Do you tell your family members you visit patient in the bad neighboorhood.

Nurses General Nursing

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I made the mistake of (I guess mistake) of telling my family I have a pt in an extremely bad neighborhood,like one of the baddest neighborhood in the inner cit (the crime rate is awful).Now they are freaking out telling me to drop this patient...I'm new to home health care and I only have a few patients.I want to continue to see my patient but my family gives me hard time and pressure me to have a talk with my boss...So how do you deal with you family in regards to those matters;I cant pick the neighborhoods of where I'm visiting my patients;there will be good,fair and bad neighborhoods. Do you simply just do tell them if you going into bad neighborhood or is it better leave this part out of the story?

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My family does not make decisions for me. Their input as far as my job goes is to get their share of my income and that is about it.

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My family does not make decisions for me. Their input as far as my job goes is to get their share of my income and that is about it.

I think from now on I'm going to keep where I'm going to see my patient to myself.

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Also would you drive to a bad neighborhoods for a job? Just curious of what other have to say

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I did recently because I was drawing unemployment. Now that I am off unemployment, I will go back to using good judgement.

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I did recently because I was drawing unemployment. Now that I am off unemployment, I will go back to using good judgement.

Unfortunately as of now this is my only job and I depend on this income so I cant afford to be picky.Once the market improves and and once I finally land a "regular" job I'm planning to choose my neighborhoods wisely.

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Now that you know how your family reacts about bad neighborhoods....next time don't tell them where you are assigned to work. If you really like the job that you do and you don't mind working in a bad neighborhood...then you should try to explain to your family how important your job is to you and that you cannot choose neighborhoods/ patients. If they still don't understand and continue to pressure you to leave your patient, then don't tell them about your job anymore. I wouldn't.

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funny you should post this...I had a similiar conversation with my father yesterday.

I am interested in becoming a CNA. My dad was speaking to someone that had gotten their CNA last year...she told them the classes were in a bad neighborhood. My dad flipped out! Keep in mind I am 37 yrs old educated woman...but when it comes to your dad...ugh! You just gotta sit there and take it. Respect I suppose.

Do what you must do. You know your limits. It sounds like you are pretty aware of your surroundings. If the area that you are in isn't safe you must think of yourself. I would suggest someone else tag along with you. I wouldn't jeapordize my life or anything.

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I have done home visits in the past in some truly terrible, crime-ridden neighborhoods. I mean, places where I drove in and everyone stopped what they were doing, became utterly silent, and openly stared at me until I entered the building. It often felt very hostile. I half expected to not have a vehicle when I came back. I almost fell through the floor of a building once because I didn't know the flooring was rotted out and that you were supposed to walk near the walls.

I always felt better about my family knowing exactly where I was, so that if I didn't give my husband a call after an hour, he could check up on me. Likewise, I did a lot of home visits in very rural areas in all kinds of weather, with less than optimal road conditions. Bottom line, going out on the road and into someone's home is an unknown, and always has the potential for danger, either because of crime or accident. I simply always checked in with my husband or a friend at work when I left for a home visit, and when I was on my way home from one.

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Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

Well, no matter the neighborhood, the patients still need care. If your family is going to pressure you, don't tell them that you have to go to a bad neighborhood. though i think it's probably a good idea that someone you trust knows where you'll be. While there, be very aware of your surroundings and consider taking a personal safety or self defense course.

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Now that you know how your family reacts about bad neighborhoods....next time don't tell them where you are assigned to work. If you really like the job that you do and you don't mind working in a bad neighborhood...then you should try to explain to your family how important your job is to you and that you cannot choose neighborhoods/ patients. If they still don't understand and continue to pressure you to leave your patient, then don't tell them about your job anymore. I wouldn't.

I told them how important this job is for me right now.I need this job for experience and reference.They think that once I make the boss that I dont want this patient anymore he will start assigning me patients who live in safe neighborhood only! They dont understand the dynamics and politics of home health care.I'm scared that once I tell my boss i want to leave this patient he stop giving me patients and he is really nice to about giving me pts cause he knows i dont have too much of them. I'm really upset about this family dillema,I hate to be lying to them but I have no other choice,the worse is my mother she keep telling me that no young women with common sense would go into a bad neighborhood with a new car.

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funny you should post this...I had a similiar conversation with my father yesterday.

I am interested in becoming a CNA. My dad was speaking to someone that had gotten their CNA last year...she told them the classes were in a bad neighborhood. My dad flipped out! Keep in mind I am 37 yrs old educated woman...but when it comes to your dad...ugh! You just gotta sit there and take it. Respect I suppose.

Do what you must do. You know your limits. It sounds like you are pretty aware of your surroundings. If the area that you are in isn't safe you must think of yourself. I would suggest someone else tag along with you. I wouldn't jeapordize my life or anything.

I would never WALK in this neighborhood-there are drugs,prostitution,battery,street robberies,sexual assults,and verbal assults,I have a pretty good intuition also,can read someone's else face expression,body language (of course not all the time) but the thing is I park right next my patient house, and the street is sorta like a dead end street,quiet only few houses.Also I believe that you can get hurt just about anywhere even at the back of your very own yard,even if the house is located in a pretty decent neighborhood.Not so long ago (last year) I was sexually assaulted by a man who later tried to lurk me into his car.This happen in broad daylight at the huge parking lot of the well known retail store in a safe neighborhood.

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