What age of patient's are the most difficult for you?

Nurses Education

Published

Just curious

Specializes in Informatics; Telemetry/Med Surg.

I would much rather take care of a needy patient that's on the call light for pain meds non-stop or want something to drink/eat vs an older patient with sundowners/dementia....those patients I struggle with so much that I'm about to leave night shift and go to days.

Specializes in PACU, ED.

For me the toughest are kids. Younger being worse than older. It's not because of behavior, I can take that. It's because they have small airways and when they crash they drop fast.

I still remember one 4 yr old that we bagged from the brink of coding due to a laryngospasm. Think single digit O2 sats with a decelerating heartbeat. The anesthesia provider brought him to us apneic and with room temp sats that were dropping quickly. We broke the spasm with a BVM and then restored his breathing drive with a touch of naloxone. He went home 2 hours later but had been close to not going home at all. It was 6 or 7 years ago and I still cannot tell the story or think of it without wet eyes.

To this day I love the sound of a crying child. That means a patent airway. Everything else is small potatoes compared to that.

I really REALLY hate to label patients, but.

In our out patient surgery clinic we do a garden variety of surgeries....the elective plastic surgery patients are invariably whinny, demanding, and trouble makers.

Some stay the night...the night nurse can be in their room 90% of the time....asking every 1/2 hour if they're okay, are they in pain, etc. The patient is nice as can be to the nurses face.....then goes to her surgeon for her follow up appt. and claims she was ignored all night, was in pain, etc.!

Of course the patient is believed and the nurse gets a counseling from the boss!

Specializes in Infection Control, Med/Surg, LTC.

MDs! One, when I was a student nurse told me to go get his chart, he 'wanted to write some orders'! Another cried when I had to shave areas on his chest to get his monitor leads to stick. The third, who was also the hospital CEO, would disappear regularly and had to be tracked down to his office for meds/treatments until one day I'd had enough and paged him overhead to 'return to his patient room'. Also, among the worst were the prisoners brought in from the local jail. No guard. Caught one smoking pot, another drinking - called the jail and told them to come get them. A third had just been picked up for DUI and brought to the hospital for a head injury. Caught him trying to jump out a third floor window. Called security and the police and had him arrested (he wasn't formally arrested when he was brought in- the trooper was trying to cut him some slack - I wasn't as understanding). Gotta love nursing!

Specializes in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology.
Also 16-22ish y/o having minor (often orthopedic) surgery. You'd think they'd had open heart surgery without anaesthetic the way they carry on.

YES!!! WHAT is this about??? I noticed this as well. Any teen/young adult who is s/p any surgical procedure acts like they a below the umbilicus amputation that was cauterized shut with a red hot horseshoe. I don't get it. And it really does not help when the kid is an only child and the parents are a little older than expected and are weirdly doting over the kid. It really makes it 800% worse. Morphine for the gas pains??? Get up and walk already!

Specializes in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology.
14-20 or so. They rarely listen to anything we have to say when providing education and generally treat their babies like dolls and possesions rather than little human beings.

Yes, to explain their boobs are already "ruined" by the 50% increase in blood flow that occurred during the majority of their pregnancy is like talking to a wall when trying to encourage breastfeeding. :no:

Specializes in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology.

And why is it so many young women feel compelled to bring a teddy bear or stuffed puppy dog with them to the hospital? They aren't four.....they're 22, but......there's the stuffed thingy!

It's a bit weird. I was at clinicals and a visitor was lost as I was on my way back from break. The visitor was carrying a not-inconsequentially-sized stuffy and it wasn't one that I recognized from the gift shop. I asked the patient if they were going to pediatrics but, no, they were going to the south end of the adult ICU. :) Lol k then.

Specializes in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology.
I love my patients; I dislike their family members. The family that has no clue that I cannot "fix" their Alzheimer's/dementia Mom or Dad, and who refuse to see just how far their disease has progressed. The ones who take everything the dementia patient says and think the nurse has time to stand there and try to figure out what the patient is saying, when it is incomprehensible due to gross confusion. The family members who walk into the room and instantly proclaim, "he's cold!" "he needs something for pain!" etc. even though you have just asked the patient these things. My next job will be in an orphanage, where there are no family members, ha ha!

Family member with a GCS 6-9 massive hemorrhagic/ischemic stroke/head trauma/etc. pt of whatever kind....

Are they better now? How bout now? What about now? What are you doing now? Is that going to make it better? What is their temperature?

20 minutes later....

Now? Are they better now? They look better. Is that going to make them better?

Next med pass....

What do you think? How long is it going to take? Do they look better to you now? What about after that medicine/treatment/etc.? You need to take their temperature!

:sniff:

Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.

I haven't read all of the responses.

I have cared for patients in all age groups, have delivered babies when the doc was not present and have watched my patients die in old age.

I don't find any particular age group troublesome, they each have their own quirks and oddities. I am troubled by any patient or family member who presents with a sense of entitlement or self righteousness. I must don the armor of God before dealing with them on a close or regular basis.

I work peds-- the worst age is 3-4. Second worse age is the 12-14 year olds whose parents have coddled them and cry (the parents!) when the child is asked to use their IS or ambulate a bit. The third worst is parents. Of any age. ;-)

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