I've been a nurse for a long time and burnout is quickly looming on the horizon. The thing that bothers me the most is the rudeness and lack of respect from patients. I work on a busy cardiac floor in an average size hospital. I can't tell you how many times I have answered a call light in a patient room, and have been made to feel as if I am a waitress, babysitter, maid, or mother and not the RN I am. Last noc I worked the third of 3 twelve hour noc shifts, and I need help to figure out what I should do. In my twelve hour shift last noc, I'll bet almost half of the call lights I answered where from patients who wanted their head raised in bed, wanted their head lowered in bed, wanted more ice in their water, wanted me to take the ice out of their water, wanted me to adjust their pillow or blankets, wanted me to hand them the newspaper on their bedside table, wanted another blanket, and on and on......Staff are frequently in and out of these rooms, so it's not as if the patient is left alone for long. Here's what I think is going on. I live and work in the Midwest and most of the elderly patients we have seem to act as if the nurses are their own personal maid, waitress or whatever. They are reluctant to do things for themself when they have someone who can do it for them. Staff members are very helpful and willing to help patients with whatever they need. How do I let some of these patients know that I am a professional nurse, trying hard to help my patients recover and heal, and I don't have time to be your maid or waitress etc. P.S. Staff members have been "spoken to" in the past, about how we are here for the patients and not to be rude or unhelpful.
My Alzheimer's patient yell "Waitress! Waitress!" at me. They come up to the nurses station thinking they are at a bus terminal. They want a ticket out of there, now! Nothing these dear people do bothers me. The phone calls from families who call me to relieve their guilt at not coming to see their mothers bothers me though. They seem to think that visiting me on the phone is good enough. I really try to be polite. I have a MILLION things to do!
Laughing...I know it's frustrating, but I think it's the same everywhere. I saw a shirt that says it all..."I'm a nurse, I'm paid to save your a$$, not kiss it."
I'm in LTC, so I'm not usually saving someone's rear, but I still like the shirt.
Cant patients raise the head of the bed on their own?!
You'd be amazed at what patient's can't do on their own. I think about 75% of patients lose the ability to use their arms and legs just by entering the hospital doors.
I work on a post-surgical floor so we have to encourage patients to get up and do things on their own. We recently had a man in his mid-30's come in for a lap appy and he managed to get the surgeon to keep him for 2 days for pain control. He pressed his call light and asked someone to come back and close his door for him and his surgeon overheard it. She marched back to his room and told him that there are 70 year old ladies on that floor that were running circles around him and he was to get OOB and close his own door. He was discharged later that afternoon.
Specializes in med-surg 5 years geriatrics 12 years.
I agree that often you are dealing with very scared patients. I, too, subscribe to the anticipate needs theory. I always start my shift by going into each room and telling my aptients who I am and when I will be back to check them over good...but ask at that time if they need anything.And I take care of it right away if they do. I may run my tush off the first 4 hours or so but after that it's much calmer with my patients because I've kept promises, checked frequently, taken time to listen. Then if I'm not right there, they understand that I am tied up elsewhere but will come when I can. Having said that...there will always be those few who take advantage, are needy, generally drive me crazy, but they make me appreciate the ones who are appreciative, calm, noncomplaining.
Just tell yourself that if you are going to be a waitress, at least you are a very well-paid waitress, and if that's how they want to spend their money then, hey, that's their problem. You can't change people. Accept that this is how people see you, it's what they expect, and move on. If you went into this expecting respect for your knowledge and hard work then you are never going to be happy. You aren't going to get it. If you know that and you can accept it then it's easier to deal with and you'll enjoy that paycheck much more for it.
We have total patient care where I work so we have no aides to help out. I'm not sure what the op's situation is though. Maybe it is a case of needing to delegate and talk to her co workers.
interesting, im reading all of these postings and they are very insightful. im a nursing student right now and personally i think working as a nurse IS like being a waitress like natkat said. accept what your roll is, do what you can to the best of your ability because the patients are the one paying the bills and they have the right to be scared and frustrated. in my case, im never frustated of at client in clinical but at the instructors that i have. they tell the student to come to them when the student has questions but they never seem to take the time or actually want to put an effort to answer ingthose questions. well they do verbally but not with their body language. this make us students very hesitant when we want to ask a question. and we all know this, the student is the one paying the instructor bills with those god awfully expensive tuition. thats to me is very frustrating.
No, we are not waiters/waitresses . . . that might be what some members of the public think, but we have to change that perception with our actions. Remember that part of nursing is getting a patient ready to take care of themselves at home. So, if you do everything for them, what will they do when they get home. Granted, some patients are "total care" due to their condition, so these comments don't apply to them. But, patients who disrespect RN's because they're too lazy to do for themselves or because they consider the hospital a hotel, need to learn that there's no room service.
interesting, im reading all of these postings and they are very insightful. im a nursing student right now and personally i think working as a nurse IS like being a waitress like natkat said. accept what your roll is, do what you can to the best of your ability because the patients are the one paying the bills and they have the right to be scared and frustrated. in my case, im never frustated of at client in clinical but at the instructors that i have. they tell the student to come to them when the student has questions but they never seem to take the time or actually want to put an effort to answer ingthose questions. well they do verbally but not with their body language. this make us students very hesitant when we want to ask a question. and we all know this, the student is the one paying the instructor bills with those god awfully expensive tuition. thats to me is very frustrating.
Ummm, I'm an instructor and I definitely do not make much for teaching clinicals. Actually, I make less than 1/2 of what I would make working the floor for the same amount of hours. The awful expensive tuition you pay goes to the school. It is a well known fact that nursing faculty are paid less than their counterparts in other areas. I wonder, what kind of questions are you asking? Regardless, your instructor should give some respect....
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arelle68
270 Posts
My Alzheimer's patient yell "Waitress! Waitress!" at me. They come up to the nurses station thinking they are at a bus terminal. They want a ticket out of there, now! Nothing these dear people do bothers me. The phone calls from families who call me to relieve their guilt at not coming to see their mothers bothers me though. They seem to think that visiting me on the phone is good enough. I really try to be polite. I have a MILLION things to do!