Is it okay for RN to ask recovery patients not to swear?

[SweetieBeeSandy]

Hi, I am an RN working in PACU. The other day, I received a male patient from OR, and as soon as he woke up from anesthesia he started complaining excruciating pain. Of course that's not unusual. But this man was constantly swearing. "Oh, G--D----- it hurts. Oh F--- it, Oh it F---ing hurts". While I was medicating him as much as possible he kept swearing so much to the point where I had to ask him to stop. "I understand you're in so much pain and I am doing everything I can for you to lower the pain. But it's very difficult to be here and hear you swear. I do not want to hear any more of swearing words". He heard me, and he tried so hard to hold it. "Oh f,fff, it hurts, ohhh fff... so painful!". After an hour medication kicked in and the pain became much better, and he started smiling. And before sending him to a unit, I said I appreciated that he stopped swearing.

Now I wonder, was what I did, asking a patient to stop swearing reasonable? Or is it unprofessional? I always thought it's okay for patients to cry and scream if they had to, because they're in so much pain, and I don't tell them not to. And while I do not use swearing words myself, I know there are people who use them on a regular basis. Then, he should've been allowed to say what he normally say considering it was not personal? Or do I have a right to refuse to hear dirty language(which I thought I did)?

Please let me know what you think.

[Oh'Ello, BSN, RN]

As a nurse, who myself had surgery requiring anesthesia last week, I am totally shocked that a PACU nurse of all people would have this expectation. Simply shocked. I can barely remember anything from the entire day after my surgery, let alone what kind of dumb **** I was probably saying in the PACU.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

The only time I have heard of someone asking a pt to stop swearing was a doc to a pt as small children and families were nearby. Also it was swearing directly at the doc, which I am sure made him mad.

Even if the patient is swearing around children or even directly at the doctor or nurse, they are coming out of anesthesia and are not in total control of their faculties. It's inappropriate to hold them to standards expected of an alert and oriented individual.

[nancynurse12, BSN, RN]

I did ask. The guy was really offensive. His language crude. He did what he wanted and he was quickly moved out for disturbing everyone in the unit. Some people every other word is a swear word. The doctor even talked with him about his behavior.

[Raicho, BSN, MSN, RN]

I work in rehab and for the most part I let my patients swear. However, because we have kids and others around here, if they are loud or outside their room, I will tell them to "watch their language!" I have never had anyone NOT comply. Even those who just got out of a 14 hour long surgery and are in excruciating pain. But we all know each other pretty well and I usually do it with a smile. To which they usually respond, "Yes, mom". I think using the excuse that there are others around who may be bothered by it is perfectly fine. It is really all in your delivery and if it does bother you, especially if it is every other word, I think it is quite fine to politely ask them to stop. Or I just give them a hard time, " Really, you can't come up with any other words?"

[dlgrn715]

I'm thinking that asking your patient not to swear was very effective (even while he/she was still coming off of anesthesia) as evidenced by the fact that he stopped! I've had quite a number of patients to swear (but usually it wasn't due to pain) while I was in the room working with them and I have asked them to clean up their language - politely. Most of the time they did, and they seemed to respect me more for having stood up for my right to not have to listen to it. They have plenty of time to do it when I'm not in the room! For me, if the patient was drugged up and still coming off anesthesia, I would probably try to remind him that I prefer not to hear those words. However, once I felt he was alert and oriented enough, I would probably push a little more to get him to stop. No, he doesn't HAVE to stop, but it sure would make me feel a lot more comfortable while trying to do my job. I do my best to treat patients with respect and am professional when at work and I even consider each patient's room as their own bedroom. But for them to use language like this, they are not being respectful to those of us trying to care for them, especially any man who would do it in a woman's presence. Many people (men and women) use this language as part of their normal conversations. This is yet another problem with our society: the increase in tolerance of abberant and deviant behavior. People give in and let others do whatever they want. The small things lead to bigger things. I can just see the title of the next new nurse asking "is it OK that I told my alert & oriented patient to stop hitting me?" I'm tired of patients and family members doing and saying whatever they want and then if we don't get the first IV stick because their vein blew, or we accidently forgot to bring them their custom-ordered coffee and snack, or are extremely rude when you don't respond immediately because you are in another room with a more critically ill patient, they make a scene and want to speak to the CEO. So, no, I don't think there is anything wrong with asking your patient to be a little more respectful and stop using such language. YOU deserve that courtesy. And don't just "get over it" like many say. That's a way of saying "be tolerant of every one, no matter how they act or treat you". Keep standing up for your upstanding morals.