What is your biggest nursing pet peeve?

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · May 4, 2004

That's just it, ours say "silence". Evidently that's a big word that requires a lot of thought.

(What a shame that button doesn't come on a remote control that'll work on humans .)

z's playa · May 4, 2004

That's just it, ours say "silence". Evidently that's a big word that requires a lot of thought.
(What a shame that button doesn't come on a remote control that'll work on humans .)

:rotfl: :rotfl: I'm crying!!!!!! Almost peed. :imbar ....just kidding...kinda.

babsrich42 · May 5, 2004

I am a nursing student working as a tech in a medical ICU. My pet peevs may seem silly to some but these things irk me just the same.

If I am bathing a patient, and you come in to help, or tell me something, or bring me something, or for any other reason....CLOSE THE DAMN CURTAIN!!!! When you enter...CLOSE THE CURTAIN!! When you leave...CLOSE THE CURTAIN!!!

My nurses view this as a joke now like when they leave the room and I am still bathing a patient they will holler out "I closed the curtain"!! Well...gold star for you and thanks a bunch!! LMAO

Everyone knows how curious the general public is when they are walking thru the hospital looking into all the rooms and I know if I were laying there, I would not want my naked butt to be on display.....so CLOSE THE CURTAIN!!!

LNDNurse · May 5, 2004

Mine our OB related since that is where I work

#1 When the pt has every single family member and their neighbors in the room for delivery. There is no reason all those people need to be in your business at such a personal time.

#2 on the same note the people that come and want to know what room Suzie is in but don't know her last name. If you don't know someone's last name then you don't know them well enough to be in there while she is having a baby.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · May 5, 2004

The people that are ADULTS who called (every single time!) for a pt. and say they want to talk to "mom". MOM WHO?? Does MOM have name???

shel_wny · May 5, 2004

When I first decided what I wanted to go to college for after taking a year off, I told a friend at work that I had decided to be a Nurse. Her comment was, "Nursing isn't even a real job!" I asked her what then is her version of a real job. She stated, "A Pharmacist or a Doctor." I was too hurt to say anything at the time but boy did I let her have it a few days later! We are not near as close as we were before. All in all I guess my pet peeve is just people who think Nurses don't need any kind of real training or knowledge base and that all they do all day is go around changing bed pans and slapping bandages on open wounds. If I wanted to stare at pills all day and constantly be on the phone with insurance companies, I'd be a Pharmacist. If I wanted to go to school for 6+ years and not have much concern for a person's overall holistic well-being, sure, Doctor would be for me. But you know what, I'm a future Nurse, through and through. And I'd appreciate a little respect for my decision, thanks.

Shel

nurseT · May 5, 2004

I work PRN in LTC. While covering for vacations last year, we had a 72 YO female with CVA, residual Lt side paralysis, dysphagia, aphasic, incont of B/B, and a peg tube. Her husband swore he could not leave her side. Sounds romantic. At first he sleeps in the chair, wants to know where his meal trays are, goes home only to shower and change. Next the noc shift nurse is furious, she says she finds him in his wifes bed with her. Remember she is incont. Next he starts complaining he doesn't want the pads under her cause he's getting wet and wants diapers on her, a big no-no in LTC. He takes her protective heel covers and leg stabilizers off cause they bother him in bed. And on and on. One time the noc shift nurse found this man having sex with his very disabled wife. We had complained to managment numerous times. We all had talks with him to no avail. The noc shift nurse told Social Services if they didn't do something about this man, she was quitting. He was told he could stay if he was willing to pay the usual fee for a room, that he could eat with his wife for 2.00$ a meal, and he could no longer take his wifes therapy devices off her with out signing a release of responsibiliy to the facility. He quit staying all night, quit taking off her therapy stuff and stopped staying for meals.

Jo Dirt · May 5, 2004

Nurses that are brilliant but do not know the difference between contraindication and contradiction!!!!!!!:rotfl: :rotfl:

Patient's who believe you should be a miracle worker and be able to diagnose and cure every little ache and pain they have.

Jo Dirt · May 5, 2004

Next he starts complaining he doesn't want the pads under her cause he's getting wet and wants diapers on her, a big no-no in LTC.

