Fed up with Stupid Parents

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Newborn Nursery, Post Partum.

:oornt: AAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! Guys I'm sorry this is so long, but...OK I left the hospitals for a clinic to be able to spend more time with my kids and come on lets face it because I thought the patients or parents would be easier to deal with. As you all know I am a Pediatric nurse and have come to a point where I am sick and tired of some of these parents/guardians stupidity. Parents now a days seem to be so clueless about the simplest of things to care for their child. I'm thinking of writing a book titled "Call Your Momma for that Advise", where I will list all of the things that you really shouldn't bother your Pediatricians office with. Then you have the idiots that think that you have to take what ever crap they throw at you and continue to see them as if nothing ever happen. Especially those people that have their children on Medicaid. Now I'm not saying that all people that are on Medicaid are off the wall, there was a time that even I had to ask for help from the state for my child's health insurance. But is it me or are the Medicaid patients the worst? We really don't get paid JACK for the visits , but are expected by the parents to drop everything to do as they need or want.

For example when we have a kid that we haven't seen for a year and all of a sudden the mother calls hysterically demanding an appt for a WCC within the next two weeks or there Medicaid gets cut off........... excuse me you sat on your a**, decided that even though the well visits and dental visits are totally free you just didn't want to bring them in. And don't even give me the my car is broken down or I just don't have the money for gas excuse..... FOR A YEAR..... and anyway Medicaid pays for free transportation as well. So DO NOT sit on the phone and curse me out because you don't give a damn about your kids health and vaccines. Sorry too bad won't schedule you and you now get a formal discharge letter from our practice (which includes all the other doctors within our same health system).

What set me off the edge was today I got a call from my super asking me to fax him whatever documentation I had in a patients chart the we discharge earlier this year because the grandmother decided she was gonna be stupid and put in a formal complaint to Medicaid about being discharged without reason. She called our after hours PA and went on a rant rage about how my Doctor didn't know what she was doing and would never return to us again, so then again we just made official and discharged her.:devil:

Am I just evil or should I really try to get back to the good nurse that loved a challenge like an ignorant parent and thow myself into teaching? Don't get me wrong folks I love what I do, but some of the parents that are not willing to follow instructions or question everything that the doctor says really get to me sometimes. I even caught myself telling one dad once, "so you saw the doctor and don't agree with her diagnosis of a "cold", so now your calling to request antibiotics because you diagnosed your child as having an ear/throat infection... really and where did you get your medical doctors degree from... where did you do your Pediatric Internship?" LOL I was lucky that the dad fell so dumb after seeing the patient again and it still being a cold that he didn't complain. I haven't let my mouth run like that again!

Am I the only one in here like this?

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Specializes in ER.

If they don't have Tylenol or a thermometer in the house, I doubt their competence in life, not just as parents. (I hand them one of our isolation thermometers to take home, but still..)

If the two year old says "My chair Daddy! Up, UP!" and Daddy gets up, well, I know we'll be seeing a lot of each other in about 12 years.

When parents say "we would have come in sooner but she didn't want to come," after a biking accident with a huge forehead lac- where was her helmet? I consider a report to CPS, but they're overloaded-malicious injuries will trump plain stupid when the file hits the rack.

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Specializes in Cardiac, Pulmonary, Anesthesia.

No, you are not the only one, and you can't fix stupid

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Specializes in LDRP.

Did you seriously say that to a parent? "Where did you get your medical degree?" Really inappropriate of you...

Parents, Medicaid or not, don't have the academic knowledge base that you do, and do not know as much about taking care of illnesses/what to call doctor for/etc

And, if your kid is never sick, I can understand the thought of "why am I taking them to the doc? They're fine, they never get sick" esp when you have to choose between spending your money on gas or your electric bill

I work in community health with some parents that do things that really make you say "*****" (Internally) but you just never know what's going on in someone's life that is influencing their "stupid" actions/inactions.

There are some people who truly don't care, but many do care but have other extenuating circumstances.....

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Specializes in PACU.

I totally agree with what you just wrote and it's so true! I say from experience as well. I understand exactly how you are feeling. You love what you do but some people are just plain IGNORANT, point blank. Its so annoying when parents fail to bring their kids in for well child checks but when when they need something filled out, they wonder why we can't fill them out! Duh, because we have nothing on file for your child. Matter of fact, we haven't seen him/her in several years! Gosh Golly! And parents have the audacity to cuss and yell and us! Ugh! I totally feel for you. Hang in there! I usually just vent to my bf who also works with children so he knows too how parents can be. :uhoh3:

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Specializes in pediatrics, PICU.

