Ever had a nurse or doc as a patient?

allnurses Guide · Nov 28, 2005

I had really bad bronchitis (get it a lot), and went in to get a script for a new inhaler. Since I work in the ER, I just went in and asked one of my docs, she listened to my lungs and demanded I check in for an albuterol neb. Naturally the ER was swamped, no rooms, waiting room full, but the charge nurse put me on a hall bed and called for resp. to come down for the treatment. So I filled out my triage note, took my own vitals (on the portable machine), stuck my chart in the rack, and got my treatment!:rotfl: Charge nurse thought it was hilarious, double checked what I'd written before she signed it, registration got my copay, had a nice chat, and then discharged myself.

Another time, with post op complications, I went in for dehydration, got my IV in, on my 2nd or 3rd liter a friend said "I'd sure like to see you pee!". Told him it wasn't a spectator sport and passed out again.

The retired nurses I've taken care of were great, we swapped a lot of stories. The worst ones have been out of town doctors (tourist town) bringing in a family member, and totally out of their specialty but still wanting to boss things. :uhoh3:

juliebean4u · Nov 28, 2005

Had a pediatrician once who had senile dementia. Got irritable sometimes if the staff couldn't understand what he was trying to tell us. I finally started bringing him "Doctor's Orders" sheets and he'd write the orders for what he wanted. He was really a hoot. Then a retired nurse went into the room across from him and they fought for awhile, then really bonded. In fact, they "bonded" do well that the doc's wife divorced him!!:imbar

Also, have any of you ever had to take care of a Dr's MOTHER? WHAT A NIGHTMARE!! The primary would order something, and this doc would come in to see her and end up writing his own orders that were exactly opposite! The other nurses decided it should be ME that had a talk with this guy! It actually went suprisingly well......

Oh! And there was also the quadraplegic nurse who retired from being a state surveyor...but you can imagine how that went... :rolleyes:

Fairemaid · Nov 28, 2005

What great stories on this thread:p

I have only been an RN for 4 months and I have had at least 3 nurses as patients and one nurse as the mother of teenage patient in for overnight observation (poor thing caught a field hockey stick in the face) :bluecry1: This mom had come from out of town to see her daughter play and had left her car at the college playing field overnight while she stayed with her daughter. She was the nicest and most grateful family member I have had to deal with. Never a rude word and she was very appreciative of all of our help. One of our night nurses gave the girl and her mom a ride back to the college the next morning. A few weeks later we got a nice card from the mother, which thanked us all by name and a special thank you to the nurse who gave them a ride.

The other nurses that I've had for patients were also very kind and considerate. I am very glad I have not had to deal with the other kind. One of the other RN patients I had sent us a nice bouquet of flowers with a card. She was very helpful knowing I was a new nurse. We also had something else in common; we had both worked as EMTs before we were nurses. (We both agreed that working IN the hospital sure beat dragging 300 lb CHF pt down 4 flights of stairs in the cold:banghead: )

I had a retired doc for a patient and I was very nervous about this until I found out he had dementia. He was on a bed check and when it went off, I ran in the room and found him trying to change the channel on the IV pump:uhoh3:

The only times I was a pt myself was the two times when I gave birth. I had a 28 hour labor and delivered a 9lb 4oz baby lady partslly with a CNM attending. I was totally exhausted and I can't remember much about my stay. I also asked to check out at 36 hours past the birth and they let me go home. When I had my second baby, I only had a 7lb baby, having learned my lesson the first time and I was only in the hospital for 2 hours before I gave birth. I distinctly remember waddling through the front entrance of the hospital with my husband in tow and woman at the front desk asked me if I was in labor, me already doing the breathing thing, I think I was in transition, and I snapped at her, "NO, I have a broken leg!" My husband was mortified:imbar. After the birth, I asked if I could take a shower and when I got back to my bed, there was a pile of clean linen there and since no one else had made the bed for me, I made it myself. I stay in the hospital for as long as they let me, at least 2 whole days, because I knew I would get no rest at home.

I have also been the family member of a hospital patient. My Grandfather was 95 and had gone in for general weakness and decreased urinary output. This was happening two weeks after I had found out I had passed my NCLEX this past summer. While I waited with him in the ER, they did a routine chest x-ray on him, and the ER doc called me over to see the results. This doc didn't know I was a nurse, it was just for my own information. I looked at the film and my blood ran cold. There were masses on both lungs, clearly visible. The doc said he had suspected my Grandfather had cancer just by his symptom of recent weight loss. This MD was so good at making instant assessments, he probably had been doing it for many years. I was Grampa's HCP and POA so I already knew what he would want done. He had prostate CA for many years and 3 years ago had a workup to see if it had spread anywhere, and his PCP had asked him what he would do if cancer was found.

