Least Favorite Things Patients Say

Nurses Relations

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What are some of your least favorite things that you hear from your pts? Of course we are all nurses to help people, but some responses from pts make for an instant eye roll. My least favorite thing is when pts ask to take their morning medications when they "wake up". I work nights, and I hear that ALL the time. This is one of the few times that I can be firm with a pt, especially if they are on something like vanco and need specific blood levels or I will usually just tell them that I can come back in 15-20 min, and if they don't want it at that time then I will "pass it to day shift" which usually means it won't get done. (Not knocking day shift. It just happens that day shift wont pass meds for a couple of hours after report and the med might be do again. So they just ask me to document against it./say they refused it.)

There are plenty of instances where the pt gets to make decisions like when they take their meds, but I'm not staying late to pass meds because a pt not wanting to wake up at 0630.

Specializes in MICU, SICU, CICU.

'"I'll take” or Gimme/Get me” are not respectful ways to start a sentence. You are not the overlord of the Nursing staff nor are you a customer in a restaurant. I am not working for tips and it is not my job to play the gracious hostess to a patient or the visitors.

That, name dropping the name of person in administration, and speaking to the staff as if they are waiters and waitresses, touching the staff and snapping fingers are extremely tacky.

We are not impressed because it is a fact that the more people try to act important, the more they really aren't.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

Here's another -- when asked about marital status:

"we're married in our hearts."

"We're married in every way that counts, we just don't have that piece of paper. And I'd HAVE that piece of paper if that other (bad word) hadn't gotten there first!"

"We're engaged." "When is the wedding?" "Uh . . . we don't know."

"This here's my girlfriend. You gotta keep my wife busy while she visits."

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Confabulation. Almost know that pt is FOS, but not quite sure. See it occasionally in HD.

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"Well you'd better hurry up" - trust me I'm doing the best I can!

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Specializes in Stepdown, PCCN.

So, there's not a single person who can take me out to smoke?

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Specializes in critical care.
What do they whisper? :nailbiting:

"I see dead people."

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Specializes in critical care.

After a phone call from the monitor tech stating the patient in whatever room came off tele....

Walk in, and in horror start shouting, "nooooo!!!!!!" Patient is removing their IV, central line, foley, whatever.

"The doctor says I'm discharged."

(And amazingly, they can't understand our fear when we tell them, "if you rip that central line out of your neck after getting all of that arixtra, you will bleed out!!!!!")

Or, also along the lines of ripping various lines, tubes, devices out, "can you help me? This seems to be stuck."

Me: "that's because the doctor used stitches to keep it in." Or, "that's because there is a balloon that is a couple of inches in diameter that won't fit through your urethra."

One of my top faves came to me Tuesday night. New admission. We'll call her "Grandma". Grandma was great. It was her two grandkids, grand daughter in law and great grandchild we could have done without. The great grand child was no more than 18 months old, and the grandkids were probably 20-24.

Not my admission. Not even my side of the unit. They came barreling around the corner at me (btw, it was 21:30 at this time), and the 20-something boy says to me, "where is your snack room?"

Me: "we don't have a snack room".

Boy: "I know you do because we've been here before."

Me: "we have a room accessible by employees only where patient food and beverages are stored."

Boy: "last time we were here, someone brought us a whole bunch of sandwiches".

Me: "we really aren't able to do that".

(My favorite part) Boy: "so you expect us to be here all night without feeding us?"

Me: "visiting hours are over."

He continued to argue, at which point I stopped him and said, "you need to talk to your nurse. I can't help you." As he walked away, I called his nurse and filled her in.

Look, I'm the nicest, most giving nurse on the planet to patient family members who want to sleep over. Blankets, pillows, food, drinks, everything is yours. But be rude to me? NO SOUP FOR YOU!!! (Or sandwiches.)

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"nuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrse...........!"

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*dramatic exhale*

yooou...have got...to be kidding.

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"this will only take a minute" - no it never does.

"I got the sugar" - brown, white, granulated, powdered, cane? Oh you mean you have diabetes

Sir do you have high blood pressure? "No". Sir you are on 3 blood pressure medications. "Yes and I don't have high blood pressure"

"It's been a problem since the military" - This is a common one we hear in the VA daily. So it's been a routine problem since your military service over 30+ years ago, but you are just now seeking care for this problem? OK........

"What do you mean they can't see me today?" - No sir they have a schedule and it's booked up and others are already waiting.

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Specializes in Hospital medicine; NP precepting; staff education.

"Administration /my lawyer is going to hear about this."

Picture me, unflappable and unimpressed.

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Specializes in Hospice.
"Administration /my lawyer is going to hear about this."

Picture me, unflappable and unimpressed.

Thankfully, in Hospice we rarely get that attitude.

Whenever I heard that line in the hospital, I always wanted to tell them "Make sure you spell the name right. It's such a hassle correcting legal documents".

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