Okay so this is just sort of a vent and probably a little irrational pet peeve of mine.
But I always can't help but wonder what exactly someone actually does when they say ... "I work in the medical field".
So either they do something that the general public doesn't know too much about ... like for example a perfusionist... While highly educated and trained ... The public doesn't know what a perfusionist is for the most part.
So if speaking to non-med people maybe it's easier for said perfusionist to say "medical field".
Another scenario that comes to mind is when someone works at a clinic or hospital but has a 100% non clinical job yet wants to give the impression they are some kind of clinician.
So when people tell me "I work in the medical field", I always wonder --"what exactly do you do"?
Specializes in Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Surgical.
I've had quite a few nurses here and there as patients (3 Level 1 trauma centers in the area), and honestly the vast majority of them were pretty chill about letting me do my care. If they need something (more pain medicine or a drink, for example) they understand it might take me a few minutes to get there.
The doctors from other specialties are more amusing to have, as they REALLY don't have a clue and sometimes try to order the younger docs and surgeons around at rounds.
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
I think as nurses we need to listen to our patients and try to examine WHY they boast about their real medical experience. As I have been a reluctant prisoner of the current healthcare system...I have to tell you that I was very verbal in some situations as I felt the need to protect myself. I found MA's have a tendency to refer to themselves physician assistants or nurses. Sometimes the residents were frightening as well.
I spent 10 months hospitalized and I have to say that I let people know than keeping it quiet. But I have a real issue with being spoke down too. Even after I was extubated I guess I did not hesitate to let the residents know how incompetent they were...and I remember giving the nurse in ICU a difficult time. I KNEW I was confused and I did not like being asked the date so I decided to orient the ICU nurse. I also need to apologize for not using my call button and felt calling out more effective.
I did find myself watching drugs that were being hung. I made sure everyone washed their hands....trust me not everyone did. I watched meds and IV antibiotics, everything, to be sure it was done correctly.
I think as nurses we need to listen to our patients and try to examine WHY they boast about their real medical experience. As I have been a reluctant prisoner of the current healthcare system...I have to tell you that I was very verbal in some situations as I felt the need to protect myself. I found MA's have a tendency to refer to themselves physician assistants or nurses. Sometimes the residents were frightening as well.
I spent 10 months hospitalized and I have to say that I let people know than keeping it quiet. But I have a real issue with being spoke down too. Even after I was extubated I guess I did not hesitate to let the residents know how incompetent they were...and I remember giving the nurse in ICU a difficult time. I KNEW I was confused and I did not like being asked the date so I decided to orient the ICU nurse. I also need to apologize for not using my call button and felt calling out more effective.
I did find myself watching drugs that were being hung. I made sure everyone washed their hands....trust me not everyone did. I watched meds and IV antibiotics, everything, to be sure it was done correctly.
Esme, first of all... Welcome back because I don't think I've seen you in about a year here on AN...?!
You bring a very real and personal perspective to the table. The thread was meant to be light hearted humor but you brought a serious point of view to the table.
You may or not remember me. As I'm sure you've helped a lot of students here on Allnurses. You were always a mentor for me during nursing school and you would help me with care plans and guide me and I remember telling you my passion for critical care when I began that clinical ... and here I am now a critical care nurse! We used to joke around and you used to call yourself my phantom mentor :)
Back to topic at hand. Geesh. The ICU is such a scary experience for patients (I can only imagine, right? I've never been a patients there) and I often try my best to place myself in the shoes of my patients. It's never pleasant when I try to feel what they feel. It's terrifying. The things we do. Being tubed, trached, and pegged. Having over 20 different people in your room everyday. Different specialties with all the medical students and their residents does add up. Being so scared of the unknown ... what's next? What tube is next? I already have a rectal tube, a tube in my member? And a tube down my throat? What's next?
Being turned every two hours? My mouth brushed every four? Does this nurse realize she's being hard on my gums? It really hurts. Don't get me started on the poking and prodding ... It's endless.
All this being said I always try my best to advocate for my patients in the best way possible. Ensuring their comfort without compromising their progression. You know ALL too well the necessity of some of the things we do in the ICU but you also there are times the nurse has to step in and say to the residents ... "really guys? Is this really necessary?"
Oh that one time anesthesia tried giving my patient a paralytic without sedation. I get they're learning but how scary if the nurse was careless or not knowledgable that you never paralyze without sedation.
some use this strategy to cut short a conversation that may last awhile . people should be proud of what they do always , but I understand there are sometimes where we need a short cut to get by during a busy hour.
Right now, as I sit in a hotel room, (preparing for a skills fair tomorrow) I just want to be entertained. PLEASE HELP ME! haha. I saw the humor in this original post and I thought it would be a great avenue to post some stories of our minor annoyances. There was one time I was dictated as to how and with which Huber needle I would access a difficult port. Okay lady, I am perfectly capable of assessing and intervening. I've dedicated my entire career to this moment.... really?
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Wow, I respectfully disagree with so much that is written in this thread! It says something about healthcare today and the hospital/LTC environment that patients and family members are willing to enhance their healthcare credentials to get staff members to respect them.
