Nurse as a patient...

Nurses Rock Toon

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Specializes in CCU, Geriatrics, Critical Care, Tele.

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Have you ever taking care of a patient who is a nurse? How did they behave? Demanding? Understanding?

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Whether you are a nurse or not, you behave they way you are and how you cope with health condition. I have had cared for patients who are nurses some were understanding and some where not so demanding. Also, I have cared for retired GPs and they are very understanding for student nurse like me. I don't like the cartoons because it gives bad stereotype to nurses.

Cheers xxx

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Specializes in Trauma, ER, ICU, CCU, PACU, GI, Cardiology, OR.

certainly, i have taken care of both situations non demanding and demanding medical staff in the past. having said that, on either situation it has been an enlightening experience that offered me a new perspective on pt. care.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

I had a thread on this...Do nurses make the worst patients. It wasn't a lively discussion;). :lol2:

Link: Do nurses make the worst patients?

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baliling said:
Whether you are a nurse or not, you behave they way you are and how you cope with health condition. I have had cared for patients who are nurses some were understanding and some where not so demanding. Also, I have cared for retired GPs and they are very understanding for student nurse like me. I don't like the cartoons because it gives bad stereotype to nurses.

Cheers xxx

Then wouldn't they give a bad stereotype to everyone?

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I've been a patient and accompany an elderly family member to all or most of his appointments. I try to be an understanding and patient patient, while also asking pertinent questions and being assertive when I think it is needed. Come to think of it, maybe I do come off as a pain in the butt? I hope not.

In school, I did take care of a retired nurse. She was understanding AND demanding, but I learned a lot from her. She had pointers about where to put the IV pole so it didn't get wrapped up in the O2 cannula when we ambulated and all sorts of other "pointers", but what it came down to was she wanted things done HER way. That was fine with me. I agree with GitanoRN that taking care of nurses does give you an insight both into how to take care of all patients and how to BE a patient.

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Specializes in ICU, Telemetry.

Having been on the other side of the rails, I felt like I was being taken care of by family -- my mom "outted" me as a nurse when I was at a hospital I didn't work at. I think everybody on the floor stopped by to ask if I needed anything, nursing students came in to ask me questions they didn't feel they could ask the floor nurses -- "when you were in school, when did you know that you wanted to specialize in one area as opposed to another?" "How did you deal with X, Y or Z?" They kept asking me why I couldn't sleep, and I told them it was because I worked nights. So several of them would come by at night and just chat a while -- what was it like being a nurse in a rural hospital, what did our ICU look like (probably like the doc's office on Gunsmoke compared to theirs), how was our relationship with the docs, etc. One brought me a snack and ate her lunch with me at 3am while we talked "shop."

MCV-Richmond GYN floor nurses ROCK. Love you guys.

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If I'm in the hospital, I will try and be as low key as possible. Unfortunately most hospitals are self-insured, so if I'm admitted to the hospital, I am limited to only my hospital. Who knows how much insurance on the forthcoming health insurance exchange will cost, then I won't be limited only to my facility.

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Specializes in Nephrology.

I try not to let on that I am a nurse, however my family doctor will add it to my chart when he comes to see me (even if he isn't the admitting doctor). He told me once he does that so that people don't talk to me like I know nothing, to which I told him sometimes that isn't a bad thing! And my Mom will definitely announce to all staff when she comes to visit. So my plan of flying under the radar never works.

As an aside..... A number of years ago I had on my unit an elderly, very demented lady who had once been a nurse. She was very confused and was ever oriented to name only. I answered a call bell for her room mate one night, the room mate wanted the bedpan. I put her on the bedpan, pulled the curtain and said I would be back in a few minutes. I checked on a couple of quick things and went back to take her off the bedpan. The former nurse was out in the hallway when I got there and said to me "I hope you don't mind, but she was getting uncomfortable." When I got into the room, this former nurse had taken her room mate off the bedpan, emptied it, rinsed it out, powdered the edge of it, and it was sitting on the window sill under a blue pad. I put the former nurse back to bed, and when I got to the desk I commented to the other nurses that "Oh my, it really never ends. Even when retired, elderly and confused, nurses are still emptying bedpans...." We all got a chuckle out of the fact that this lady didn't remember how own children and grandchildren, but apparently never forgot what to do with a bedpan.

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The few times when I've had nurses as my patients they weren't very demanding. But when I've had patients who had a family member that was a nurse or doctor, the family member was the one with lots of questions or demands. I'm still a student nurse so I guess they're trying to see if I know my stuff!?!

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Specializes in ICU/PACU.

I was a patient and was so scared being in the hospital. I was in a lot of pain and I could tell I was annoying people when I'd use my call light or cry because I was hurting. The potassium infusion was bothering me so I turned it off and my nurse got mad at me:) One particular nurse didn't even do an assessment on me and only came into my room once in the morning and another time in the late afternoon. I didn't say anything, but um yea, not so good nursing care imo!

One morning a nursing assistant came into my room and said "okay time to get a bath". I told her no and I heard her walk out saying room 13 is refusing her bath. Dumbass didn't stop to say hello or ask me, should would have known I was capable of undoing my PIV and taking a shower with my arm out not to get it wet the night before. Whatever.

I felt like a was a great nurse after getting kind of lousy/lazy care at this particular hospital I was at. It was an eye opening experience to say the least.

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When hospitalized, I have tried to be cool and not demanding, but when I needed assistance I expected to get it!

After a cardiac cath, with the venous line still intact, I was assisted to the bathroom. I managed to get back to bed, but dislodged the catheter and it was very painful. It took more time than I was happy about to get someone back to my room, and I apparently bled quite a bit - needed to be washed up, sheets changed, etc. The nurse was not happy, and let me know it. That did nothing for my mood!

But I do like things my way! We all like to exercise as much control as possible.

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