Ever had a nurse or doc as a patient?

mitchsmom · Dec 1, 2005

My very first patient in clinicals was a 30 year nurse with metastatic ovarian cancer. My first shot that day, too!! Eeeekk ... but she was super nice and patient with me. I was just concerned about her & her condition.

jeepgirl, LPN, NP · Dec 1, 2005

Well,

I haven't been a inpatient as a nurse yet - the closest I have come is the ER. When I was in the ER, I had three of the nurses come in (shoulder to shoulder) and timidly ask me... "Is ___ your mom?" I said yes... my mom's a shift coordinator on a very busy unit who has been working at the hospital for 100 years. They were like... "OMG, we love your mom, she saves our butt every weekend when she works!" No "Oh... you're the nurse from peds..." or anything about ME... they just saw my name and knew my mom. It was funny and I told my mom the compliment.

I am expecting... I work maternal / child, so I may be delivering on our sister unit. Eek! I know I will be up everyone's rear end about my labor (OMG was that a decel???!?! How's the heartrate?) and about my baby after it is born (did you wash your hands at least five times before you touched my baby?!?!?). Has nothing to do with them (overall, they are great)... it's all about me and my being totally paranoid!

pannie · Dec 1, 2005

I was admitted twice to a hospital in "the city". I worked in a hospital about 50 miles away. Both times I got a fruit basket from the administrator/CEO. I thought they'd been a mistake since I didn't know Mr. XXXX and really didn't recognize the name. I questioned it and was told "No, it's your name right here." The second time it happened, it dawned on me to ask my internist. HE checked the VIP box on my admission! I just couldn't help laughing, but it entailed one more "thank you" note each time. The staff couldn't have been nicer but I think it had more to do with the diagnosis (ovarian cancer at age 32).

Ruby Vee, BSN · Dec 1, 2005

years ago, i took care of an rn with a brain tumor. she kept thinking she was at work and trying to help. one night when i was in a code, she "helped out" by making my midnight med pass for me. shudder! i'm not sure what she gave to whom, or why anyone would take pills from a "nurse" wearing a patient gown -- or even if they did. but everyone lived through the night and i didn't lose my job.

as for me, when i woke up in the recovery room after my surgery, the old man on the next cart was confused. he was yelling and trying to pull out his iv. i extubated myself and climbed over my siderails to "help." i thought i was at work. so i can understand why the lady above was passing meds!

MamaTheNurse, BSN, RN · Dec 1, 2005

I was admitted twice to a hospital in "the city". I worked in a hospital about 50 miles away. Both times I got a fruit basket from the administrator/CEO. I thought they'd been a mistake since I didn't know Mr. XXXX and really didn't recognize the name. I questioned it and was told "No, it's your name right here." The second time it happened, it dawned on me to ask my internist. HE checked the VIP box on my admission! I just couldn't help laughing, but it entailed one more "thank you" note each time. The staff couldn't have been nicer but I think it had more to do with the diagnosis (ovarian cancer at age 32).

A "VIP box"? what is that and is that a common thing or are we missing the boat up here and VIP's are falling through the cracks and not getting full service at my hospital? :rotfl: :rotfl:

on a serious note, that is a pretty serious diagnosis - how are you doing now? well, I hope..................

MamaTheNurse, BSN, RN · Dec 1, 2005

as for me, when i woke up in the recovery room after my surgery, the old man on the next cart was confused. he was yelling and trying to pull out his iv. i extubated myself and climbed over my siderails to "help." i thought i was at work. so i can understand why the lady above was passing meds!

extubated yourself? ouch..................................:uhoh21: :uhoh21: :uhoh21:

Ruby Vee, BSN · Dec 1, 2005

having your co-worker as a patient is difficult. having your boss as a patient is even worse. but the positive side is you probably already know enough about them that when they are really out of it after anesthesia...re-orientation is easier.

i took care of my boss's brand new father-in-law.

i'm not sure how i got picked for the assignment. my boss had the idea that there are "nice nurses" (the nurse that breaks the rules to give you everything you want) and there are "good nurses," (the nurse who follows the rules and tries to give you everything you need) and that a "nice nurse" was better than a "good nurse." she was a nice nurse; i was a good nurse. then she became manager.

father-in-law had full blown dts on my watch. horrible day! everyone i worked with came by to tell me they were soooo glad they weren't me!

after the whole thing was over with, my boss told the asst manager to tell me that she'd had to rethink the whole "nice nurse/good nurse" thing, and that she was glad i was the one taking care of her father-in-law. she was never able to tell me, but i heard anyway.

ruby

MamaTheNurse, BSN, RN · Dec 2, 2005

That is exactly why I don't tell the staff I am an RN when myself or a loved one is hospitalized. They tend to assume I know more than I do. I want to hear everything you tell your other pts, b/c there are a LOT of things I DON'T KNOW! Also, I thinks it makes the staff unduly nervous when they know a family member is a healthcare professional.

my friend's mother was in the hospital at Northwestern and he kept his mouth shut and let the staff do their job - he was asking questions to clarify her discharge instructions and the nurse asked "Are you a nurse or something?" and he said yeah - they said to him "How refreshing to have a family member who's a nurse who let us do what we had to do without trying to take over!" - he said "You guys did just fine so I didn't feel I needed to say anything. I know what it's like to have that happen to me." - they laughed and said "Boy, we wish all nurses were like you!"

