got shouted at yesterday night

[melz34]

yesterday night I was shouted at by a 15 yr old male patient what happend was he pressed his call light and i didnt get to him quick enough and he snapped at me and said move quicker and then he kept giving me the evils all the rest of the night I was a bit upset because I had looked after him and done things for him for the past three nights so I was a bit angry and sad

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

I have a simple expectation of my patients: that they treat me the way they wish to be treated. This doesn't mean that once my patient starts screaming at me that i will do the same, but I will point out to them that they are being unnecessarily rude to me and that they would not like to be treated the same way. This principle should be clear to a 15 yo.

[ivanh3]

having been a paramedic and a police officer, i almost don't feel at home unless someone is yelling at me. having said that, i think it perfectly reasonable to set limits. 15 is young, but that is still old enough to have a dialogue about it. those conversations are situation dependent. not sure what i would have said.

the bigger issue of verbal abuse from patients in my mind depends greatly on the mindset of the hospital/organization/clinic. will management back you up? i hate to say it, but in my experience i have seen plenty of rude, even aggressive patients and my first question is "where is management?" often management seems to “grease the squeaky wheel", while the staff loses face and credibility.

i was working triage one night and the mother of my patient was being openly hostile and using profanity. the patient was 19 so i gently (no sarcasm, i was really nice) reminded the mother that her daughter was an adult and that the mother did not have to be here. i told the mother to back out to the waiting room and i would finish the rest of my assessment with just the patient, and if the profanity did not stop i would have security escort her (the mother) off the premises. she laughed and demanded to see my charge nurse. it was great, he told her he believed every word i said and that he would personally call security if there were any further issues. the mother shut up and went out to the waiting room. that situation could have gone the other way if my charge nurse had not back me up.

ivan