How to handle nurses who make rude comments

[studentnursehelp]

Hi, I am a third year nursing student working on an adult medical floor. During my shift, I needed help transferring a patient from bed to wheelchair. It was a two-person transfer and one of the RNs offered to help. While we were transferring the patient, the RN made rude comments about the patient`s size and excessive weight. The patient was oriented but didn`t say anything. The patient looked upset. I didn`t do anything about the situation but I don`t feel it was right. How should I handle this situation...

Thanks!

[AOx1]

I handle this the same way I handle gossip. I ask them point blank "I wonder what would motivate you to make that comment" or "I am not sure why you thought I would want to hear such a remark." This lets them know that they are out of line, without being aggressive. I've also been know to ask someone to repeat themselves (outside of the patient's hearing of course) and then to say "I didn't realize you treated your patients/other people like that." Part of the mentality that makes others behave this way is the belief that being hurtful to others makes them look superior, others who do this are just unhappy people who like to spread their misery. In any case, I refuse to accept other people's attempts to share their unhappiness by dumping it on me or on a patient.

When I was the charge nurse several years ago and overheard similar rude comments or gossip, I would let the offending nurse know that since they clearly had too much time on their hands, they would be taking the next admission. It did not take most of them but once to learn to gossip/be catty elsewhere. I'm sure many would still gossip/make rude remarks, but probably about me instead of the patient. This is fine with me.

As a student, you are in a difficult position. But you can always refuse to listen to such garbage.

[tnbutterfly - Mary, BSN]

This nurse definitely crossed the professional boundaries issue with her rudeness. You might need to give her a copy of the ANA Code of Ethics.

There is a discussion about Maintaining Professional Boundaries in this thread:

https://allnurses.com/nursing-blogs/caution-dont-cross-626355.html

[hiddencatRN, BSN, RN]

Honestly, as a student nurse, I would have asked my clinical instructor for advice and done nothing other than what she said. Maybe give the patient a little extra TLC. But I would not have felt comfortable confronting the nurse at all.

[hikerellie]

well my response may be different. As a student, you have to be careful what you say to the nurses, they can cause you grief with your clinical instructor. You do need to mention this, (in private) to your clinical instructor, tell her how you felt embarrassed for the patient ect. It shows you instructor that you recognize unprofessional behavior, and the clinical manager can choose to, or not to mention it to the nasty nurses mgr. You HAVE to be a patient advocate, so IMHO you need to step up and say something. If you were a co-worker, then you could say "hey that was uncool" to the nurse, but your not a co-worker. Your a student, a guest in the facility, and therefore the rule are a bit different. If you do daily evaluations, or journal,s you could write about the encounter, and let the instructor evaluate it. They may want to avoid placing other students with that Nurse in the future.

Hikerellie

[AJPV]

A lot of it depends on hwo good your clinical instructor is and how much he/she can do. My last instructor was awesome. She is only a few years post-graduation herself, so she knows what it's like to be a student. She also works as both charge & staff nurse on the same unit as our clinical rotation. So in that case, she had some creative options available to her to change attitudes on the unit. I wouldn't hesitate to name names to her if that needed to happen.

[mindlor]

Wow, just wow.

What is really troubling to me is the sheer numbers of POS, rude, obnoxious nurses that are out there? How in the heck are they able to keep their jobs? So yes I would have come back later and apologized on behalf of my colleague. I would also have given the patient a customer satisfaction form for them to fill out. It seems that too often patients are afraid to speak up. Rude nurses beware, I am coming, and when I arrive heads will be rolling.

[Livin4lilj]

I want to applaud you for not joining in on this pathetic behavior. I have had this experience as a patient and it is horrible and has stuck with me for a long time. When I was preg I had pre-eclampsia and gained more than 80lbs. 30Lbs were in the last month. I ended up having an emergency c-section and could have easily died. I felt horrible after as my body was so sick, it affected my kidneys and to top it off I was having bad anxiety because I could not be with my baby, so in short I was already feeling so low. 3 nurses began to change me to the bed in recovery and one nurse began to complain that I was too big and how do you let yourself get so fat and the other two joined in, my legs were paralyzed from the spinal block and I felt helpless. They went and got a fourth nurse and I began to cry and tell this new nurse I was sorry and she comfort me and said oh honey its not your faultand I am so thankful for her because it was not my fault and I did not deserve there ridicule. 3 years later the weight is gone but the pain is still so fresh. You are going to make a wonderful nurse.