Grampa had said at that time that he would not opt for treatment.

So Grampa was admitted to a floor and I wasn't sure who else knew about that CXR. The nurses on the floor seemed to have no idea about it. It wasn't until several days later that his PCP finally talked to me on the phone about Grampa. He said my grandfather had a UTI, and that all his other tests came back normal. I asked him if he had seen the CXR, and he started to say, "The CXR looked good......." then he stopped himself. I was pretty sure he didn't have the result in front of him so I told him it looked like lung CA in both lungs. He said he'd get back to me. Believe me that if this type of test result had involved other members of my family, I would have persued it immediately. I ran into the PCP the next day in the hospital, and we went to see Grampa to give him the news. MD told me in the elevator that I was right, both lungs were involved. Grampa declined treatment. MD wanted to send him to rehab. Rehab? for lung CA? I told MD what I wanted done. I said Grampa wants to die at home. Send him home with VNA and Hospice services. I had done clinical time with hospice nurses and was very impressed with their competence and compassion. MD said Hospice requires pt have less than 6 months to live. He told me he couldn't know how long Grampa had left unless more tests were done to see what kind of lung CA it was. I said to him, "You and I both saw that CXR, you know this is going to be the end of him." MD said to me "Alright, I'll send him home." This was my first time as a patient advocate and I wanted to be sure I would carry out Grampa's wishes and not my own, although I agreed with Grampa and the fact that he declined treatment. Grampa was D/Cd home after being in the hospital for 1 week and he died at home 3 weeks later. :cry: We sure miss him, but I know in my heart we did the right thing in helping him carry out his final wishes.

PS. Grampa got the deal of the century. He paid for his funeral in 1976 and it only cost him $800 at the time. :rolleyes:

Fairemaid

Rebecca RN

Bipley · Nov 28, 2005

Had a pediatrician once who had senile dementia. Got irritable sometimes if the staff couldn't understand what he was trying to tell us. I finally started bringing him "Doctor's Orders" sheets and he'd write the orders for what he wanted. ...

Ohhh, do tell! What orders did he write?

juliebean4u · Nov 28, 2005

Ohhh, do tell! What orders did he write?

Wrote laxative protocal he thought he required, along with what he thought the other patients should have. Wrote himself an ativan order when he was feeling "edgy" or irritable. Wrote orders for PSYCH EVALS on the patients he couldn't get along with. His daily ambulation turned into doing "rounds" on the other patients, who all thought he was crazy. Hey..at least he got the exercise! He really was a cutie:p :rolleyes:

icyounurse, BSN, RN · Nov 28, 2005

A few months ago had this guy come in with end stage pancreatic cancer, impending respiratory failure. His daughter was an RN and she was with him 24 hours a day. She drove us all crazy. I had her the first night she was there with her dad. I spent the whole night going in and out of the room, writing down lists of "demands" and on the phone with docs regarding them [he needs tylenol and benedryl with that blood, no he's never had a reaction, but you just never know. I think he needs his lasix schedualed at 9 am instead of 8 am, ect. I could go on, but I won't ]these demands were many and varied and took up a WHOLE lot of time. SHE [not the pt] was on the call light constantly. She took vitals with the blood transfusion when I left the room and got irritated that I still had to take my own instead of documenting hers. She kept a written account of the nights events which she gave me a copy and went into extraordinary detail. Did I mention she never slept and woke her dad up everytime he got to sleep. The charge nurse tried to talk to her, but it made things worse.

While i felt sorry for her and understood her frustration[mom recently died, really attached to dad and wanted to help, but you can't cure that kind of cancer so its frustrating, ect], I absolutely refused to take that pt back the next night because I felt that I neglected my other patients that night.

Every nurse on our unit could only take her for one shift, no one ever took her 2 shifts in a row.

The pt died after a week and I was really glad I wasn't working and did not have to witness that. She had his DNR overturned and he ended up on a vent before he died anyway.

General E. Speaking, RN, RN · Nov 28, 2005

have had a few MD's and nurses as patient's- nothing horrible stands out. The only time I have been in the hospital was after my daughter was born by C-section. I worked upstairs in the Med-Surg dept. My IV infiltrated and I didn't even notice it. 1st day post-op they took my foley out, I loaded up on the PO fluids (stupid). I couldn't go- I wanted to REALLY bad but couldn't pee. They threatened me with a straight cath. I refused- eventually I went and, ahhhhhhh, what a relief!! I only remember calling once later that day to get my linens straightened (this was back in the day before we used fitted sheets- two sheets were used for the bottom and they frequently came undone) After that I was pretty much on my own- the next morning I got into the shower by myself.

elthia · Nov 28, 2005

Hi all, been away for awhile due to an injury.