It's too bad more nurses don't know the difference between being an advocate for your family and butting in unnecessarily.......................

When I used to visit my grandfather in LTC, my grandma made a point of telling anyone who would listen that I was an RN - I would just smile and say "I'm no help unless the patient is crowning!" (I worked OB at the time) :coollook:

nicholrwalker · Dec 2, 2005

I guess I was an irritating family member......My 88 y/o grandmother was in the hospital,and we requested a private room for her. I stayed with her most nights. One night her nurse came in with an injection for her while she was receiving her abx. When I asked her what she was giving her she informed me it was Valium...for agitation. My grandma and I were watching T.V and no where near agitated. So I questioned the order...mean while she was proceeding to inject the drug into her port,at which time I told her to please stop....from what I know you cannot mix valium with anything and on top of that i would like to see the order or MAR. She left the room and did not return. I went to the nurses station at which time it was told to me that her shift ended at 10p, and our new nurse would help us. I asked for the supervisor. Long story short..grandma never had it ordered to begin with,and she had received it the last three nights before I got there. I was very hot:angryfire :angryfire Not to mention the nurse did not know proper administration of drugs. But most of all refused to come back and face us after she found out the med had never been ordered. :angryfire :angryfire

MamaTheNurse, BSN, RN · Dec 2, 2005

I guess I was an irritating family member......My 88 y/o grandmother was in the hospital,and we requested a private room for her. I stayed with her most nights. One night her nurse came in with an injection for her while she was receiving her abx. When I asked her what she was giving her she informed me it was Valium...for agitation. My grandma and I were watching T.V and no where near agitated. So I questioned the order...mean while she was proceeding to inject the drug into her port,at which time I told her to please stop....from what I know you cannot mix valium with anything and on top of that i would like to see the order or MAR. She left the room and did not return. I went to the nurses station at which time it was told to me that her shift ended at 10p, and our new nurse would help us. I asked for the supervisor. Long story short..grandma never had it ordered to begin with,and she had received it the last three nights before I got there. I was very hot:angryfire :angryfire Not to mention the nurse did not know proper administration of drugs. But most of all refused to come back and face us after she found out the med had never been ordered. :angryfire :angryfire

now, that was definitely a situation where you needed to be an advocate for your family!!!

Bipley · Dec 2, 2005

Definitely one of my biggest pet peeves is when a hospital big-wig or MD get preferencial treatment. Would I as a regular staff nurse get the same kind of treatment?? I think not.

You might be surprised. I was floored when I had hand surgery. My friends really came through for me. I got ALL kinds of special extras. I am absolutely drawing a blank at the name of this thing but when little old ladies come out of surgery and the warm air is blowing on them to keep their body temp up? What's that called? I woke up to one of those just because it feels good and believe me, it DOES feel good! It was a special treat from one of the PACU nurses. That is just one of many examples.

It reminded me that special perks don't come from those in high places. A kid from CS made sure I had absolutely everything I could have wanted. Sweet stuff, things that don't really matter but they are just nice. A gal from the kitchen brought me Chocolate. HA! She brought me Nutella because she didn't know if someone could chew after hand surgery. :) (Nutella is kinda sorta like liquid Chocolate) She knows I LOVE Chocolate and wanted to make things as nice as she could.

One of the nurses is quite the artist. With my can of diet soda I got roses. Of course, it was a drawing of roses, but roses nonetheless.

A podiatrist friend of mine came to visit me in recovery. He swears I didn't say anything stupid but I'd still feel better if I knew what we discussed.

I was treated better than a VIP. I will say that the things done for me when I had simple hand surgery meant the world to me. I still treasure the efforts.

Bipley · Dec 2, 2005

:rotfl: Right now I have 2 nurses that run the 3-11 Shift in my LTC. Once a nurse..always a nurse. Follows me around during med pass, love to review new orders with me and will occasionally do a bed check. :rotfl:

I had an elderly female patient with a leg wound. NOTHING we did would heal this wound. She had severe dementia. One day I was doing a dressing change and I was talking to her as I was working. I was basically just rambling and thinking outloud.

Earlier in the thread I mentioned the RPh that hid his beer in his urinal. (gahhh) He overheard me talking as I was dressing this wound. He mentioned a product that would make it heal quickly. I don't recall, it was called either Red Scarlett or Scarlett Red. I remember the box, it is made by Lilly. It looks like a gel and it is blood red. I asked him if he was sure, he said he was positive. It would work like a charm.

I talked to the doc and he agreed to try as we were all at a loss as to how to treat this wound.

The old, beer drinking, beer hiding RPh was on the money. It cleared up the wound in no time.

I learned lots of things in my LTC facility. One is that when someone is retired from their profession, they may just know what they are talking about even if they are bizarre. :chuckle