Patient asking for something at the wrong time...

[Joe V]

Nurses, have any you had moments when someone asked for something at the wrong time? You know what I'm talking about. Please share stories with the rest of us.

[SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP]

I'm not a nurse yet, however, I've been the ill patient in this scenario (the truly ill one, not the complainer!)

I had 2 gall stones fused together that was blocking the bile ductin my liver. I was very ill. I had a complication from the first surgery and when I awoke from anesthesia, could not stop vomiting violently. So bad it was, that it started to pull my sutures apart...ouch! Needless to say, I needed immediate care.

The lady in the bed next to me kept complaining that no one was paying any attention to her and that she needed a drink of water! I wanted to get out of my own bed and smack her in the face!!! The nurses were great and handled it well. When they left the room, the lady looks at me and says "I was in the room first, you shouldn't get special treatment before me"

AARRGGHH!!!!

[BelgianRN]

Had this happen as well where we postponed visiting hour by 2 hours because of a full open chest code in our ICU. A family member comes in and demands to see the one in charge (in a very violent way with foul language). Sadly I was the charge nurse that shift. So as I was running the rest of the floor and the others the code I listened politely and he goes on and on about how expensive parking is... And he goes why aren't you saying anything?... So I go "oh well you must have missed my words of sympathy just now". And he goes "but you didn't say anything". So I politely smiled and nodded and asked him if he knew the pupose of a door. He goes "of course!" So I just tell him to show it to me and that I know he can....

[EarlyRN, BSN, RN]

Funny....timing is everything :)

[worf]

I know there are numerous times with patients and their families… But my most memorable is but I was working in Labor & Delivery and precepting a new nurse. She was almost afraid to use and so I was hands off but just kind of watching from the back of the room… We had gone in the room to start Pitocin but as we entered I heard that the that the baby was having a deceleration in the heartbeat. I waited just a few seconds to see if my orientee would recognize the situation. She started talking to the patient about starting Pitocin. She started priming the tubing, turned on the IV pump...that sort of thing. So I hopped in and was repositioning our patient, giving her a fluid bolus, gave her oxygen. I asked her to call the doctor because the heart rate was not improving and she told me hold on I'm hanging Pitocin first... Needless to say she was not ready to come off orientation and didn't end up on the floor very long!

[NurseNeLz]

Whenever Im with the other patient in the room. And they talk through the curtain. Drives me insane. Its like they get jealous the other persons getting the attention!

[dec2007]

patient coding in room 2. Patient in room 3 can see all the excitement, and calls out to me while i'm running back and forth getting various supples from the unit that he is ready to be discharged. I called out that i couldn't right then - that a patient was having an emergency. His wife proceeds to follow me down the hall towards the room where the code was happening harping on how her husband needed to be d/c NOW. I literally had to stop her from following me into the room.

Yeah.....I actually hd a family member come into another ICU patient's room to tell me get water for her husband. Some people......

[7colorsrainbow]

It happened to my shift too. When I was preparing medication for another patient, patient pressed call bell just to tell me that she spilled water on her table. In fact, she is ambulating well in ward and just wanted me to clean the spilled water. However, I just maintained my professionalism, remained calm, and wiped off the water in few seconds.

[NewGradRN114]

I was working an afternoon shift and had 2 discharges and an admission during my shift. I also had a few aggressive/confused patients. As I was running around trying to get everything done, my one patient who was mostly independent called to say she needed her nurse immediately. When I went to go see what she wanted she said she needed help setting up her pay as you go plan on her phone.