When a friend or family member goes to the hospital I always tell them to keep someone at the bedside as much as possible. Why? Because the hospital is incredibly unsafe for patients. Bravo to those who want to advocate for their loved one, I sure do when it's my family. As nurses, we need to be a little less sensitive about our own egos and remember where these actions are coming from -- fear and concern. I've seen some doozies of mistakes made by people who refused to listen to patients' protests that procedures were not being done correctly.
For instance, at my last place of employment a nurse insisted on giving a patient a cardizem tablet rectally, despite his and his wife's protests. Turns out it was supposed to be an ointment compounded in the pharmacy to treat anal fissures. But she refused to listen, until he was screaming in pain.
If I have a medical person at the bedside, I say "oh good, we're on the same team".
And maybe they shut alarms on their own because after hearing it ring for 20 minutes to no avail, they figure it must not matter.
If you have a medical person at the bedside, you're on the same team. More likely you have someone who flunked out of nursing school 20 years ago who has been employed as a bartender, the housekeeper from the local nursing home or the dietary aide from the hospital down the street.
And shutting off an alarm is never, ever OK. Unless you are a nurse employed by that facility in that unit and are on shift.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Oh, I definitely agree. I love it when people/caregivers can tell me exactly what's going on and I know they'll be able to understand and carry out any new directions. I'm also glad when I see someone actively involved in their/their loved one's care. I find it happens a lot with family members of patients with chronic illness, they bring a folder or binder in with everything I'll need to know, not that they can't recite it from memory.
From the other side of things, I was my mother's caregiver (before I was a nurse). She was being admitted through the ED and I overheard the ED nurse give report to the unit. She said "the daughter's with her and she knows what she's talking about... really, she'll be able to answer any questions you have." On the unit, the nurse that was doing the admission took all the information from me, and we set her up together. My mom was confused at that point so I had to give her history and really all information that wasn't subjective. It made me feel a lot better about her care that they listened to me and respected me, even when I was "just" a layperson.
The thing is, you ARE a nurse. You're not just some random person off the street claiming to be "in the medical field" because you think it will get you something.
When patients or visitors lie to me about what they do for a living, it tends to lead to me not trusting them about OTHER things they're telling me. A visitor I don't trust is certainly not going to get any "extras" from me.
The thing is, you ARE a nurse. You're not just some random person off the street claiming to be "in the medical field" because you think it will get you something.
When patients or visitors lie to me about what they do for a living, it tends to lead to me not trusting them about OTHER things they're telling me. A visitor I don't trust is certainly not going to get any "extras" from me.
I agree with you, I don't trust people that lie to me about what they do on other things. But at the time this all happened, I wasn't a nurse. I wasn't even in nursing school yet and none of the nurses even knew I was going to apply after she passed, I was firmly stuck in my previous career as a teacher. I was truthful about being a layperson, though. Maybe I should have made that more clear in my original post, you're not the first to say "but you ARE a nurse." I wasn't even close at the time.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I agree with you, I don't trust people that lie to me about what they do on other things. But at the time this all happened, I wasn't a nurse. I wasn't even in nursing school yet and none of the nurses even knew I was going to apply after she passed, I was firmly stuck in my previous career as a teacher. I was truthful about being a layperson, though. Maybe I should have made that more clear in my original post, you're not the first to say "but you ARE a nurse." I wasn't even close at the time.
If you weren't a nurse at the time, and didn't lie about it, no problem. I have a problem when people claim education and experience they don't actually have in order to get "perks" they think they'll get by claiming to be an insider. Some of those perks might be additional information (which will then be presented in a manner you won't understand, so that will backfire), extra visiting time (although 24/7 visiting is all the rage now), extra respect (which will evaporate as soon as we discover the lie -- and we will, because you won't be able to keep up the pretense once we start talking to you as an insider and not a lay person) or "professional courtesies" such as breaking the rules about food and drink at the bedside, or free license to use your cell phone in the room.
I love my sister-in-law, the mammographer. But when I had breast cancer and she claimed to be 'in health care" to get more information, she wasn't able to understand the lingo (an inpatient surgery oncology floor is much different than an outpatient mammography center). I know she did it because she cared, and she was worried but the staff was eternally grateful when I announced that only my husband and myself got information, and that SIL got her updates from us.
When someone tells me they work in the medical field my experience has been that it almost always is someone in a low level position- MA, CNA, dietary aid, trying to sound more knowledgeable than they are.
The other 5% of the time it's a physician who doesn't feel like giving out free medical advice at the party or assisting with the emergency on the plane.
Yes, this. They're either at the bottom or the top.
Wrench Party
823 Posts
I've had quite a few nurses here and there as patients (3 Level 1 trauma centers in the area), and honestly the vast majority of them were pretty chill about letting me do my care. If they need something (more pain medicine or a drink, for example) they understand it might take me a few minutes to get there.
The doctors from other specialties are more amusing to have, as they REALLY don't have a clue and sometimes try to order the younger docs and surgeons around at rounds.