Patients who are too lazy to open their own splenda packets

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Good grief, some patients want to revert back to being 9 month old infants!!! They also like to ask requests one at a time. Then, after you wait on them hand and foot all shift with the patience of a saint, they turn on you in an instant when their latest trivial request is not immediately granted due to the fact that there is someone circling the drain in the room next door. :rolleyes:

As a nurse only into it for 5 months, I am aghast at how awful and demanding about 75% of the patients are, and their idiot family members.

What gets to me are the ones who want to GO HOME RIGHT NOW. I made the mistake once of asking one woman, "Oh, do you have something going on at home you need to get to?" and of course, she says, No -- I just want to go home.

I mean -- what is SO bad about a hospital room? You've got a bed, a TV, and meals served up to you 3 x a day. You have a nurse to assist you with everything .. .I mean, I'd sort of like being in a hospital for rest myself. Can't figure out why everyoine is in such a hurry to leave all the time.

And then usually you get them ready and they start comng up wth every rotten little request in the book -- also fight you on their discharge papers, the RX's, etc. Wanting them changed, wanting this or that.

Or, it's time for discharge and they all of a sudden, can't get anyone to pick them up. One woman was on the call bell all day long to her nurse, begging to be discharged, and they work their tails off to get her out, and then she can't get a ride home.

It was so ridiculous I wanted to throw up.

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Specializes in neuro, ICU/CCU, tropical medicine.
And do you simply TELL THEM that you flunked those classes in nursing school, then go about your business? If they 'complained' to me I would.

I simply ignored them - too ridiculous to even respond to.

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Specializes in neuro, ICU/CCU, tropical medicine.
Running up to the nurses station should be reserved for things like bleeding, cardiac arrest, respiratory distress, you know, actual emergencies!!!!!!

That reminds me...

Several months ago I got floated to the floor. It was a mess. I could not find a charge nurse, I was told that reports was recorded and I had to use the phone to listen to report, but no one could/would explain how to do that. (Did I mention that I am an ICU nurse?) The only greeting I received was from a couple of nurses who had been pulled there from other units who told me, "Welcome to Hell."

Anyway, one of my patients was a "VIP" a family friend of the DNS. Nevermind that I am running my butt off trying to figure out how things work on this pathetic excuse for a med-surg floor - the family standing at the bedside expected every request to be taken care of immediately.

Eventually, the patient was transferred to the ICU (where I heard later that the family made even more of a pain in the @$$ of themselves than they had for me).

As I was rolling the patient out of the unit, the nursing assistant came out of one of my other patients' rooms saying, "Your patient is bleeding!" By that time I had figured out who the charge nurse was and told her that I either needed her to go to the room of my bleeding patient or transfer the PITA patient to the unit.

The family of my PITA patient clucked their tongues and sighed out loud as if I had somehow offended them.

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Specializes in LTC, CPR instructor, First aid instructor..
I personally might have laughed but it would have been more of an "Oh god, did that really just happen!!!!!" type of laugh
I just might have asked; Did you just do that? Dang it

s stinky in here.

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Other day CNA goes into one of my rooms to give A bed a sponge bath. Little ol' lady confused. Extreamly weak on bed rest. Doesn't have the wear with all to pick up the phone that is ringing right next to her hand and when you hand it to her she can't quite figure out what to do with it.

Obviously this lady needs the CNA to bathe her.

B bed has a 40 year old who is up ad lib independently. Tells the CNA that she wants not only a sponge bath but wants the CNA to give it to her.

I told the poor CNA you tell her I said not only no but she needs to be up and moving and doing for herself or she will get worse.

She is in for pneumonia was admitted due to slurred speech and unable to stay awake because she was on a ton of perscribed pain meds Including 10 oxicotin per day and valium and much more.

The pulmonary doc who admitted cut back on some of these (mostly the oxicotin) and she is not complaining of pain. ("chronic back"). He is not attempting to wean her.

She is currently steady on feet fully awake on room air good sats normal respitory effort etc. Oh yea she is cruising the halls. Total wacko.

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Another exactly.

I have been convinced that when people walk through the entrance of the hospital they lose all common sense.

Another thing I would like to say when I have to deal with families so clueless......

"People actually let you leave your home without supervision?"

This should be on the list of assessment questions.

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I just might have asked; Did you just do that? Dang it

s stinky in here.

if ever this did happen and a nurse asked me that I would be like, "ummmmm, sorry about that!"

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Better known as Tyrannosaurus Rex syndrome

I have noticed that they also have big mouths.

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Wow so it's like that everywhere..... we like to say welcome to hotel........Fill in the blank ....hospital, because truely with Press-ganey

survey scores in our lives it seems to be more about customer service and less about medical care.

I also agree with an earlier post that we often have multiple issues going on and can't be 5 places at one time... if management wants customer service then staff in order to have immediate response to all pt's dire needs!!!!

This was a great post thanks for letting us blow off steam!

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Specializes in M/S, dialysis, home health, SNF.

I agree with educating patients as to our role and I nip the problem in the bud as well. When a patient who is able to do for themselves asks me to do something stupid like that for them, I tell them how important it is for them to do what they can for themselves as part of their healing. If a patient keeps calling me to the room for little nothings, I have a talk with them about that and try to get to the bottom of it.

Unfortunately, we get so busy that many times we aren't able to do the education needed for our patients. The other day I had a patient who was fretting because she didn't get to ask the doctor questions she had. (You know how that goes; he was in and out in 3 seconds). She wanted me to call him back to see her again. I asked her what the questions were, and I sat down and answered all but one, which I told her I'd find out since I wasn't sure myself.

The rest of the day, she was a changed woman. Sadly, her remark was, "you should've been a doctor." Clearly, patients don't realize what our role is and still see us, in many cases, as their handmaids, or worse, the doctor's handmaid.

If we try to be "nice" and fulfill their requests, that only reinforces that identity crisis.

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I believe that some patients do not understand the role of a nurse. They believe that we are akin their personal care attendant or concierge. This is not true unless you are their private duty nurse. When this kind of situation arises, the patients need to be redirected and educated about the duties nursing involves and that care is prioritized according to acuity, such as patient in arrest trumps the need to add Splenda. While nutrition is important, breathing and circulation are absolutely essential to survival.

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Specializes in OB, HH, ADMIN, IC, ED, QI.
Good grief, some patients want to revert back to being 9 month old infants!!! They also like to ask requests one at a time. Then, after you wait on them hand and foot all shift with the patience of a saint, they turn on you in an instant when their latest trivial request is not immediately granted due to the fact that there is someone circling the drain in the room next door. :rolleyes:

Your attitude about them must be coming through. I learned the first month in nursing school, that regression is a symptom of every hospitalized patient (and those at home).

Be part of the solution, and tell the patient to list on "this paper" what her needs are, and you'll tend to them in groups of 5, with the most urgent one first. If all the needs are in the category of "go fer", figure out what time of day it would be best if a family member was there to tend to those needs which don't require a professional staff person. Explain how many other patients rely on you, and if the staff is complete that day.

It might be best if the charge nurse came with you for the discussion above........ He/she might discuss the role of the nurse in the hospital (nicely).:bowingpur

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