what are some of the most ridiculous things that patients or family members or even coworkers have said to you? we had one patient complain because i bent their straw down too far. same patient also complained because we let them fall asleep and they had a "nightmare"[color=#333233]
and this is more of a annoyance, but i had a patient with a bp that was going down the toilet but surprisingly this patient was still conscious and talking to me - said they felt fine! i was busy talking to the doc and getting orders and taking care of this situation when a family member of a patient i discharged earlier that night calls me at 0300 asking me, "my mom feels nauseous, is it okay if i give her her nausea medicine?"
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
I had a patient who was burned on the back, back of the neck and the tops of his hands. He said he fell on a BBQer, I was like hmm...ok, you fell backwards?? Turned out he actually had a meth lab explode and when it caught fire he was running away and it exploded.
Nice. I still have a nagging feeling that the "specialist" might not have been kosher, if you know what I mean. Maybe because I once had a patient who also had a "specialist" who recommended all kinds of herbals (which we didn't do/have) and allergy linens (which we did have but cost a bundle), organic foods (also a problem) and of course, a private room with special cleaning supplies (which would normally cost $$ but it was "medically necessary"). Oh, and this specialist? Turned out to be her cousin. And yes, a doctor....but a PhD. Thank heavens for the nurse manager who checked THAT out, and NO thanks to the hospitalist who admitted and didn't think twice about robotically ordering their stupid requests.
Oh I'm pretty sure our NM never checked the credentials of this "specialist" she always wanted the cases that would make her look like NM of the year at the cost of her employees. It's funny after I transferred 6 other RN's left within 3 months and that's a whole other rant.
The spouse brought all linens in. Sheets, towels, rags for washcloths, a very odd night gown I can't even begin to describe. What's hilarious now that I remember a little more of this situation (it's been about 4 yrs ago) is that the only animal she wasn't allergic to, which I think is the god-aweful-ist most smelly, dirty creature , is goats. Because of course she wasn't allergic to goats and their milk (hopefully she didn't *gasp* eat the meat too).
What I find strange also is that the pt had said is that her husband 'modified' a special bus for her to travel in as she couldn't stay in hotels. Without giving away too much identifying info, I could tell it was their vehicle by the license plates. It was a plain old early 80's extended van.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
hey there, rnsrwe- aussie slang.
grub- criminal, evil and generally icky individual.
maggot- similar, but not necessarily a criminal.
spoon- persons of lower socio-economic status, usually lower end of average iq.
i forget when i throw this slang out that people probably have no idea what i am talking about.
we have slang in different parts of the us that not everyone in our own country understands. in certain parts of the country, a "spoon" could be a "redneck", and we do discuss "teeth to tattoo ratio" a fair bit.
why is it that the patients who think we're stupid are usually the ones who got whacked with the stupid stick themselves?
[color=#cc3300]isn't that the truth!
we have slang in different parts of the us that not everyone in our own country understands. in certain parts of the country, a "spoon" could be a "redneck", and we do discuss "teeth to tattoo ratio" a fair bit.
[color=#cc3300]never heard these before. gosh, it's so boring and ordinary in the nw
Specializes in psychiatry,geropsych,LTC/SNF, hospice.
Had one patient who said she was allergic to water and could only take her meds with diet, caffeine free soda. Um, isn't that essentially water with bubbles and artificial coloring?
what are some of the most ridiculous things that patients or family members or even coworkers have said to you? we had one patient complain because i bent their straw down too far. same patient also complained because we let them fall asleep and they had a "nightmare"[color=#333233] :uhoh3:and this is more of a annoyance, but i had a patient with a bp that was going down the toilet but surprisingly this patient was still conscious and talking to me - said they felt fine! i was busy talking to the doc and getting orders and taking care of this situation when a family member of a patient i discharged earlier that night calls me at 0300 asking me, "my mom feels nauseous, is it okay if i give her her nausea medicine?"
we once had a patient in l&d that said she couldnt relax becuz the gtts in her iv chamber were "too loud" ..... wait till the baby arrives is all i thought about ... pts are funny
I was counseling a patient about dietary changes she could make for her loose stools. I told her to increase her fiber. She replied, "when I eat fiber I become very emotional and well......sad". Boy I had a hard time not laughing!
OCNRN63, RN
5,979 Posts
"I'm allergic to epinephrine. It makes my heart race."