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?

Oh for the love of all that is holy...

Did you read the post? Or did you just see the word Medicaid and jump off the deep end?

She acknowledged that she was generalizing, and actually even apologized for it-

and above all- SHE LET US KNOW THAT SHE WAS VENTING!

Of course Medicaid pts can be difficult. So can non-Medicaid.

And if you read the post- the doctor had already told that dad that his child had a cold and did not require abx. The "s/s" do not matter- of course the nurse could not easily determine between a cold/ear infection- and she did not need to. The Dr already HAD!

Nothing wrong with sticking up for your child. But no need to be an @ss to do it.

Also- I love that you are telling her off for being judgmental and how you hope you will never turn into or have to deal with nurses "like her" yet your post is full of judgement and self-righteousness. That doesn't seem like a very good attitude for a nurse either...

Heard the expression about the pot calling the kettle black?

Specializes in PACU.
Oh for the love of all that is holy...

Did you read the post? Or did you just see the word Medicaid and jump off the deep end?

She acknowledged that she was generalizing, and actually even apologized for it-

and above all- SHE LET US KNOW THAT SHE WAS VENTING!

Of course Medicaid pts can be difficult. So can non-Medicaid.

And if you read the post- the doctor had already told that dad that his child had a cold and did not require abx. The "s/s" do not matter- of course the nurse could not easily determine between a cold/ear infection- and she did not need to. The Dr already HAD!

Nothing wrong with sticking up for your child. But no need to be an @ss to do it.

Also- I love that you are telling her off for being judgmental and how you hope you will never turn into or have to deal with nurses "like her" yet your post is full of judgement and self-righteousness. That doesn't seem like a very good attitude for a nurse either...

Heard the expression about the pot calling the kettle black?

Totally agree with your post! :yeah:

Specializes in Pediatrics.

Work in an ER and it happens all the time when parents bring in their child with a fever and they don't know how high it is, but then they don't treat the fever they just rush them in.

When the parents are asked why they didn't treat their childs fever, they generally respond with, I wanted to you believe me

We always respond with, we will believe you when your child has a fever, please treat the fever.

And the parent always has a look of supprise that we would belive them, and that they should treat first, some people truly do not know, then there are the other parents who bring their child in for a Tylenol script because medicaid pays for it, if it is a script and they child is covered in cheetoes and parent has the latest blackberry/iphone and is texting the whole time they are there

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.

And it's not making sure THE KID can sleep. It's making sure the parents can sleep. What I love is coming in at 7am, which is not just shift change for the nurses, but for the respiratory therapists too. All of the sudden at 7am their little darling is WHEEZING and they want a breathing treatment IMMEDIATELY! Surprise!!! Who'd have thunk??? When you skip a breathing treatment that your child will end up wheezing??

Specializes in school nurse.

Interesting that this post impugns the intelligence of parents, yet it's written with enough typos to make me wonder about the OP's HSD status....

Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.
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...

Please re-read the post and don't be a parent she is talking about.

Specializes in NICU.
Interesting that this post impugns the intelligence of parents, yet it's written with enough typos to make me wonder about the OP's HSD status....

:uhoh3: Seriously??

Specializes in Reproductive & Public Health.

You know, I think it is absolutely okay to vent about the families you take care of, but people are crappy parents regardless of their income level. My kids are on Medicaid and have been since they were born. I know that HCPs judge us because of that and I have had providers give substandard care to my kids because they were on state insurance (I switched practices after that!).

It is hard enough to be poor without having people make generalizations about "Medicaid families."

Specializes in Reproductive & Public Health.
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 anyone who missed it, this is the part that is offensive. OP, I know you didn't mean to cause offense, but this statement is just plain hurtful.

Specializes in Pediatrics, Newborn Nursery, Post Partum.
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.....

