How do you feel about having other nurses as patients?

[purplegal]

Quite frequently, I find myself caring for patients who are nurses or who are former nurses, or those who have family members who are nurses. I have to say that these people make me a little more anxious than those who are not and those who do not have any family connection to nursing. When I see RN after a patient's name, it almost makes me intimidated, even though I'm an RN myself.

Although I'm not sure what, exactly, causes this anxiety, I think part of it has to do with feeling the necessity to perform to perfection. Not that I give substandard care to non-nurses, but I feel like I have to be especially mindful when I'm caring for a nurse. After all, they know what is going on, and will likely know if I'm doing something wrong or am missing something.

Does anyone else have this issue?

[emmy27]

I'm not self-conscious that I'm doing it wrong when I have a nurse patient, but when it's a retired nurse (especially one who has been retired a while) I do slightly worry that they will take issue with something where the standard of practice has changed since they were a nurse.

Years ago an elderly retired nurse patient told me and another nurse we were bad nurses because we didn't give HS backrubs, which... I think suggests they have been out of the game for a while.

[ottersloveoysters]

When I was a student this would make me very nervous. Now that I have a few years of experience, I actually love having nurses as patients. I love asking nurses about their careers/specialties. My patients are usually under a lot of emotional stress and it's nice to be able to connect about something other than their health problem.

[Amethya]

I kinda do, especially because I'm not a nurse, just a CMA. Especially after I had some bad experiences with patients who were doctors or nurses who I guess felt more superior to me and would get angry at anything I would do and try to correct me.

I would work at a Cardiologist Nuclear Medicine and because I had to check blood pressures while the patient is on the treadmill, I would try to fix the cuff in the right place, but if I was in a hurry, I just placed in the easiest way for me to pump it with my other hand, and take blood pressures quickly. They would question me all the time about it, especially one doctor and a nurse. They would try to fix the cuff themselves while on the treadmill and snap at me for doing it wrong. I just got tired of their crap and told them "Please do not let go of the bar in front of you, it is distracting to me and you and will cause an accident." After that, they complained about me to the NP in charge of me, but she defended me by letting me do the blood pressure first and under 2 seconds told her the BP, she did it next and got the same number. "So as you can see Doctor, she has her own method and she still got it right."

But since then, I get nervous a lot around nurses or doctors because I'm worried they would complain about me if I do something wrong.

[NurseLauraM]

I've had some nurse patients who came off as somewhat snarky or entitled. It doesn't help that I look like a teenager (even though I'm close to 30). I get the "How old are you?!" "You look too young to be a nurse!" followed by a lot of condescension. I have to work extra hard to earn respect because I look too young to have had any experience. Hey, hopefully when I'm 60 I'll still look 15 years younger so at least there's that.

I've also had some incredibly kind, understanding, nurse patients. I think the rude patients would have been rude whether they were nurses or not. The difference is the nurses really know how to get under your skin if they want to.

[AlwaysLearning247, BSN]

I used to be really nervous too but I stopped that. Now I'm in the mindset that these nurses are patients and they need a nurse to care for them now. Every nurse I've had as a patient has been so nice! It's normal to get nervous though but it's also good to remember that they know how things go and can see everything from your view. I had a patient whose family member is an RN as well. I was apologizing for getting to her a little later, as there were some emergencies going on. The whole family was very respectful. The family member works on the same type of floor I do so she let all of her family know how busy it gets! After talking we found out we even went to the same school :)

[rnbelle915]

Although I agree it can be nerve wracking, I also found it to be very helpful. I was inserting a Foley for the first time and she made me feel so comfortable. She continued to encourage me and even told me about her past experiences. It was overall a very rewarding day for me!

[smartassmommy]

When I got sent to the outpatient lab to learn blood draws, half the nurses in the hospital came in. That was nerve wracking. They were all nice, but I was afraid I was going to screw up.

[laurelg2]

I really enjoy taking care of retired nurses they love to talk about the old days and makes me know that once a nurse always a nurse.

