This is not a rant about staffing, we are horribly short staffed, but normally we are o.k. We're going through a rough, hopefully temporary time right now as some contracts have left.
I'm taking care of a patient who c/o of chest pain and was admitted, only to later refuse telemetry, leaves the floor to smoke. I see he's up at 5AM and ask him to reconsider the telemetry, as he told an aid, not me. I explained as a cardiac patient he needed to be on it.
"I don't like your attitude, just do what you got to do and leave me alone."
I'm tired, stressed, working overtime, caring for patients above and beyond the normal ratios.
So I say, "You're the one who came in here complaining of chest pain. I don't care if you wear the monitor or not. I'll go care for sick patients that need me. "
He said he didn't like my bedside manner. Well excuse me Mr. Customer I ain't in the mood for kissing ass today.
I DARE and DOUBLE and TRIPLE DARE anyone from management to say anything to me if he complains. Just dare them.
I think Tim has some good points, certainly should not be ignored. Yes, it is true, as nurses, we are cussed at and in a lot of cases abused by the patient, their family and in some cases their physician! However, I think Tim's point about being professional is very appropriate. I refuse to let a patient get me to a point where I lose my professionalism. Yea, I get pretty hot about things, but I vent to my co-workers about it. While I am dealing with the patient or the family, I try to remain as calm and "together" as I can so I can be objective in my dealings. Too often allowing the situation to turn emotional does no one any good. Believe me, I have had my fair share of crazy patients that refuse treatment and I feel much like the rest of you.... "go the hell home." But I always try to remain polite and professional.
Just my humble thoughts .... hopefully there are a few nurses left out there that can agree with me.
I am thinking of a pt who was basically a drug seeker, on the lite constantly. One nite another nurse and I were extremely busy and bing! on went the lite. I heard Jan (the RN) tell the pt she would get her a shot as soon as she could. 2 minutes later, Bing! The pt said "My doctor said iI could have a shot whenever I want, so GET IT NOW!' Jan said "I am caring for a pt next door who is dying. I will be with you in a few minutes."You guessed it ,2 seconds later, Bing! this time she says " I am paying your salary! I want that shot Now!" Jan said (thru clenched teeth) "No, I AM PAYING YOUR SALARY, SINCE YOU ARE ON WELFARE!Since, I am working for , essentially, ME, I will get your shot WHEN I HAVE TIME! And if thats' not ok with ME, I'll fire myself!" haha, too few of those nurses left out there!
I feel I could have written this post myself....it seems like we consistantly have someone just like the patient (ohhh excuse me "Customer") you are describing. We often get these folks that ring their lights til no end...but you go there to help them or give the prescribed treatments and they tell you to "get the hell away from them"....I don't get it!!! Probably the worst patient I've had it some time......was there for a week for a laparoscopic ovarian cystectomy (a procedure that is usually outpatient day surgery). Anyways......she was "so painful" that she was on 2 percocet every three hours on the dot.....yet wasn't too painful to walk across to the nutrition center and load herself up on everything that was available in the fridge. Ohhh...one night...it was slippery out...we had tons of accidents....ER was full...helicopter was coming in to transfer a patient....yet she was irrate because the nursing supervisor didn't have time to fire up the kitchen and make her a hamburger and fries..errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Then..about every two hours...she would put on her light and demand to be wheeled out for a cigarette....mind you ...her pain was always a 10 out of 10... Ohh yeah..and this was the same girl that was caught repeatedly....pulling apart her lap incisions...and then she just couldn't understand why they were bleeding so much...errrrrrrr.....I say customer service is right out the damn window for a stupid idiot like this..errrrrr..it just makes me so mad. I feel like a handmaiden to the "not so ill" folks ...it drives me crazy. And then it's the ones that are the sickest...that don't ever ring, don't want to be a bother...etc....when those are the patients that need the most attention.....something is totally wrong here. Ok...sorry..just had to vent too....ahhhhhhhhhh..it feels so much better....
I'll probably get flamed for this, but here's my 2 cents:
As far as patients as customers, as someone who's not yet a nurse, I'd have to say it kind of works both ways from my view.
The patient, is the one who is paying for their stay at the hospital, at least in a normal situation. Yeah, they have insurance, but they pay for the insurance. That said, whenever someone is paying for a service, they are entitled to a certain level of service.
Now, on the same note, that doesn't give the patient license to be unreasonable or completely idiotic, but it also doesn't give the nurse permission to let them have it either.
In my recent profession of law enforcement, it was the same way. People call the police wanting us to bail them out immediately from a situation that took them years to get themselves into. These people would often get upset and sometimes irate, but we had to keep our cool and be courteous, because they still are taxpayers.
Now, if they start swearing or name calling, then that changed things a bit, but we always had to keep PR in mind because these people are not afraid to send letters to the editor talking about the big mean cop that refused to help them.
Anyway, I hope that all sounds reasonable, at least it does to me.