Happy Nurse.... I do understand when there are certain circumstances in life that prevent you from going on time to the doctor for a well child, well woman or plain physical. But when a parent decides that they won't go to the doctor for almost a year and then when they come in for a sick visit want everything under the sun their child has addressed(a physical), keeping my doctor in the room for 45min when it should have been a simple 15min in and out visit, yes I do get very irritated. Then to top it off the doctor is upset with me because why didn't we make it a physical and made arrangements for the time........BECAUSE SHE LIED AND TOLD US THE KID HAD A FEVER AND GREEN SNOT ONLY! Money or not having a car will never be an issue for my Medicaid patients because they get transportation for free thru the state; now for my self pay and for my private insurance I am very understanding that sometimes their just isn't the money to bring them every year and always give them resources to at least make sure that they stay current on their vaccines. I have and do bend over backwards for most of my patients that I know mean well and that really truly need the help and teaching. But when you live in an area where it is common to see a girl that has had 2 previous kids and had them taken away by CPS and she keeps having kids, but never keeps them long enough to learn how to take care of them because she chooses her drug addicted boyfriend (baby daddy) over her children. YES I GET ANNOYED, but I still teach them.

Again I love my job and Yes I Agree that I was out of line with the comment I made to that father and as I said I will never do that again and evn apologized to him before he left the office. But 1. he deserved it- he's always a jerk when he comes in because he is some big shot at some major corporation and 2. I expained to him that the internet cannot substitute a physical examination by a trained medical professional; I told him next time he had a concern to call me and I will try to triage to the best of my abilities.:D

Specializes in Pediatrics, Newborn Nursery, Post Partum.

:eek: Seriously guys man I didn't think that by writing a simple vent everyone would get so worked up. Again like I said in my previous reply you are right in saying that I was very wrong in making that comment to that dad and no I am not trying to put down parents that are or have been on Medicaid..........if you read my post I have been on Medicaid myself and have always given the care that I would expect my Pediatrician to give my 4 kids. I AM SORRY for getting some of you so worked up!

I have always treated all my patients the same regardless of their status, insurance or even ability to pay. I fought my company in providing vaccines to all my patients(even if they are too expensive for the corp.) not just the ones that qualify for state funded vaccines because they are free. My doctor never knows or cares what type of insurance they have, she treats them all the same. I have to know because I do all of the procedure ordering and specialist referrals. I have never put anyone down because they were on Medicaid. I have discharged those non compliant and very rude patients that refuse to follow rules..... rules that my health system put into place long before I even got there. Again I understand and have been there before, but I always did as I was told by the state and didn't fuss about it!

My :twocents:

One thing that is borne out by statistical evidence is that those insured and uninsured are the ones who will be least likely to use the ER - especially for things that can wait. The greatest users of the ER are the medicaid patients. Inference may be made by the reader.

I am one of those parents that skipped many WCC. I used to think that Pediatricians made these up so they could make a living! :lol2:

Why would I skip these? Ultimately, I was a single mother of 5 with a college degree (read "good income") and deadbeat dad for an ex. I literally was told by CPS that "You make money! We have too many parents that don't to deal with. We will get to your case in ~ 3 yrs! Go hire an atty!" This was when I had my ex's employer, employer's #, my ex's addy, ph and SSN. Yes, I made enough to support us, but not enough for a lawyer's retainer....what does THIS have to do with it? So no one to help get the CS my children deserved.

Since I was the only paycheck: Imagine taking all those 1/2 days off of work?! I would not have kept my job long.

Reason #2: My kids were "healthy". Unfortunately, some pediatric nurses do not understand constitutional short stature and neither did the social worker. After 13 months (of the case) and $14,000.....do you think I might have a reason to avoid a repeat?!?!?! (This was during my 1st child's 1st year.)

When my kids were sick, I would call Mom. (RN....that raised 5 of her own. :D). If I couldn't help my child, I would make an appt at the MD office. If it was serious enough, a trip to the ER was warranted.

Point on parents not believing Dx of MD: Take kiddies to MD. NO, he says....there is nothing wrong with your children. Your oldest has "selective hearing" (btw, she has a hx of OM with tubes)...and your 3rd is just a "bumbling toddler". (Remember when HMOs would pay doctors more if they DIDN'T refer pts to specialists?) I took my kids to a MD I really trusted (who was not in the plan) and paid out of pocket. DD utimately landed back at the ENT for more surgery and DS was so far-sighted he couldn't see the broad side of a barn and his legs were turned in at the hip. Utimately, DS received surgery for his Strabismus and is not binocular (however both eyes do work - independently). So sometimes parents do know better.

Not attacking OP. I agree ......sometimes you just have to deal with the "I-D-10-T"s out there (as they are known in the IT world. Remove the dashes.... ;)

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