The day after the election I had minor surgery. During the preparatory phase, the crew began to negatively discuss the presidential election, specifically their unhappiness with the president elect.
I said "Are you really going to talk about Trump?", in disbelief.
Thankfully, they shut the ---- up.
I think I'll mention this on the feedback survey. I thought it inappropriate. The patient shouldn't have to correct professionals in this way.
All you ever write about here is DRAMA. You LOVE creating DRAMA. Leave them alone, for god sakes they were talking politics WHO CARES! GROW UP!
Entitled whiney patients/coworkers like you are the reason nurses leave nursing!!!
Annie
Well Annie - you realize you are talking to the majority of responders on this thread. We all think the OP had a good point and have been discussing the reasons.
Specializes in Med Surg/ICU/Psych/Emergency/CEN/retired.
Well Annie - you realize you are talking to the majority of responders on this thread. We all think the OP had a good point and have been discussing the reasons.
Keep this in mind, OP. When you write a negative feedback, you not only put someone's job in jeopardy but risk being labeled as a whiner, and when something more serious happens, your next complaint will fall on death's ears.
Every patient gets one "complain about the service" free card. Why waste a complaint over employees having a conversation on politics, especially if they did not involve the patient? You really want to get someone written up over that? :/
I'll go against the majority a bit here and say that while it's not the wisest thing to do in front of patients, IMO it hardly ranks in the top 20 or maybe even top 50 unprofessional things that can be done in a hospital. Ratting on them for this is a tad overdramatic.
All you ever write about here is DRAMA. You LOVE creating DRAMA. Leave them alone, for god sakes they were talking politics WHO CARES! GROW UP!
Entitled whiney patients/coworkers like you are the reason nurses leave nursing!!!
Annie
Your post is rather histrionic, if you really want to know . Something in my contributions here apparently push your buttons.
Just to clarify, it was the anesthesiologist and surgical resident who were blabbering , not the nurse.
The feedback form is meant for just that, to help medical personnel to improve. It can be written respectfully. An up and coming doctor needs it as much as anyone.
Specializes in Med Surg/ICU/Psych/Emergency/CEN/retired.
Your post is rather histrionic, if you really want to know . Something in my contributions here apparently push your buttons.
Just to clarify, it was the anesthesiologist and surgical resident who were blabbering , not the nurse.
The feedback form is meant for just that, to help medical personnel to improve. It can be written respectfully. An up and coming doctor needs it as much as anyone.
Emergent,
I appreciate this response from you. My experience has been about nurses, although I recognize it can be other healthcare personnel who exhibit the behavior described. I am passionate about what happened during the electoral process but have kept my opinions to myself while still working in front of patients. (Many of my patients in the ED were disenfranchised and could have cared less about political issues and certainly did not have a "dog in the fight" re: their weekend/vacation plans.) I continue to support you about giving feedback. Sometimes another's comments help us.
As I understand the OP she is expressing displeasure at what she experienced as a lack of respect for the patient (herself) by the surgical staff discussing politics in front of her while they prepared for her surgery. Had I been in the OP's position I believe I would have experienced this as inappropriate and rude. It would have been better to talk about a neutral topic that would be likely to include the OP, or a topic she could relate to in a pleasant way to help her to feel as though she has made a good decision in trusting the surgical staff to take care of her/perform surgery on her, and that would help her to build trust in them.
Specializes in Med Surg/ICU/Psych/Emergency/CEN/retired.
As I understand the OP she is expressing displeasure at what she experienced as a lack of respect for the patient (herself) by the surgical staff discussing politics in front of her while they prepared for her surgery. Had I been in the OP's position I believe I would have experienced this as inappropriate and rude. It would have been better to talk about a neutral topic that would be likely to include the OP, or a topic she could relate to in a pleasant way to help her to feel as though she has made a good decision in trusting the surgical staff to take care of her/perform surgery on her, and that would help her to build trust in them.
I'm trying hard here to not get annoyed at the suggestion "how about we talk to our patients instead of each other". Perhaps you didn't mean to sound condescending but that's how I interpreted the wording
Macawake, I'm sorry, I did not mean it in that way, when I went back to read it though I can see how it sounded condescending to you (or others) I apologize if I offended, it was truly not meant that way.
Talking about politics at work let alone in earshot of a patient is completely inappropriate but I don't think I would have reported this.
I do think that the direct comment made to them and subsequent ending of their discussion had the impact intended. I don't think reporting will have more impact (how often does reporting a surgeon change their behavior?) and could lessen the initial impact of being immediately called out by changing their response from feeling stupid to annoyance turned towards the reporter.
I also give them a bit of a pass considering the level of emotion in our country that day. Many reasoned people behaved out of their usual character that day. Definitely in the bottom 100 of acts of impropriety.
Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN
11,305 Posts
Well Annie - you realize you are talking to the majority of responders on this thread. We all think the OP had a good point and have been discussing the reasons.
I didn't see this as drama.