Tim
Tim, we tax paying citazens are paying this patients bill as I work in a not-for-profit, not the other way around. So putting put with crap is not mandatory. They don't have to be cussing and swearing for me to tell them it's within their right to refuse the care they came into the hosptial for, and that they aren't hurting me one bit by refusing.
Patrick, I'm famous for my calm demeaner and trust me as I was telling him I didn't care if he wore the monitor or not, I was calm, cool and collected.
As a charge nurse and relief house supervisor I have to deal with irate families and patients that are angry at their nurses all time. So I try to diffuse situations before they get out of control. By calmly telling him, if he was refusing my care and kicking me out of his room that I was going to care for sick people who needed me, I was letting him know he wasn't getting under my skin or harming me in any way.
I have precious little energy at the moment for patients like this. You don't want me in the room, fine, I'm moving on.
Do any of your hospitals use these? My mother works at a major womens hosp in the area and showed me one of these surveys... looks like something left in a hotel room:( Hello... this isn't a resort or spa vacation, its a hospital for sick people last time I checked:eek:
Yes. We have those as part of our commitment to customer service. gag....
This same patient said "and my meal better be waiting for me when I'm done with my cardiac cath today."
I wanted to tell him that he would have to call room service that that wasn't my department. :chuckle
I GUESS WE HAVE ALL HAD PATIENTS LIKE THIS MAKES US GRATEFUL FOR THE ONES WHO WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THE DENIAL ROUTE BUT REALIZE THAT THEY ARE ADULTS AND SOMETIMES HAVE TO DO THINGS (TELEMETRY) AND NOT DO THINGS (SMOKE)
What about the people that put up the 'do not disturb between 11pm and 7am' signs? They glare at you if you walk in quietly every two hours to make sure they're still breathing. I read a sign once on a door that actually said, "Shh....quiet zone. Do not ENTER between 10pm and 8am." And the doctor had written an order for exactly that, so the nurses weren't going in the room at all during that time. If that had been my patient, he would have been asking for another nurse. I would have been in that room every two hours, order or not. Because if something would have happened to that patient, who's fault would it have been? Not the doctor's. It would have been mine for blindly following a dumb*** order like that. And this was a patient who had fallen in the past. I think the sign was more for the wife staying in the room with him, who didn't want to be disturbed.
That brings up an excellent point Brita!!!!! Working all nights...I know that too well. I don't know how many times I"ve been cursed out for opening the door to check on someone. What do they think......that all of a sudden at 10 pm...they shouldn't be looked after....irrrrkkks me!!! They have to realize that they are a hospitalized patient and that we need to watch over them...nite time or not. Makes it seem even more like the local Ho Jo's...doesn't it??? I want all my meals delivered to me promptly, I want someone in here right now to give me my pain meds and get me ready for bed, I don't want to be woke up in the night, so stay out of my room. I think in some respect...patients just have too damn many rights...LOL...about next we will start offering mints on pillows and in room pay per view movies...ohhh..don't forget the popcorn for the movie...LOL. Yes...everyone has a right to a pleasant and comfortable hospital stay...although..it is taken too far at times....
Patrick, I'm famous for my calm demeaner and trust me as I was telling him I didn't care if he wore the monitor or not, I was calm, cool and collected.
I am sure you are. I think I was just making a general statement. It hard to be in these situations and I totally agree with many of the nurses who have posted. However, I think for the students and others that many read this thread, it is good to clarify that professionalism is an important part of being a nurse today and in fact, may be very challenging, if not down right difficult with the types of crazy and unappreciative patients we see on our units today.
I am thinking of a pt who was basically a drug seeker, on the lite constantly. One nite another nurse and I were extremely busy and bing! on went the lite. I heard Jan (the RN) tell the pt she would get her a shot as soon as she could. 2 minutes later, Bing! The pt said "My doctor said iI could have a shot whenever I want, so GET IT NOW!' Jan said "I am caring for a pt next door who is dying. I will be with you in a few minutes."You guessed it ,2 seconds later, Bing! this time she says " I am paying your salary! I want that shot Now!" Jan said (thru clenched teeth) "No, I AM PAYING YOUR SALARY, SINCE YOU ARE ON WELFARE!Since, I am working for , essentially, ME, I will get your shot WHEN I HAVE TIME! And if thats' not ok with ME, I'll fire myself!" haha, too few of those nurses left out there!
Sorry Tweety...I feel your pain! I have a unit chock full of LTC brats and I deal with this type of thing on a daily basis. I actually had a pt. come to the desk, irate that he didn't get his 'wake up call' at 7:30am like he'd asked the night nurse for! Can you believe that?!?!?! I told him, in the nicest tone I could muster, that he wasn't at the Holiday Inn and if he wanted to wake up at a certain time, he'd have to get an alarm clock!
harry Krishna
67 Posts
Check out the thread "My Er is a restaurant" on the Emergency Nurses section. It is so similiar to all these complaints.