is it just me?

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

Or has the general population of patients lost their ever loving mind? I mean seriously. I have had some real humdingers lately.

1. the patient's family member who complained to management because the cna on dayshift asked them to help hold the patient so the CNA could provide care.

2. The patient who is alert and oriented times 3 screaming like we lit her pants on fire for everything under the sun, but when she needs to get to the bathroom; then and only then will she use the call light. said patient also tried to bite me when we were providing care.

3. the patient who gave me a talking to, because i told her I wasn't able to stop my med pass to completely rearrange her room for her, every 10 minutes.

4. the family members who complain because the nurses speak too loud, however patient is hard of hearing

oh i could go on.

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No Jess its not just you, sadly it seems that those humdingers invade all LTC facilities :(

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Sorry you've been going through a rough time at work lately. It seems where I work (a busy surgical unit) we go through phases of having absolutely crazy patients/families like you described above, and then we go through stretches of having great patients.

A few weeks ago I could totally relate to what you have been going through. Things will get better once you discharge some of your crazy ones! That is as long as you don't work in a LTC facility. What type of facility do you work in?

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

I work in a Med/surg unit, but we double also as the dialysis unit, and the oncology unit. we get mostly nursing home patients.

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I work in a Med/surg unit, but we double also as the dialysis unit, and the oncology unit. we get mostly nursing home patients.

So you are getting a little taste of job then, I work LTC :D

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It's not just you. I have found that often it isn't the patient that is crazy but the family. And I'm not talking about the ones with legit concerns who are also scared to death. I mean the ones who complain that the ice isn't icy enough. I have also had one where the carrots weren't as thinly sliced as she'd like. I'll get right on dietary for that as soon as my patient who is in 10/10 pain feels a little relief.

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I'll get right on dietary for that as soon as my patient who is in 10/10 pain feels a little relief.

Loved it, can totally relate!

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Specializes in Hospice, LTC, Rehab, Home Health.

Agree that most of the examples you posted are frustratingly correct. However, I must take exception with example #1. We must recognize that not all family members are comfortable with providing or assisting with personal care and sometimes the patient would be mortified to have other family members see certain body parts. In certain cultures or even just in certain homes it just isn't done. Also there may be a liability issue if the patient or family member is injured while assisting staff with care.

:twocents:

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This is irrelevant to the complaint but made me think of this situation i was in one time, me and my co-worker were putting patients to bed (we r cnas) on a high functioning alzhiemer unit, but this one pt is always wanting to get in and out of bed he is VERY VERY heavy but will not allow us to use lifts cause they scare him cause he has fallen out of one, but we had just changed his bottom and laid him down and got one more down after him, he hit his call light so my co-worker went in and asked him what (she is very loud im sure you could hear her 5 floors above us) but he said I have to go to the bathroom really bad, she said you have a diaper on so go i am not getting you out of bed. then left the room. well i heard all this i was only 1 room away. so I hit my called light and asked for our senior aide to come down and assist me, afterwards me and the senior wrote her up (CAN YOU BELIEVE SHE HAS BEEN WROTE UP >10 times and STILL HAS A JOB) I think something needs to be done about this.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
agree that most of the examples you posted are frustratingly correct. however, i must take exception with example #1. we must recognize that not all family members are comfortable with providing or assisting with personal care and sometimes the patient would be mortified to have other family members see certain body parts. in certain cultures or even just in certain homes it just isn't done. also there may be a liability issue if the patient or family member is injured while assisting staff with care.

:twocents:

i agree. i never allow family members to help hold, pull up, reposition or ambulate a patient, even if they ask to do it. there are just too many risks.

that said, the rest of your examples were spot on. i had a family member a couple of weeks ago who had bibles stacked all over the patient room, on every available surface. latin bibles, spanish bibles, bibles with asian characters. i moved some of the bibles in order to use the overbed table as a sterile field. when i put them back, i put them in the wrong spot or the wrong order or something. that woman complained to management that i had touched her stuff, and it was an enormously big to-do. i hear she's suing us.

and then there was the family member who wanted to bring their handgun into the room "in case some of your nurses go assaulting my sister."

sheesh!

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That handgun story reminded me: on the Neuro unit I used to work in, we had a patient with a history of physical violence toward staff members who snuck a machete into his room. "Just in case." Security came to take custody of the weapon for him until he was discharged.

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Specializes in med-surg, psych, ER, school nurse-CRNP.
i agree. i never allow family members to help hold, pull up, reposition or ambulate a patient, even if they ask to do it. there are just too many risks.

that said, the rest of your examples were spot on. i had a family member a couple of weeks ago who had bibles stacked all over the patient room, on every available surface. latin bibles, spanish bibles, bibles with asian characters. i moved some of the bibles in order to use the overbed table as a sterile field. when i put them back, i put them in the wrong spot or the wrong order or something. that woman complained to management that i had touched her stuff, and it was an enormously big to-do. i hear she's suing us.

and then there was the family member who wanted to bring their handgun into the room "in case some of your nurses go assaulting my sister."

sheesh!

oh, good golly, gertrude! what next?

i believe i'd have said, "well, then i'll start bringing my glock, too, in case any of you family members go assaulting me."

i mean, seriously, did they plan to shoot first, as soon as someone did something they thought was out of the way? i can just see it...

"she winced when you stuck her for that iv!" blam!

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