orders.

Sometimes these patients get the best of me, for a while. But I just take a deep breath and remember that I am blessed to be healthy and thankful to God that I don't live my days watching a clock for when my next dilaudid is due. Nursing gives me a wonderful perspective on my many blessings in life- especially on the hard nights!

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Usually when someone wants to fire you, you are doing your job the way it is suppose to be done.

Yep! Absolutely! Every single time I've been fired, it wasn't because I was "mean" or whatever, it was because I was doing what needed to be done.

What irritates me, is we are REWARDING bad behavior. It's like a 3 year old having a temper tantrum and giving them a candy bar for it. Or a dog biting you and giving them a steak. What do you think they're going to do tomorrow?

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