I find this amusing, because in the LTC where I work we do use diapers(we are supposed to call them "briefs"), and we have almost NO skin breakdowns, compared with a previous facility I worked at while an aide where they did not use diapers and battled decubes constantly.

tinnekke · May 6, 2004

being treated like a slave/waitress

Oh man, this is my a-number one peeve right now. I work LTC, and most of my Residents are a delight. However... there is one that drives all the staff up a tree. She thinks that everyone is there for her sole benefit. We have a call light system that is connected into our phone system so all of us have portable phones we can use to answer the lights wherever we are. This means that I can pick up when she rings the light and be all the way across the building doing patient care on someone else. If this is the case, I will tell her that I am with another Resident, but that I'll be there as soon as I get finished with what I am doing. This just causes her to ring the light constantly until someone gets there. (Not that she doesn't do that anyways, I swear she thinks we can teleport or something...makes me think of the genie in Aladdin "poof! what do you need?") She won't tell us what she needs when we ask, just says "get me the nurse" which means that the CNAs can disregard the call because I have to respond to the light personally. Then I get to her room and she wants her slippers!!! :angryfire She treats the Hospice aides that come in to help with her like they are stupid, and she is so RUDE!!! :nono: I cannot stand rude people, and she wouldn't know how to act courteously if you gave her training videos. I know it's uncharitable of me to say it, but I can't wait until she's out of my hair.

gizzy76 · May 6, 2004

All of these things ring so true and I'm only around page 20 with reading them!

A few of mine...

1) Those families who want you to do things for their family member when you are in the middle of something else which is more important...We had a lady who came by ambulance with an MI and we were treating in our ER. We had asked the family to leave the room while we proceeded with care. Once we treated her and gave TNKase I allowed the family back in for a moment to see her so they would know that she was doing better than when they seen her brought in. All the daughters could do was ask for a glass of water for her because she had a bad taste in her mouth. Meanwhile, I was trying to administer Lovenox and pain medications for this woman. Then they asked me to brush her false teeth and when I said I could not do that at the moment, the one daughter got snotty and said if I would get her a basin and a toothette she would do it herself then if I couldn't do it for their mom. This family did not realize how serious the situation could have been for their mother.

2) The nurses who are nowhere to be found when you need them and always around when you don't. And I completely agree about the ones who are too busy to help you because they're chit chatting or checking their email. That irks me.

3) LTC families who pop out of the woodwork when their loved one is dying and they suddenly know the answers to everything. They want to change the routine of care and they know exactly how their loved one SHOULD be cared for and it's NOT how we've been doing it for the past 5 years.

4) LTC families who visit for 3 days and decide that their mother isn't getting the same treatment that the rest of the residents are getting. Well I'm sorry, if your mother has dementia, is a wanderer and becomes aggressive regularly, we're going to let her sleep when she wants to sleep because it saves our employees from getting hurt and it lets the resident feel better. If that means she won't get the afternoon snack because she's laid down for a nap, then she doesn't get it. It's not because we don't want her to have it. And we're NOT going to intentionally wake her up and aggravate her just so she can have it.

5) People who phone in a rural community to find out which doctor will be on call that evening for outpatients. I'm sorry but if you need to be seen that badly by a doctor that you're going to come to the hospital, it really shouldn't matter who sees you. Usually these people are the ones who know which doctor will or won't give them the drugs they seek.

6) The same people who repeatedly bring in their kids to ER with snotty noses and need antibiotics. It really makes me wonder why they can't cope with a sick child at home who has the sniffles.

7) Parents who bring in a child with a high fever and they haven't even taken any measures to bring the fever down...Tylenol, Advil, cool cloth to forehead, less layers of clothing instead of the child being bundled up...etc

I think this is getting a bit long...sorry...might be back with a few more later

stevierae · May 6, 2004

Nurses who come to work sick, because they are convinced that the department cannot function without them, then whine all day about how sick they are, while coughing, blowing their noses, and getting everbody else sick--from their roost on the couch in the nurses' lounge.

Nurses who know only one way to do things, at that is either "by the book" or "the way we've always done it here."

Nurses who have worked in the same facility since they graduated from nursing school--also affiliated with that facility--40 years ago--and who haven't cracked a book, journal or taken a CE course since--but are comvinced that their way is the only correct way of doing things, and are suspicious and critical of those who do it differently.

Nurses who refuse to learn basic nursing skills, like starting IVs--stating "That's not my job" and instead calling anesthesia or the nursing supervisor.