Fed up with Stupid Parents

Nurses General Nursing

Published

: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?

mmm got one, infant, originally thought to have just an imperforate orifice, actually has cloatia, brought from birth hospital to my NICU. First day post op dad comes in to visit (baby is only 2 days old) and before even asking how the baby was doing he wants to know how he's going to get his $7 parking validated for the day! (mind you dad is well dressed in a casual suit, blackberry cell phone, bluetooth headset...ie doesnt look like he's scrounging for that $7). :rolleyes:

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I am a nursing student and my boys are currently on medicaid. I did miss their last annual visits because: 1) I see they are growing and healthy 2) their last dr. was fired, so had to find a new one, 3) the dr's I've been sent to previously for illness/injury appointments are a**es, and 4) I feel bad and am embarrased about being on medicaid. I've worked in human services for 15 years so know how parents can be, but many of these parents that have an attitude are used to being looked down upon by others with a superior attitude.

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mmm got one, infant, originally thought to have just an imperforate orifice, actually has cloatia, brought from birth hospital to my NICU. First day post op dad comes in to visit (baby is only 2 days old) and before even asking how the baby was doing he wants to know how he's going to get his $7 parking validated for the day! (mind you dad is well dressed in a casual suit, blackberry cell phone, bluetooth headset...ie doesnt look like he's scrounging for that $7). :rolleyes:

What is cloatia?

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What is cloatia?

it's a disorder where the colon, urethra and lady parts all have a common opening, can be very serious if not handled correctly and requires long term follow up and usually multiple surgeries to correct, can have serious complications in the urinary tract and normal lifelong bowel function can be difficult to achieve. This little lady had a host of problems too, likely something genetic, not sure yet, but has a 6th finger, and no ovaries found on ultrasound:confused:

But man, that $7 parking... (also, parents were way more concerned about the 6th finger issue than the cloatia, bah!) :rolleyes:

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Specializes in maternal child, public/community health.
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:

When I worked at a peds clinic, a mom said that to her child in front of me (Actually, she said "that mean nurse"). I said to the child, "That isn't true. I will NOT give you a shot for not behaving." The mom said, "I told him you would." I replied, "Even moms can be wrong. We give shots to children to help them feel better or to keep them healthy." The mom wasn't happy but she quit saying it - at least in front of me!

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I applaud you all. There is no way I could handle working in pediatrics.

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.
No, you are not the only one, and you can't fix stupid

Stupid is never fixable. That is why one should'nt be frustrated with these types.

It is the same in every specialty. In mine I don't even bother with the "look", I just answer with a straight face because I deal with it on a daily basis.

Example of stupidity:

#1

Pt: "Why does it hurt so much???? If I had known, I wouldn't have had this surgery."

Me: "Sir, people with a ruptured appendix tend to not live very long."

#2

Pt: "I don't want to feel ANY PAIN. Whatsoever. NONE. Knock me out."

Me: "Sorry sir, I can't knock you out completely."

Pt: "Why NOT??????"

Me: "Because you will stop breathing and that is not a good thing."

Pt. "I don't care if I stop breathing! I don't want any pain after this surgery."

Me: BLINK. BLINK.

#3

Me: "Sir, you had a minor excision of a mass--I can't knock you out."

Pt: "But the doctor promised I won't feel any pain."

Me: "Sir, your doctor lied. The only way to not feel pain is to be dead. We try and avoid that at all costs."

By the time the patient gets to me, there are no teachable moments. But I tend to believe, these types of people, don't have or will never have teachable moments because they do not have teachable brain cells. No matter how much I explain to them, even when the teachable moments come up (and they do--education is a big, big thing in the post-surgical phase) they don't get it.

I often wonder how these people stay alive.

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.
I am a nursing student and my boys are currently on medicaid. I did miss their last annual visits because: 1) I see they are growing and healthy 2) their last dr. was fired, so had to find a new one, 3) the dr's I've been sent to previously for illness/injury appointments are a**es, and 4) I feel bad and am embarrased about being on medicaid. I've worked in human services for 15 years so know how parents can be, but many of these parents that have an attitude are used to being looked down upon by others with a superior attitude.

I can tell you right now where I work that I do not know who is on medicaid and who isn't. I can tell who has good upbringing and who doesn't because behavior (negative or positive) becomes obvious RIGHT AWAY.

There is such a thing as inherent class and degree of responsibility. I know many medicaid people who are extremely responsible, polite and respectful to ALL who assist/or just everyday people they come across. I also have a friend who is going through school and is on medicaid. She is an EXTREMELY bright person going through school and will fare well in another year or two. But she is respectful, and proper, and expects the same. Medicaid does NOT define her.

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Specializes in new to NICU.

Ok, here I am. I was one of those medicaid parents.

I was trying to be a good mom and take care of my baby and myself. I had a job (low pay and 35 hrs with no benefits) so didn't qualify for any assistance other than WIC and medicaid. Child support was $50 less than my car payment.

My mind was so overloaded with worry about how to survive the day that replacing a thermometer when the batteries went out didn't have a chance of becoming an important issue. And thank God for my wonderful doctor. She asked me at every appt if I needed Tylenol or Advil and gave me a free bottle if I did.

And, yes, I got the almost inaudible but definitely noticeable sigh from the nurse when she asked what my daughter's temp was and I told her that the thermometer wasn't working. It reminded me how much better she was than me and how terrible of a mother I was. It was a gesture that embarrassed me deeply and made me second guess every answer I gave her from that point on. I knew I should have a working thermometer.

I know that you are just venting and everyone needs to vent. But just remember that not everyone has a mother to call for advice. Some of us were raised without a mother at all.

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

I think the OP acknowledged that - and I think it's fair to say that at some point, we all reach our BS threshold (no matter how appropriate or inappropriate we know it all is) and we've all caught ourselves opening our mouths to switch the right foot for the left.

It's called being human.

And sometimes - just sometimes - people NEED to have their fortunes read to them, whether it's polite and professional or not.

But the OP definitely said she spoke before she thought - and we are ALL guilty of that at some point.

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Specializes in Medical, surgical, inpatient rehab.

Wow, I am a bit surprised at some of these posts. Yes, there are many parents who do not know as much as we think they should, but humiliating them, and making them feel ignorant and stupid definitely does not help. Like a prior post said, it only causes more shame and embarrassment and worry in people who are already feeling over their heads to begin with. Maybe a change in jobs is in order?

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Specializes in MED SURG.

Hey now, I am a nursing student and a vet with a child that is on Medicaid. I hate that she is on it, but I don't want her to go without. Just because someone is on medicaid does not mean you can treat them any differant than with someone with regular ins.

I know I never want to be a nurse like any of you that treat parents of children on medicaid like they are ignorant. We are doing the best that we can.

Oh and the father with the cild that had a cold, YOU should know that an ear infection or strep throat has the same s/s as a cold. SO who is ignorant now!!!!

Last week I had thought my child had just a cold and I took her to the Dr. because she had a fever and the Dr. did a rapid fast culture and it came back pos for strep. So that father is looking out for his child.

Oh, yes I am very demanding when it comes to my child, what kind of parent would not be!!!! Or is it only people that have regular ins that only have that right.

If you feel like you should put pt down because of their class, GET OUT OF THE MEDICAL FIELD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Even when I become a nurse I will always be an advicate for all of my pt's no mater what!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh an pt eduacation is apart of your job, so help them understand...

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