Have you ever been manipulated by a patient's family? Well, it sucks. I don't want to go into all the gory details here, but the long and short of it is, I now understand why there are nurses out there that are not communicative with families.
Sure, some would argue that miscommunication can happen, but this was a case of pure manipulation.
I've learned an important lesson. When your gut tells you that something isn't quite right, remove yourself from the situation! Families can be creepy at times. This one wanted copies of accident reports so that she could pursue a lawsuit, wanted copies of test results, etc. (which I of course, did not give her!), and then misconstrued every word out of my mouth so that I came out looking like the ogre and the guilty party. I reported the family member to my nurse manager, but I still feel lousy.
Have you ever been manipulated by a patient's family? Well, it sucks. I don't want to go into all the gory details here, but the long and short of it is, I now understand why there are nurses out there that are not communicative with families.
Sure, some would argue that miscommunication can happen, but this was a case of pure manipulation.
I've learned an important lesson. When your gut tells you that something isn't quite right, remove yourself from the situation! Families can be creepy at times. This one wanted copies of accident reports so that she could pursue a lawsuit, wanted copies of test results, etc. (which I of course, did not give her!), and then misconstrued every word out of my mouth so that I came out looking like the ogre and the guilty party. I reported the family member to my nurse manager, but I still feel lousy.
Once burned, twice shy . . . :madface:
One thing that helps me when working w/unpleasant families and patients is to tell myself, "In all walks of life, 10% of the population are jerks, think about the other 90%!" Repeat this to yourself PRN!
Oh, and I forgot. There was an RN on one of my cases that was open about the fact that she was making copies of the medical record for the family to use in their lawsuits. I once told my manager. He acted speechless and naive.
With families like this, you have to be quick on your toes and very firm. If they are asking for things that are inappropriate, quickly and firmly tell them like it is. If you dont set boundaries from the get go.... it can spiral out of control very quickly. It sucks to have the family running the show in the nurse's on territory! LOL!
:madface:
:chair:
:eek: i wonder if that says it??
irishnurse67
83 Posts
One thing that helps me when working w/unpleasant families and patients is to tell myself, "In all walks of life, 10% of the population are jerks, think about the other 90%!" Repeat this to yourself PRN!