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.
Yes I have just graduated from nursing school and have had several great patient's who were either retired or still practicing as nurses but were determined that students would get education. I am thankful to these great individuals
It does not really bother me one way or the other to have a patient who is a nurse, physician, aide, therapist, etc. If anything, they are easier to take care of and far less demanding/more understanding than a typical patient. You can be more direct and they will understand you.
I mean, as a rule. When i was in high school, i worked as an aide at the local nursing home, and one of my patients was a retired (and very confused, but able to hide it somewhat) surgeon. He was very nice, but this one night, i was helping him get ready for bed, and he asked me how old i was. I responded, "17." He then said, "well, that's about the right age to be getting some," and complimented me on my chest size. I was absolutely floored and speechless. He said it as matter of factly as if he had told me the sky was blue. And he didn't ACT inappropriate, he just randomly said horrible things.
I was like, "Um, what?" And he already had no clue what he had said, and that i was freaked out. Poor old guy lol. He was a hoot, though.
What i don't like is when some family member or friend wearing scrubs comes barreling in and tries to take charge of the whole situation. Wearing scrubs gives them "the knowledge", and they will be glad to come share "the knowledge" for hours. They may only work part time as a receptionist for a chiropractor, but for some reason, they wear scrubs for this, and they are on a mission. Expect monitors to be unplugged, telemetry patches to be moved around, and IV sites to be scrutinized carefully for the slightest hint of swelling. Total melt downs over a blood sugar of 153. "It's NEVER that high! What are you giving him different?!?"
Of course not all people wearing scrubs are like this, and i am being sarcastic, and i WANT to know if there are any concerns or the IV is red, or even if they "just arent acting right". Because, i know, that can be a real thing. And i KNOW they are worried, and it's stressful. I therefore try to be reassuring, supportive, and teaching the patient and family. It's just, idk....it's actually kind of funny in a way, even though it isn't, and usually, i can get everyone calmed down and stuff fairly quickly. It's just kind of....funny-ish to suddenly see the doors slam open, and in runs a middle aged woman in scrubs, looking like she is about to lose it, turn around, look at me, and scream, " Where's Daddy?" And i try to figure out who she is, and which person is her Daddy. Who is 78, has pneumonia, and is sleeping...have a xanax.
When my husband had surgery, and i am sitting at his bedside and the nurse comes to assess him, and then the hospitalist, and then an aide.....and he is like, "this is my wife, she is an RN!" And i am like, "aww don't say that....nobody wants to hear that..."
Not so concerned about caring for other nurses or doctors or their children, however being the patient can be stressful because of what you experience or observe. Recently had outpt surgery at a surgicenter and was disturbed by the deficits noted. When registering the electronic sign pad was pushed at me and I was instructed to 'sign here'. She was quite insulted when I asked to READ what I was signing first. Worse yet, the nurse taking vital signs had a bo cuff that was not appropriately sized. When I suggested this would lead to inaccurate no, she fined but did go get different cuff but then had difficulty attaching to electronic. BP machine. Also a man walked up and began reading my chart in pre-op without saying anything. When I asked who he was, he became insulted and stumbled over his position and never did tell me his name. These kind of incidents raise my apprehension and cause me to lose respect for the staff.
Sometimes I feel like I'm being assessed,and the nurse patient will be evaluating my skills against his or hers.And I try to stick to the basics,and try to do it all right.
Keep in mind that the RN (or physician) you take care of, may feel very vulnerable when a patient him/herself.
I once awoke from what was supposed to be a day surgery, only to find myself admitted...on the floor that I actually worked on! Very vulnerable position and honestly, I was not well taken care of. I was appalled. I couldn't speak, and every time I'd ring the call light they'd ask "can I help you?" When I couldn't answer, they simply turned it off and didn't come in. It wasn't until I threw something out into the hallway that anyone paid attention to me. It really made me pay more attention to how I cared for my own patients.
And remember, many times, it is assumed that because a patient is a nurse, they know everything you are talking about, when in fact the area of practice for that nurse may well be entirely different than whatever area she is currently a patient in so she may not be familiar with all of the jargon or procedures. (Trust me, I'd be in unfamiliar territory if I were a renal/CVS/ICU patient...those are not my thing).
Dec2016grad
6 Posts
Yes I have just graduated from nursing school and have had several great patient's who were either retired or still practicing as nurses but were determined that students would get education. I am thankful to these great individuals