Patient Entitlement

[Joe V]

We've all seen them......the people who think they should always come first, no matter the circumstances. In the healthcare environment, we cannot always address the needs of patients in the order of occurrence. Contrary to popular belief, the squeaky wheel cannot always get fixed first. Share your stories about patients and their sense of entitlement.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

The Bane of a triage nurses existence...convincing the parent that their child who took years to conceive through IVF will survive the chin laceration even if they are not seen immediately. While there is a lot" of blood they are not hemorrhaging.

[bagface]

YUP!!! Had this last night as a lady was cursing at our triage nurse screaming the "f bomb" every other word and calling her names because her four year old with a fever of 101 wasn't taken back yet but the 78 year old man who walked in with chest pain did. I love the inflation times people yell at us too - "I've been here FOUR HOURS." "Nope, you've been here 38 minutes. I'll let you know when you hit the four hour mark"

[VICEDRN, BSN, RN]

all time favorite?

the lady who stood outside of the room watching us intubate a crumping family member complaining that we weren't take her dad to his med/surg bed fast enough.

[ReOxyS]

I'm not a nurse yet, but I thought I would add something I once saw.

I was waiting to be seen at a walk in clinic, for whatever reason. LOTS of people were waiting, lots of people had been there for a good while. Well, this one lady nearby starts to act a bit loopy. Moments later, she slides out of her chair, unconscious, to the floor. A couple of nurses came out to tend to her, and the woman in the very next seat starts ******** out the nurses, demanding to know when she was going to be seen. One of the nurses looked at her and said "You will be seen, but right now we need to help the person PASSED OUT ON THE FLOOR."

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

ReOxyS said:

I'm not a nurse yet, but I thought I would add something I once saw.

I was waiting to be seen at a walk in clinic, for whatever reason. LOTS of people were waiting, lots of people had been there for a good while. Well, this one lady nearby starts to act a bit loopy. Moments later, she slides out of her chair, unconscious, to the floor. A couple of nurses came out to tend to her, and the woman in the very next seat starts ******** out the nurses, demanding to know when she was going to be seen. One of the nurses looked at her and said "You will be seen, but right now we need to help the person PASSED OUT ON THE FLOOR."

This is more common that I'd like to admit. People have become so aggressive and selfish.

I have had family members walk into the trauma room during a code of a teen MVA and demand to know why their mothers sandwich still hasn't arrived because she missed lunch. We all turned to her and told her to Get Out! and go back to her room. She reported the entire team...whatever....

[cardiacfreak, ADN]

What I hate more is when a "VIP" is the patient and the manager tells you, "Mr. Kiss Butt in room 200 is the CEO's brother, so make sure you tend to his needs." REALLY!! What about my other patients, do I not need to tend to THEIR needs? I don't treat VIP status any different than the patient who is private pay.

[Mandychelle79, ASN, RN]

Well when I have patients who feel like someone is getting more attention than they are... Chairs may go flying, walkie-talkie patients with no fall history suddenly " passed out" in the bathroom, or general attention seeking behaviors. Gotta love Axis 2.

[Irish_Mist, BSN, RN]

I'm not a nurse yet, but I thought I would add something I once saw.

I was waiting to be seen at a walk in clinic, for whatever reason. LOTS of people were waiting, lots of people had been there for a good while. Well, this one lady nearby starts to act a bit loopy. Moments later, she slides out of her chair, unconscious, to the floor. A couple of nurses came out to tend to her, and the woman in the very next seat starts ******** out the nurses, demanding to know when she was going to be seen. One of the nurses looked at her and said "You will be seen, but right now we need to help the person PASSED OUT ON THE FLOOR."

It absolutely disgusts me how selfish people can be. I hope that woman was ashamed of herself after that nurse said something to her!

[TU RN, DNP, CRNA]

Vent alarms and family members man...

[mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN]

I had it happen as a patient, well my son. We had taken my son to the urgent care for extreme thirst and urination. Was told to go to ED, do not pass go,do not collect $200. We get there and they knew he was coming so he went right back and some lady (I use that phrase loosely) went ballistic because she was there first. My husband told her that she was going to get to take her son home, ours we did not know when he would go home. She shut right up.

[nursefrances, BSN, RN]

cardiacfreak said:

What I hate more is when a "VIP" is the patient and the manager tells you, "Mr. Kiss Butt in room 200 is the CEO's brother, so make sure you tend to his needs." REALLY!! What about my other patients, do I not need to tend to THEIR needs? I don't treat VIP status any different than the patient who is private pay.

This.

All the patients I cared for were VIPs, whether they were the CEOs or a homeless.

Before becoming a nurse I learned a great lesson.

One day while working in a clinic we had two patients waiting for the doctor in rooms next to each other. I could see both patients from our work station. One man had a brief case. He was dressed in a nice suit. He was clean cut. The other man was disheveled, looked like he could be homeless.

I asked the doctor, after he saw the two patients (and they were gone), what his thoughts were on the common practice of many doctors: Would these two patients be treated the same or not depending on how they look/status (money/education)? He said, "Unfortunately the business man would probably be treated better." This is when I knew I wanted to treat all patients the same, with dignity and respect.