making fun of patients

Specialties Ob/Gyn

Published

i am currently doing an externship on l&d and maternity and often hear the nurses making fun of the patients. such as " omg shes 23 and on her 4th" or " wow shes too young to have children, she shouldnt have them at all let alone be on her second." is this they way most floors are run. Being a young mother myself this makes me uncomfortable and i would not want to return there to have children knowing i will be talked about. * shrugs*

Completely understand you Mark. I am actually the result of a teenagers unplanned pregnancy, but thankfully she got it togtether.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Originally posted by shay

Young motherhood by itself is not a bad thing. Young motherhood x 5 by age 21 with 5 different men and on AFDC is a bad thing, and quite frankly, the politically correct "approval" of such things is what's wrong with our society in the first place.

Shay, dahling....did your ever know that you're my hero?.......LR;)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

Yep--- who needs Jerry Springer when we are firsthand witnesses to such messes IN REAL LIFE? Ya know, teen pregnancy is NOTHING new........but what * is * new is how we are expected to accept all situations, no matter how dysfunctional as "normal" and are expected to respect them. THAT is what has changed from my Mom's generation to ours---- Yes, I, too am a product of accidental teen pregnancy but my MOM did not ask a DIME from our gov't or society and did not get pg repeatedly by different men. NOR did she have more kids than she could feed and take care of in every way! Things have changed even in the last 10 years, and as nurses, we are continually exposed to situations that become more outrageous every day. This gripe we have is NOT about teen motherhood in and of itself. Get our point, Jax?;)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

i do see your point very clearly.. and do feel venting is perfectly natural. i find many situations i want to scream at... with due cause. maybe i just overlooked the fact that almost everyone coming to the hospital to deliver is on medicade. I will not be one of them but i dont want to be the topic of someones conversation because i am not 30 having my second child.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in cardiac, diabetes, OB/GYN.

I am with Heather on this one. Personally, I don't "make fun" of patients, but I have mentioned stuff like" Wow, she's so young to have so many kids, etc.." NEVER in front of the pt or in a demeaning way. One CAN make statements such as you described and not have them considered making fun. However, if you run across something like you described that makes you that uncomfortable, assuming it wasn't obviously demeaning or meant to hurt, you might ask yourself if you are taking something personally that wasn't meant that way at all..Nurses under stress sometimes vent their stress with humor, albeit sometimes inappropriate...We should be aware of our surroundings and people's feelings, but when you have been a nurse for some time, you will see that you have to laugh often so you won't cry or crack up.....NEVER should demean or diminish a pt or co worker of course..

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in cardiac, diabetes, OB/GYN.

Pretty much my attitude and attempted approach to ANY pt, whether young or old, on welfare , drugs, booze or anything else untoward or unpleasant, is this...There but for the grace of God, go I....It could happen BUT I still have occasion to vent......(discretely)....I, as well as all of you, would be the first one in there to save lives or protect one, however......

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I doubt not being over 30 is the reason for the gripe. Like shay said, "walk a mile (or 1 million as we have ) in OUR shoes" THEN understand.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

i was in no way griping but trying to understand... sorry i got things stirred up!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

Well, not to "stir it up more ", but really, coming to a room fulla nurses with this, it may have been what you expected. As you see, none of us is taking "making fun of patients" lightly, but you need to understand where WE are coming from if you come here saying these things. If you are on your way to being an RN, I hope you remember this and can rise above it and provide better care than you saw that day. But remember, it may not always be easy.;)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Originally posted by jaxm0mma

i was in no way griping but trying to understand... sorry i got things stirred up!

You didn't "stir things up," jaxmomma. It's simply that this is a hot button for a lot of us. We see so much abuse of the system every single day and it tends to get really old after a while, kwim?

Well, sorry I kinda came out fangs first there. :eek: I can understand how you might take it that we (OB nurses) "look down" on all young moms, and that's just not the case. We don't. 2 of the patients I had that were the most mature were 14 and 15. One was a rape victim, the other delivered a baby with a severe heart defect that was unknown until delivery. They were amazing. But again, they were the exception to the rule, unfortunately.

I don't know about anyone else, but I've had an especially icky past few weeks patient wise. Crack mommies and no prenatal care mommies and who's-my-baby-daddy mommies galore. :rolleyes: I'm a tad raw. I'd personally love to have a young mom in labor with a wanted pregnancy and supportive family. It would be refreshing right now.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in cardiac, diabetes, OB/GYN.

I guess we needed to vent! :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Please tell me who yall think approves of teenage mothers on welfare? Do you think just because welfare exsists that anyone but an ignorant fool would look at it as a lifestyle CHOICE?

I was taught to not make value judgements on my patients. I must continually keep myself in check with this.

So where would you rather have your tax dollars spent? How 'bout education?( Let's include how sucky it is to be a teenage parent. )

There's always SCUD missles to build, too.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment