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?"
A guy strolls into the ER with his girlfriend who needs to be seen. He oh-so-cooly tosses HIS medicaid card onto the counter and says "go ahead, put her bill on my card"
A guy strolls into the ER with his girlfriend who needs to be seen. He oh-so-cooly tosses HIS medicaid card onto the counter and says "go ahead, put her bill on my card"
ROFL! cue music: "Hey, Big Spender!"
But probably shouldn't be laughing too hard, because when that girlfriend shows up pregnant, she'll get a shiny new card of her own.
The woman who was allergic to all citrus fruits, who told me this while drinking her orange juice. When I snatched the box out of her hand, she angrily told me that she wasn't allergic to that OJ, just most OJ.
"Can you push that Dilaudid faster?"
"Oh, no, I don't do that."
"But it makes me sick if you do it slow."
He said that every time I gave him Dilaudid, and every time he said it, I pushed it twice as slow. By the third day I had him, I was doing it so slow my hand cramped up. Thank goodness someone showed me how to dilute it in a flush! I just read about using a 50ml bag. I'm going to have to do that next time I have a twerp like him.
"They prescribed me Oxycodone 5!? I'm allergic to those! I need the 10s!"
She was so MAD when I brought her half a 10.
"If you don't put the head of my mother's bed down flat RIGHT NOW, I'm going to sue the hospital. Look at her! She can barely breathe like this!"
"Okay. You're going to go for a procedure at about 9 am. We're going to keep you NPO after midnight for that, except for sips of water with medication. That means no food or - "
"YOU PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO STARVE ME TO DEATH!"
"Hey, Doc, this pt. we're putting on a PCA - can I get some colace or something on him?"
"Oh. Hm. Yeah. I'll put him on colace, senna and miralax three times a day, and give him two enemas tomorrow. But I won't put it in the computer now, when you could do something about it. No, I'll wait until shift change, when you're replaced by that nurse who never questions anything. Wait. What do you mean he had five BMs in one day?! Crap! We better rule him out for C Diff!"
I might be paraphrasing there, slightly.
"If you guys cared about your patients, you wouldn't take in people who make noise at night."
"A GOOD nurse wouldn't try to take my blood at 4am. A GOOD nurse would have taken it at midnight, when I was up, and just saved it until 4."
"Dad's allergic to bread. So you'll have to toast all his bread. He's not allergic to toast."
"This hospital smells like s***! How come it smells like s****!? [to his roommate] G*d d***it! Did you take a s***?! You filthy stinking son of a...."
The roommate announced he'd refuse his procedure in the morning if we didn't move him to another room. Can't blame him. Twenty minutes later, when Housekeeping was cleaning out the room.
"G** d*** it! Everything stinks like bleach! You f***ers are trying to kill me! What kind of sh***y hospital uses BLEACH?!"
Two days and three roommates later, he started announcing to everyone within earshot that he'd leave AMA if he smelled bleach again. Mysteriously, Housekeeping showed up a few hours later to bleach down the hallway outside his room. I don't know who called them, but I sure would like to shake their hand. Sadly, he was bluffing.
"You people poke your patients way too much. I know my own body, and I can tell you that my glucose can't be much over 300."
Remarkably enough, she was right - she was something like 297. And when I came to give her the shot:
"See, now you're poking me again. You people in the hospital don't know how to take care of diabetics. There's no need for a shot until you're over 350."
"This is why I hate American hospitals. All you nurses are fat, old or ugly and you never smile."
Hmmm.....
I am all of FOUR MONTHS into my very first nursing job. I cannot imagine the kind of stupid crap I will have heard by the end of the year.
And in defense of all the people with a million allergies: my GP asked me how I did on my amoxicillin and I truthfully told her that I had some nausea and diarrhea when I took it. She put it on my allergy list, and refused to take it off because I had "a reaction to it"
The woman who was allergic to all citrus fruits, who told me this while drinking her orange juice. When I snatched the box out of her hand, she angrily told me that she wasn't allergic to that OJ, just most OJ.
"Can you push that Dilaudid faster?"
"Oh, no, I don't do that."
"But it makes me sick if you do it slow."
He said that every time I gave him Dilaudid, and every time he said it, I pushed it twice as slow. By the third day I had him, I was doing it so slow my hand cramped up. Thank goodness someone showed me how to dilute it in a flush! I just read about using a 50ml bag. I'm going to have to do that next time I have a twerp like him.
"They prescribed me Oxycodone 5!? I'm allergic to those! I need the 10s!"
She was so MAD when I brought her half a 10.
"If you don't put the head of my mother's bed down flat RIGHT NOW, I'm going to sue the hospital. Look at her! She can barely breathe like this!"
"Okay. You're going to go for a procedure at about 9 am. We're going to keep you NPO after midnight for that, except for sips of water with medication. That means no food or - "
"YOU PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO STARVE ME TO DEATH!"
"Hey, Doc, this pt. we're putting on a PCA - can I get some colace or something on him?"
"Oh. Hm. Yeah. I'll put him on colace, senna and miralax three times a day, and give him two enemas tomorrow. But I won't put it in the computer now, when you could do something about it. No, I'll wait until shift change, when you're replaced by that nurse who never questions anything. Wait. What do you mean he had five BMs in one day?! Crap! We better rule him out for C Diff!"
I might be paraphrasing there, slightly.
"If you guys cared about your patients, you wouldn't take in people who make noise at night."
"A GOOD nurse wouldn't try to take my blood at 4am. A GOOD nurse would have taken it at midnight, when I was up, and just saved it until 4."
"Dad's allergic to bread. So you'll have to toast all his bread. He's not allergic to toast."
"This hospital smells like s***! How come it smells like s****!? [to his roommate] G*d d***it! Did you take a s***?! You filthy stinking son of a...."
The roommate announced he'd refuse his procedure in the morning if we didn't move him to another room. Can't blame him. Twenty minutes later, when Housekeeping was cleaning out the room.
"G** d*** it! Everything stinks like bleach! You f***ers are trying to kill me! What kind of sh***y hospital uses BLEACH?!"
Two days and three roommates later, he started announcing to everyone within earshot that he'd leave AMA if he smelled bleach again. Mysteriously, Housekeeping showed up a few hours later to bleach down the hallway outside his room. I don't know who called them, but I sure would like to shake their hand. Sadly, he was bluffing.
"You people poke your patients way too much. I know my own body, and I can tell you that my glucose can't be much over 300."
Remarkably enough, she was right - she was something like 297. And when I came to give her the shot:
"See, now you're poking me again. You people in the hospital don't know how to take care of diabetics. There's no need for a shot until you're over 350."
"This is why I hate American hospitals. All you nurses are fat, old or ugly and you never smile."
Hmmm.....
I am all of FOUR MONTHS into my very first nursing job. I cannot imagine the kind of stupid crap I will have heard by the end of the year.
And in defense of all the people with a million allergies: my GP asked me how I did on my amoxicillin and I truthfully told her that I had some nausea and diarrhea when I took it. She put it on my allergy list, and refused to take it off because I had "a reaction to it"
Half a 10- I promise you, I actually spat out my coffee and had to wipe down my computer screen from laughing so hard. That is definately something I would do.
I gotta admit, I read the "half a 10" and thought to myself, "There's someone I'd like to work with."
A co-worker was caring for a patient who, I swear, had a lawyer lined up to sue the hospital and the nurses who did CPR on her because they broke a couple of her ribs. I really wanted someone in management to ask her where she'd be if they hadn't, but no one did.
Had a patient who was a total jerk. He was so swollen he couldn't pee, and we couldn't get a Foley in. The urology consult shows up at the end of my shift, hears how the patient was treating the staff, and then goes in to place the Foley. I was wondering how on Earth he was going to make it happen...he just grabbed the guy's member and squeezed until the edema went down enough. As this was happening, the patient was screaming and cursing...until the doc looked at him and said "You were non-compliant, this is what happens. Take it like a man." He was my favorite doc that shift!
Had a 2 day post lap gallbladder patient say she was going to sue me because I made her get out of bed and walk in the halls. She even called our patient advocate and my director. My director looked the pt in the face and said good you need to get up and walk. I just loved it.
Specializes in Retired OR nurse/Tissue bank technician.
Chapter Four: Whose the Attending Physician Tonight? Discount Doctor Shopping!
Several hospitals in this area will no longer reveal who the attending ER doctor is when asked before sign-in, telling the patient that if they're sick enough to be coming to the ER, then they are sick enough to see whoever is working that day/night.
I've had multiple patients tell us they're allergic to epinephrine.
A friend of mine isn't allergic to epinephrine, per se, but she's allergic to the preservatives used in the vials. While in an emergency epi should be used, she'll get a reaction from it. She's one of those lucky people that are allergic to many things.
Lady with a resp rate of 2 being resuscitated, and her partner wanted to know if we could give the sleeping pill now. She just knew it would be hard to sleep in the hospital. We agreed to wait til later.
Wow... That one definitely deserves a DUHHHH award.. SMH!
Years ago when I ran with EMS, we got a call for a LOL with chest pain. She had called her neighbor, an RN who convinced her to call EMS. We asked about interventions they already tried and when looking through the provided baggie of meds, saw Nitro. I asked if she'd tried those and the neighbor/RN jumped in and said "Oh no! She's allergic to those!" My partner asked what happens when she takes Nitro?
"She gets a headache". Um, WTH? REALLY?! And yes, the neighbor REALLY is an RN, she did some lectures when I was in nursing school....
Now that is just scary! I am praying I never have this RN taking care of me lol
A guy strolls into the ER with his girlfriend who needs to be seen. He oh-so-cooly tosses HIS medicaid card onto the counter and says "go ahead, put her bill on my card"
hahahahahahahhahahahahahahha he was a big spender... did the card decline?? you know.. since medicaid doesn't allow transfer of service lmao....
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midnitern_er
6 Posts
A guy strolls into the ER with his girlfriend who needs to be seen. He oh-so-cooly tosses HIS medicaid card onto the counter and says "go ahead, put her bill on my card"