Uhhhh, That's Kinda Personal

Nurses General Nursing

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We have all had patients that say rude comments or ask personal questions.

Here's a few of mine:

Pt: Do you have children yet?

Me: No.

Pt: Really?! Well how often are you sleeping with your husband?

Pt's family member comes over to me and says "You should have that weird looking mole checked out. It looks like melanoma."

Patient: Congratulations! When are you due?

Me:One year ago

Any memorable stories you'd like to share?

I did not like the comments on my body when I was pregnant. I worked 2 days until my due date. I looked huge, felt it, and knew it. I got a lot of "Are you sure you're only having one???" That hurt my feelings, I was quite aware of my size and just trying to work in a busy hospital without the comments about how big I was.

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This thread is pretty funny, though I feel bad for those that have had their feelings hurt. I know I have said some insensitive things to others and have had to apologize for hurting their feelings.

I nursing school I was on my home health rotation when I went to visit an elderly man who had just been in the hospital. He greeted me at the door with a kiss and asked me if I was going to wash his member like the nurse in the hospital did. I was young and inexperienced and didn't know how to handle any of this. That was in 1981.

I have spent much of my career in the OR. I have been known to ask my prone awake male patients if anything needs adjusted before they receive sedation and we get started. Most say no and fix their friends themselves. Some will reply with are you going to adjust it for me?? And I say yes, if that's what you need to be comfortable before we start. I also have the ladies make sure their breasts are ok when they are prone before the sedation. All that is just me making sure no one has an intraoperative tissue injury that I could have prevented.

On the other hand, I have also been known to tell a nervous guy, don't fart, I'm going to fluff the covers! Then the patient laughs and the mood is lightened.

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Specializes in as above.

I just ignore them. Its none of hte patients business who I am bedding. or other personal stuff. They are bored.

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

On the other side of the bed :), I had a patient get upset with

me, slightly, the other night because I asked him what his religion

was.

I need to just rephrase from now on.. "Are you a Jehovah's Witness?

I really just need to know if I can give you blood or not."

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During a LTC clinical placement...

Client: How old are you?

Me: Almost 38

Client: And you decided to go back to school at your age?

Me: Yeup!

Client: Oh sweetie, I would've just found myself a rich husband!

I had a good laugh over that one!

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Not really a personal question, but personal nonetheless.

Years ago in an aged care facility I worked at, one of the residents was a 100-and-something year old lady. I was assisting her to shower, did her feet and back etc, then I asked if she needed help with anything else.

She said 'No... I wash up as far as possible, then I wash down as far as possible, then I wash possible last (pointing to her private area.)' then she gave the biggest sigh, and looking down at herself, said 'And I've lost all my feathers, too!' She looked so forlorn, but I really had to struggle not to laugh!

Hysterical! Bless her soul.

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Specializes in Neuroscience.

Ya'll are a sensitive bunch. We ask so many personal questions of our patients that I don't care if they ask how many kids I have, where I live, or how long I've been married. At least they don't ask me if I use illegal drugs for fun, what my highest level of education is, and I should remind you that we ask them if they are married, if their house is a single level home, if they have freaking rugs in their kitchen they could possibly trip over. It gives them some semblance of control, and I'm okay with them having that. They have so little in the hospital.

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Specializes in M/S, Pulmonary, Travel, Homecare, Psych..

Had an elderly lady from the South (Don't ask me where, I know not but she was such a Southern Belle) who couldn't get over the male nurse thing. Of course she called them all doctor, and they'd try to explain to her they were nurses. They got nowhere until one day it sank in. That made it worse.

She went from them all being doctors to (sigh), they were all "Prison work release orderlies." I can't make this up.

She asked me if I "fancied" any of them. I should have walked away right there. I didn't. I told her "No, not really." Yeah, so I was a lesbian and she was surrounded by girls who like girls and prison orderlies. "Healthcare isn't what it used to be I guess."

To this day I can't understand why I'd "fancy" men allowed out of prison for a few hours a day to work. And not being attracted to them makes me gay?

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Specializes in ICU.

Yeah, I'm in the south, and I can attest to that! If you are a male anything, you are a doctor. I've even had patients who thought the male nursing assistant was my superior, and I should ask him what to do! If you are a female nurse practitioner or female PA, you are THE NURSE, period. Around here, the "doctors" give the breathing treatments, start the peripheral iv's, clean the bottoms.... I only get sensitive about the "how long have you worked HERE" thing, because I want credit for all the years I've worked in other places, ha ha.

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Specializes in Allergy and Immunology.

I was born here and so were my parents and their parents and so on....We have a lot of different immigrants in the Twin Cities...I have gotten a few times as a Black American woman, "Wow... your English is so good!" Cue my eye roll...of course it is. I don't know or speak any other languages. Sigh...

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OOOOOOOf, on the last one, OP.

My co-worker had a belly, and it was the DOC that announced he didn't know she was pregnant. She wasn't, and her "baby" was 3.

I've had comments made, like, "doesn't your back hurt after lugging those boobs around on your frame, dear?"

(old, very concerned, lady, not a young male)

Yep, female patients think its ok to comment on my very very ample cleavage all the time. And I've gotten the "Is this your first" question a few times. Im like, the first time I've been mistaken for being pregnant? No, its not. Thanks for the reminder. 1) reminds me Im fat 2) reminds me how badly I want to be a mother but have 3 separate infertility issues. Thanks!

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Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
Any memorable stories you'd like to share?

Well, when I was a little boy, my Grammy took me to visit Santa. They had this conversation I didn't quite understand at the time...

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