When I was a student nurse, I took care of an "old school" RN who asked for a basin and washcloth to get cleaned up, she stated she was unable to shower. I knew she had no clinical reason that would prevent her from showering, so I offered to get her a shower chair and assist her in the shower if she liked. She ripped me a new one. I didn't realize that back when she was a nurse a foley catheter was a contraindication to showering. :uhoh21:

When I had surgery last year, I wasn't on a PCA, but I had an order for IV push pain meds every 2-3 hours. If I so much as wrinkled my brow my husband OR my sister who is an RN would hit the call light for painmeds, without even asking me if I needed it. I had worked with my dayshift nurse at the same hospital when we were both student techs, and my sister had also worked with my nurse before, so my pain was EXTREMELY well managed. Also, there was absolutely no way to keep the fact I was a nurse a secret...the nightshift nurse knew me from when I did clinicals as a student.:chuckle :chuckle She also kept me well medicated.

When I was involved in an accident/injury at work earlier this month, the triage nurse was a good friend of my husbands, the nurse who cared for me in the ER was a good friend of my sisters, and the MD was a good friend of mine.:imbar :imbar The MD I'm following up with, knows I'm a nurse due to the H&P on how I obtained the injury.

However, sometimes I wish I could just be a plain old patient...I'm in a lot of pain almost all the time, I'm scared, this is an injury that is going to cause chronic problems...I just want someone to tell me the facts...because I can't think objectively about myself...know what I mean?

It's been said before, just because someone is a healthcare professional, does not mean that they don't need patient education...sometimes it's reassuring to have it...to me, sometimes the feeling of being taught implies that the person teaching you shows caring about you as a person/patient.

allnurses Guide · Nov 28, 2005

I had a doctor once, who was actually an OB/GYN and had in the past had not- so-complimentary things to say about the care that the nurses on my Med/Surge floor gave. Anyway, she was amazingly VERY nice, and sent us flowers and a nice card after her stay.

She's actually the only doctor that *I* have ever cared for, though we've had several on our floor since then.

I've cared for several nurses and nurse's aides. Never had a problem.

I was a patient when I had my daughter, at my hospital. I think I was a good patient, and had a nice experience. :)

JennRN&Mom23 · Nov 28, 2005

I've noticed that too. The worst family members I have dealt with were nurses. I never really understood that either. You would think they would be more understanding but they just seem to expect more of us.

kadokin, ASN, RN · Nov 29, 2005

I have had several nurses and MD's as patients. The most challenging ones are the retired, "old school" type. They often remind you that you're not doing they way they did in their time. Rather than retort that things have changed a lot, I've learned to ask them, especially the retred nurses, about their experiences.
I've been a patient, too, and hated every minute of it. I had a Demerol PCA that did nothing for the pain but screwed up my ability to communicate. So I had dry heaves for 8 hours after an abd. hysterectomy but couldn't seem to let my nurse know the Phenergan wasn't helping. When I tried to tell a different nurse that my IV was infiltrated she patted my IV site (ouch) and said it was fine. 2 hours later when my hand was the size a softball I asked her to reasess it. She clucked at me and said I would have to wait for the supervisor as she was just too busy. That was okay because I had quit using my PCA 2 hours ago because it was too painful. I dc'd my last IV after it infiltrated because I didn't want it patted either. Only 1 nurse in my 3 day stay asked me about my pain level. I looked at my records later and saw 6 different nurses rated my pain for me, at 4/10. I remember it as 7/10 for most of my stay.

What an eye-opener:uhoh21: I hope you told some one in authority about these imcompetents (frauds, actually). That is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Then again. Maybe if it was charted, that means it's real in the legal world. Scary:uhoh3:

RN and Mommy · Nov 29, 2005

When I worked in Assisted Living there was a physician who was there due to an inoperable (spelling?) brain tumor. He was really past our limits of care, but the family brought in hospice to take care of him. He was a wonderful man and I still think of him with much admiration for what he went through.

I took care of one of the VP of Nursing at our hospital and everyone was like "Wash your hands, she's so and so...It's like, "Don't you always wash your hands and take standard precautions?" Apparently not if they need to remind people to do so! It is always frusturating when people are always like "She's so and so... a VIP", I am sorry, but I treat all my patients like VIP's not just the ones who work at the hospital or who are Dr. ________'s mom. C'mon people! Treat everyone like a VIP!