I'm seeing a lot of unprofessional posting here related to venting about patients

Nurses Relations

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Hi,

I'm just a newbie here but I have to comment on what I'm seeing here. Specifically nurses sharing their stories of their interactions with difficult patients.

Surely it is unprofessional to be sharing patient details? Even with the names changed, enough specific details are being provided by certain nurses that could identify a patient.

Anyone can access this website. Any patient can check out this website. I admit, the chances are not great that this will happen, but it could happen.

I don't think it is appropriate or professional to post here and ***** about patients, difficult or not.

Usually the unprofessional offenders mention that they just gotta vent. I don't think as nurses / nurse students collectively we should be initiating some of the threads here; or participating in them. I think nurses who have to ***** about a patient should find a more appropriate outlet to do so.

Just my two cents.

Probably a troll... but what is more appropriate outlet? calling the pt and his/her family out on it in their room? complaining to coworkers ? dont like it, dont participate. most of these vents are a dime a dozen and after a few short years i have seen many pts like the ones described even the highly detailed stories are a dime a dozen

I can sort of understand where everyone is coming from. I am also a mature nursing student that knows nothing :yes: when it comes to working in a hospital setting. ( I am still learning and will be for awhile) We did clinical experience last year in rest homes so I can sort of understand how some people can be hard to deal with. We get taught that yes nurses are going to vent and need somewhere to vent and our lectures understand that but we have to be careful on how we do that. In New Zealand we get taught that there can be a two degree separation and you never know who might know your patient that you may know in your personal life. (there are true stories here that people have talked about a patient not knowing that the person they are talking knows the family etc. Those nurses and students have got themselves in hot water). I think that there will be times where we need to vent who ever we are, we just need to have a place where we can vent and people can empathize with us.

Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

As usual nurses held to an unreachable standard.

This is supposed to be a place where you can vent.

You cannot do it on FB or you will be in a world of hurt. You can't tell your family because they do not understand. You shouldn't do it at work because eventually that will be turned against you.

Nurses are people too and they deal with a lot pretty unimaginable stuff and they deserve to have some place they can vent about ti in my opinion.

...Surely it is unprofessional to be sharing patient details?...

It depends upon the extent of (i.e., amount of detail in) the details. Nothing that indicates the identity of the patient, directly or indirectly, should ever be shared outside those involved with the care of that patient.

...and don't call me Shirley. ;)

Why don't you PM Brian and share your concerns with him? He makes the rules, and he has his reasons for those rules. If nothing else, he may give you tips on how to create your own message board so you can be pickier about what is posted.

But, in the end, until one of the mods tells me I've posted something inappropriate (and yes, it's happened!), I'm not going to change what I've posted.

And...I find it unprofessional to judge us without walking a mile in our mocassins.

Ah, Mrs. Harvick, where have you been? How is Kevin?

Specializes in Med-Surg.

Guys, I completely agree with the frustration, but let's try to remember that at one point WE were also the rose-colored glass wearing student nurses who thought we could change the world. It won't take them long to get disillusioned with all of it, and realize the reality of nursing.

Some of us nursing students completely understand how hard it is to be a nurse and the reality of it all.

As usual nurses held to an unreachable standard.

This is supposed to be a place where you can vent.

You cannot do it on FB or you will be in a world of hurt. You can't tell your family because they do not understand. You shouldn't do it at work because eventually that will be turned against you.

Nurses are people too and they deal with a lot pretty unimaginable stuff and they deserve to have some place they can vent about ti in my opinion.

While everyone has an opinion, I would disagree with the OP. I'm not even a nurse yet, but even I can see where you're all coming from.

Even being a mere CNA was brutal enough. I used to come home in tears; my family was under the impression that I was one of those cute little medical assistants they see in doctors' offices. They thought my job was just to push paper, scan records and occasionally show patients to the exam room.

Just wait til we get thrown to the wolves.

In an ideal world, patients cooperate and appreciate the nurse's advice on lifestyle modifications. They would stop eating Double Whoppers at every meal, and quit smoking. They would actually take their medications and not order DIY remedies off of eBay.

Ideally, patients and families do not threaten to sue you on an hourly basis or snap pictures of you as you perform procedures. In a perfect world, patients do not hit you; when they do, management would actually care and intervene on your behalf!

Unfortunately, this is not the case. Like others have said, it's not like you can bring these issues to work and tell everyone about it. If you think teamwork exists in every unit, you are sadly mistaken. I think that AN is a good place for people to vent...Because people here understand.

Specializes in LTC, Education, Management, QAPI.

Well I guess I can put in my two cents. I do not believe, in any way, that the postings that I have read to this point constitute any unprofessional activity. I have read posts about patients. What may seem like possible identifying information to you isn't. It doesnt appear that you are aware of the scope of this website, hospitals, or healthcare in general. At any given moment, I could tell you a story about my male patient with 13 fingers and a heart of stone. Seems pretty specific, right? Well, its not. I bet there are hundreds of men with 13 fingers and hearts of stone. My point is that the entire soul of the allnurses community seems to be one of helping each other out, treating our colleagues better, and improving our bedisde manners and patient care. We are all, in the end, human. My fear is that without an outlet such as this, we may be much worse off as a profession. So do you know my patient? I don't think so...

Specializes in LTC, Education, Management, QAPI.

OH, and I hear people keep saying "Venting". I dont even see it as venting, it's discussing.

Specializes in ICU.

Must be that time of year again...

Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
or the mailperson to write about difficult dogs

This just made me chuckle. :laugh: What about doggie HIPAA???

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