Have you ever refused to care for a particular patient?

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Specializes in LDRP.

I have had some creepy strange pt's before. Since we get the post cardiothoracic surgery pt's, we see many upstanding citizens, many not so upstanding folks (iv drugs leading to valve replacements), etc. we also get the chest pain needs telemetry pts (b/c to bed placement it doesn't matter that we are post surgery floor, if we have open monitored beds.......but thats another post)

i've cared for prisoners.

i've cared for bipolar manic phase elderly ladies (that was scarier than the prisoner)

i've cared for homeless people

i've cared for mean, hateful, cursing people

i've cared for former convicts

etc etc etc. i've never questioned not taking care of a patient for any reason, even if they gave me the heeby jeebies, b/c htey all need nursing care regardless of who they are or why they are here., they all get my best care.

until this one.

the man who sexually molested me 15 years ago came in as a patient. that was the one i absolutely refused to go into his room. he had a cabg, never knew i work there, and i dont even know if he'd recognize me. i was a child then, he has no idea im a nurse and so on. i do still have the same last name as then.

i was completely over it, not still suffering any from it, i hadn't even thought about it in a long time. but still, i could not take care of him. (lethal dose of K+ anyone?)

thank goodness the other nurses understood.

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Specializes in PCU, Critical Care, Observation.

Yes, I have refused to care for people that I know personally or are related to someone that I know as well as problem patients 2 or 3 nights in a row. The clinical leaders are pretty good about requests like that.

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Not because of who they are or why they were in the ER. The one pt I refused to take care of had written me up for something totally disgusting, and even though it hadn't happened the way she claimed, my word meant nothing and I was ordered by the CEO and DON to apologize in writing to this woman. I felt totally betrayed because my NM even agreed with me that it couldn't have happened the way the pt thought, but her hands were tied: the order came from above. After that I refused to take care of that pt to protect myself.

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Specializes in Internal Medicine Unit.
Yes, I have refused to care for people that I know personally or are related to someone that I know as well as problem patients 2 or 3 nights in a row. The clinical leaders are pretty good about requests like that.

:yeahthat:

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

That's a no brainer that you couldn't care for him. Shame on anyone who wouldn't understand.

I have refused to care for a verbally abusive patient the last 3 hours of my shift recently. I just asked another nurse to check on him. I told him I quit being his nurse. Sometimes you just can't take it.

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Yes I won't take care of patient that has been physically or verbally abusive to me. I even tell them that I left an abusive husband and I did not come to work to take from them and be treated that way and some else can take care of them because I refuse to. I believe on one occassion I even told the man he could lay there and rot before I came back into his room.

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Specializes in LDRP.
I believe on one occassion I even told the man he could lay there and rot before I came back into his room.

Good for you! Did his behavior improve after that?

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Specializes in Utilization Management.

Yeah, usually I refuse the patients whose RELATIVES have "dollar-sign eyes."

I don't need the hassle.

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Specializes in Education, Administration, Magnet.
Yeah, usually I refuse the patients whose RELATIVES have "dollar-sign eyes."

I don't need the hassle.

I understand that. I had a family one time ask us to keep this 101 yr.old lady alive until midnight, so they can still get the check for this month....how sad! :angryfire But that's another topic.

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One man on our unit was a hair away from being brain dead and his family wanted everything done. So, for about 2 months he rotted on a ventilator while all of his systems failed one by one. He was such a disgusting mess and the family would just come in and challenge every move you made. Once they said to me "Take care of him. He's such a good person." I wanted to puke. I stopped taking care of him then. I became a nurse to help people and I was doing the opposite for this man. I would have liked to see all the nurses refuse to take care of him on moral grounds.

To the OP, not taking care of that man was MORE than reasonable! I hope you have been able to heal from your past experience.

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Specializes in EC, IMU, LTAC.

How much power do nurses have when it comes to this kind of refusal? Can CNAs refuse to do so too?

MarySunshine: I hear ya on that one. I worked in a Catholic nursing home, where there were several Terri Shiavo-esque patients who were dead but not allowed to die. You didn't see them lifting a finger to help. Imagine you're kept alive with a PEG tube, NPO, mouth caked with layers of dried saliva, nasal passages crusted with mucus, not even a voice to call for water, dried lips, etc. I bet they never did. They might as well have taxidermized their relative and kept him in the living room for all the life that they had.

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Specializes in Emergency, Peds, Amb. Surg.

Yes, a number of times. When it is not a therapeutic relationship either dt a E.D. patient with an Axis two secondary dx who wants to verbally fight or a patient who just physically assaulted me I just tell the CN to re assign me. It is better for the patient and for me. It is just not worth it, but the rest of the team must support you.

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