Yes, the parents often make the taking care of the child harder. I work over night at a pediatric unit in a hospital and I cannot even count how many parents have requested for the nurses not to go into the room at night so they can sleep.... doesnt matter that their child is running at high temp, needs breathing treatments, antibiotics, just had surgery etc., making sure they can sleep is their 1st priority.

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Specializes in PeriOperative.

Guilty as charged. I have called the pediatrician's office because "Nick isn't acting like himself." And the hysterical woman who hyperventilated over the phone when her 2nd child missed a bowel movement. Yep, me. Even though I'm a nurse, I'm not a pediatric nurse and I would rather be safe than sorry. I know I'm being a pain, but if I don't know what to do or what to think about something, it seems like the responsible thing to do.

That being said, I always have a full set of vitals, a "history" of whatever it is that I'm worried about, a list of everything they've ingested in the past three days, bowel and bladder habits, and any recent changes to our routine.

When we come in for our wcc's, we always bring baked goods for the office staff. We really do appreciate them.

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Specializes in PACU.
Did you seriously say that to a parent? "Where did you get your medical degree?" Really inappropriate of you...

Parents, Medicaid or not, don't have the academic knowledge base that you do, and do not know as much about taking care of illnesses/what to call doctor for/etc

And, if your kid is never sick, I can understand the thought of "why am I taking them to the doc? They're fine, they never get sick" esp when you have to choose between spending your money on gas or your electric bill

I work in community health with some parents that do things that really make you say "*****" (Internally) but you just never know what's going on in someone's life that is influencing their "stupid" actions/inactions.

There are some people who truly don't care, but many do care but have other extenuating circumstances.....

Yes I agree you wouldn't bring your child to the doctors if they aren't sick but Well Child Checks are done every year. That means regardless if they are or not sick, they visit the doctor at least once a year and thats depending on age. You have a valid point here, " Parents, Medicaid or not, don't have the academic knowledge base that you do, and do not know as much about taking care of illnesses/what to call doctor for/etc

There are some people who truly don't care, but many do care but have other extenuating circumstances"

It's the ones that truly don't care that makes me mad. The ones that do but have other extenuating circumstances, I can work with...

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Specializes in med/surg, psych, public health.

:igtsyt:

The parents that really irritate me are the ones that know their child needs immunizations at the office visit and they turn to the kid & say, "Do you want to get shots today?" :icon_roll

Duh, what kid is going to answer in the affirmative to that question?!

And why are you as the parent & an adult, asking that to begin with? :angthts:

Sigh...if only stupid hurt.

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Specializes in Cardiology, Oncology, Hospice,IV Therapy.

I also hated when I worked in the hospital and family members would come in with their kids and would tell the kids that "if you don't behave that nurse over there is going to give you a shot!". :mad:

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As a parent of a healthy child, I admit, I sometimes forgo the well-child visits FOR A WHILE....However, she is now a pre-teen, and when she was smaller, I definitely kept to the schedule for well-child. She recently needed a physical to try out for the 6th grade soccer team, and I took that as an opportunity to do a well child/t-dap immunization needed for registration for 7th grade. I can understand your frustration with the parents who don't bother with well child visits even though it's FREE, then, when they get sick, or just need some forms filled out, they DEMAND attention RIGHT NOW!!!!! I'm only a nursing student, so I don't know first hand, but as a parent, I've seen some really stupid things. Her own dad, for instance, brought her home on his visitation time because "she's really sick...". I asked if he had taken her temp (she was burning up), or given her Tylenol...no to both. Well, her temp was 104 point something, and I did a few BASIC things that every parent should know (Tylenol, lukewarm bath, fluids), and it was down to 99 in an hour (if it wasn't, I would've taken her in...just wanted to see if I could lower it first). How could a parent NOT know the basics of child care? ...I've seen my proof! And that's only one instance! I'm sure you see LOTS! Good luck keeping cool~!

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Sometimes I get so tired of being told what to do by parents who think they know it all, that I wish I had the authority to do a unilateral discharge from the agency. I would do it in a heartbeat, instead of waiting around for them to tell my employer how terrible I am so they can get some fresh meat.

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