Parent to Nurse advice

[Northsky]

Ok this may be a bit long, but the back story is: I have a child that is medically complex...and have had 2 occasions where I have had to strongly advocate for my child to receive adequate care while inpatient, and thus there are a few nurses who may have a lesser opinion of me because I called them out, and they have since been standoffish to me. As a parent I try to be super low maintenance and make the nurses job as easy as possible.

The current issue I am having is I am applying for Nursing this year and we only have one hospital/program for nursing in my city and I am SO worried about having to deal with nurses who know me as a parent and may not play fairly during clinical...our hospital/city is quite small so everyone knows everyone....

I could apply in another city but that would involve a large move and transfer of medical care for my kiddo...

Does anyone have advice on dealing with this type of situation?

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

Unless your child is a frequent, frequent flyer- most of them won't even remember you. Be proactive and discuss with your clinical instructor.

[cleback]

As long as you were polite, I don't think you will have a problem. We all have families, and some of them are sick and we are likewise involved in their care. So even though some nurses may not have agreed with you and thought you were a bit demanding, there's a good chance they still "get it" and don't hold it against you.

If you were less than polite, then they may not like you personally but they will still likely be professional.

[Northsky]

Yeah we have spent a LOT of her two years inpt

[Northsky]

As long as you were polite, I don't think you will have a problem. We all have families, and some of them are sick and we are likewise involved in their care. So even though some nurses may not have agreed with you and thought you were a bit demanding, there's a good chance they still "get it" and don't hold it against you.

If you were less than polite, then they may not like you personally but they will still likely be professional.

It was a bit less than me being demanding it was more the nurse telling me she didn't belive that my screaming 1year old was in pain and me telling her that he was indeed in pain and that I would appreciate it if she helped or called the dr...and that was about it.

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

It was a bit less than me being demanding it was more the nurse telling me she didn't belive that my screaming 1year old was in pain and me telling her that he was indeed in pain and that I would appreciate it if she helped or called the dr...and that was about it.

That sounds very reasonable -- Mama knows her baby's cries and mannerisms after all. I have an aunt I call "Hazel" (as in, the nut!!) while telling stories who used to scream at the home health aides and accuse the nurse of trying to kill Mother by giving morphine. (My grandma was 94 and being cared by home hospice.)

Anyway, if they have any integrity they will behave professionally. For your part, always remain open, humble, and appreciative. Fortunately, the instructor will be the one grading you -- not the floor nurses. If you have a final practicum where you work 1:1 with an RN over the course of weeks, you can always request to be placed on a different unit. Or if you want the peds unit, you can explain the situation to your instructor and ask if you can not be paired with the RN in question.

[JKL33]

I think with the appropriate humility as someone there to learn you will be just fine. The only way I can see this being a problem would be if you 1) talk about this too much in a pre-emptive attempt to discredit the unit's nurses or 2) treat them poorly as a result of the couple of less-than-stellar experiences you had.

Are you worrying unnecessarily or is there more than just the couple of instances you mention that would make you so worried (at this early juncture) about nurses who know you as a parent?

[Munch]

As long as you didn't do anything overtly outrageous(and it sounds like you didn't) you should be fine. Having to agree to disagree happens all the time not only in life but in medicine too. As long as you didn't take a swing at the nurse or threaten anyone with violence I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[Northsky]

I am honestly not sure...I have just spent SO much time on our peds floor that to some degree I feel like they will expect me to know more that the other students...or hold me to a higher standard...it is the nurses who sign off on competencies so yeah..may I am worried about nothing

[cleback]

I am honestly not sure...I have just spent SO much time on our peds floor that to some degree I feel like they will expect me to know more that the other students...or hold me to a higher standard...it is the nurses who sign off on competencies so yeah..may I am worried about nothing

Honestly, it would be fun to show you what goes on "behind the scenes." I wouldn't be afraid.

[ruby_jane, BSN, RN]

I am honestly not sure...I have just spent SO much time on our peds floor that to some degree I feel like they will expect me to know more that the other students...

Nope. No they won't. The nurses will see you as another body to be precepted. And you should not assume that because you have spent time as the patient of a parent that you know more than the other students, either. You may indeed...some of the best nurses I've met are nurses because their kids were patients once. But I would not start out saying any of that.

[bugya90, ASN, BSN, LVN, RN]

I personally wouldn't hold any of that against you. We all act differently when it comes to our loved ones versus our patients. It's just different with family. As long as you did not attack the nurse personally (call her names, throw things, etc) then she probably won't even remember the event. The nurse may recognize your face or may know you as one the parents, but that shouldn't stop you from getting a fair clinical assignment. They won't (or shouldn't) expect you to know more as a nurse than any other student in your class. You are still a student, things are different on the nursing/provider side of healthcare than it is on the patient/parent side.