just venting..replies welcome

[hospicemom]

I had a 39 yo patient today who was very difficult with me..fabricating stories, completely lying to the doctors about what i said....making me feel and look like the worst nurse in the world..she continued to complain about me all day..for 8 hours straight...up and down the halls yelling about how terrible I was. I have NEVER had this happen before and consider myself to be a very good compassionate nurse...and to have a patient who has a chip on her shoulder take it out on me is wrong....to top it off the fact that we as nurse have to suck it up instead of defending ourselves sucks worse. I always wanted to be a nurse.....since I was a kid...now that I am.....I want nothing more than to hand in my license, turn in my badge and apply at walmart. I have cried at work before...but today was all I could take...I have to wonder...is it me/ do I think I am a good nurse when in fact I am lousy? no....I AM a good nurse.....but how can I make things better with a difficult patient instead of curling up in the corner and sobbing bc I am exhausted after working 14 hour days......and then get screamed at by a pt and called every name in the book with visitors and staff watching. Guys, I am fed up....I love what I do ...but I dont know if I can keep doing this.

[Chaya, ASN, RN]

Don't know if someone already posted this but PLEASE make sure you cover your butt; this type of person can be a loose cannon. Document, document, document. Be as objective as possible. Hope it doesn't come back to haunt you BUT be prepared in case it does!

[hospicemom]

Thanks to all of you for the support....I really mean that...THANKS!....I did make sure to document everything that happened. I had to clarify things and also cover my rear. It becomes so sad sometimes when the profession that is so right for me is so wrong for me sometimes.....and as far as the therapudic communication goes...it seemed liked everytime I got more therapudic she just got more mean, and I finally felt like, ya know...flush this therapudic crap down the toilet and tell this little peice of crap to listen up and that I am not some random person off the street that she can treat this way...that I am the person who not only has the pain medication she sooooo longs for, but also the person who has CHOSEN this career to help HER. Its amazing to me how people can treat "us" this way....anyway, I had my breakdown the night I wrote here...bawled my eyes out, and now I tool 3 days off of work.....I feel better and feel like I can go back into work with a positive attitude and deal with all of our detoxers with a smile.......so thanks again everyone....you are the best :)

[CayRN]

I agree with the consensus that you shouldn't have to suck it up. Life is too short, and nursing by it's very nature is getting more stressful all the time .

Sounds like she needs a psych consult. Sometimes this kind of reaction from a patient comes from fear, abandonment issues and a myriad of other emotions.

Sometimes these people are diffused if you look them in the eye and say, "you may be right, I'll give it some thought". or "I can see you're upset, how can I help"?

[nursemike, ASN, RN]

Is that a put-down of Walmart?

I only meant that working in Wal-Mart is probably not a sure-fire way to get away from annoying clients.

Also, I believe I admitted up front that the therapeutic crap might be a little naive. (But I still think it could be helpful in some instances.)

[hospicemom]

I agree with the consensus that you shouldn't have to suck it up. Life is too short, and nursing by it's very nature is getting more stressful all the time .

Sounds like she needs a psych consult. Sometimes this kind of reaction from a patient comes from fear, abandonment issues and a myriad of other emotions.

Sometimes these people are diffused if you look them in the eye and say, "you may be right, I'll give it some thought". or "I can see you're upset, how can I help"?

I did try the " I see your upset, is there anything I can do to help " thing....I believe she followed that up with something like..." ya, you can get the blank out of my room blank".

[CayRN]

I did try the " I see your upset, is there anything I can do to help " thing....I believe she followed that up with something like..." ya, you can get the blank out of my room blank".

I also agree that there should have been reassignment of the patient to a different nurse. Sometimes people clash and there is nothing anyone can do to mend the situation. It's just human nature, and sometimes human nature can be pretty crappy. All any of us can do is be the best we can be one-day-at-a-time.

[cannoli]

At least at WalMart, one doesn't have to put up with the same customer for 8 or 12 hours at a time, my dream job is to be the greeter.

[hospicemom]

At least at WalMart, one doesn't have to put up with the same customer for 8 or 12 hours at a time, my dream job is to be the greeter.

OMG......that is SOOOO funny, I say that ALL the time at work.......the RT guy and I have a standard thing we say as we walk past each other on those not so great days......I walk past him and say....hey...pssst....welcome to walmart, would you like a cart? hehe.....well, hey it makes us laugh temporarily....I LOVE walmart greeters.