[AliNajaCat]

I always say that I don't want to insult their intelligence or prior knowledge, so how about they tell me what they know already. It's a good place to start with anybody. Some say, "I was a psych nurse, I don't know nothin' about this stuff," and some say, "I was teaching this to my students last year, so I'm pretty up on it."

When I was in the hospital once wth a really bad postpartum infection it was early summer and I had a couple of new grads taking care of me on their orientation. When they learned I was an ICU nurse they started asking me questions. Unfortunately I was finding all my brains going right out of my nipples and a little dingy with dilaudid, so honest to god I couldn't remember whether atropine made your heart go faster or slower. (I remembered later.)

Their preceptor was an older, obviously well-experienced OB nurse. She came in her first morning c me and said, "We're a little short today and I have a new orientee, OK if we give you a bath together?" I had a bit of an overdose, where my epidural accidentally turned into a high spinal and I wasn't moving my legs anytime soon (it turned out to be about 30 hours after the baby was born), so I said, "Sure, hit it." Each one took one side and I got a great bath in record time and felt so much better I almost cried. Told them I was proud to be a nurse after all that.

While she was "orienting" the new nurse she was actually teaching me, assuming that as an ICU nurse with a first baby and a lot of complications to boot I probably needed it, and she was right. "Now, with all that dilaudid on board we're gonna start giving her metamucil three times a day right now-- we'll get the order when the doc make rounds this morning, so be sure she gets it, you hear?" And I said to myself, "Yes'm, I surely do."

Next day,"OK, she's got a bad headache whenever she gets upright. What does that make you think of? She had an epidural, but it took 30+ hours to wear off, so that's not an epidural, is it? It's a spinal headache because they put a hole in her dura, so we're gonna get anesthesia up here to do a blood patch and she'll feel better in about 20 minutes." And I damn near cried again, because I didn't know a goddam thing about spinal headaches other than the fact that I had a beauty and wondered how I was going to take care of my baby, and she was right on again.

Good care and teaching depends on lots of things, and knowing your target audience is second-- first is knowing what to do in the first place. Nurses really appreciate good care because we know what it takes, and we know what we don't know (mostly).

[jtk57]

I hardly notice when I am told a pt is a nurse or has a nurse in the family. So often that "nurse" turns out to be a CNA or similar caregiver. People group all kinds of different jobs and professions under being a "nurse" but that is another thing entirely. I just treat each as an individual and that usually works out OK.

[GaleSRN, BSN, RN]

I was a patient for about 4 months on and off. It is very stressful being a RN and a patient. I wanted to just relax and be the patient, but when the mistakes started happening that threatened my life, I found myself having to be my own nurse. I was in a well known HMO. Fortunately for me, my health insurance changed when I went into multiple organ failure. I was then admitted to Stanford Medical Center. The incredible difference of being in a magnet hospital was apparent as soon as I entered the ER. The nurses there were professional, knowledgeable, and allowed me to relax because for the first time in 3 months I felt cared for and safe. When they heard what had happened to me at the other facility, they went out of their way to reassure me that I was in excellent hands. Thank God and Stanford for the excellent care I received. I was able to heal and am now working again and back to my life that I almost lost. That is all you have to do as a nurse taking care of a nurse. Show your professionalism and expertise. That nurse needs to trust you.

[Lisa92804]

Try to put yourself in their bed (shoes). I have cared for many patients including MDs that other RNs found intimidating....one was a supervisr in her own unit! I was the agency per diem RN. Another had a family member taking notes of all meds and care. I first commended them for caring enough to be there for their family member and admitted I would do the same for my loved ones. I made certain (with pt. permission) to explain each and every med and care before I did it so that the family 'recorder" could write it down. If there was a question for which I did not have the answer, I excused myself and went back to the RN station to research the answer and/or read the MD progress note to answer the "why" or what the MD was thinking. I was not defensive. I explained a lot of anatomy and physiology and slowly built trust. By the 3rd day the patient requested me...and I felt honored. You don't have to know everything, but you must be open, honest and willing to research the progress notes as opposed to just following orders. Pointing out to visitors that you are both there for the same reason...the best interests of the patient...also helps to cut the ice.