the "sleep-nazi"...(please take no offense, I didn't)

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Specializes in Emergency room, Neurosurgery ICU.

yes, this really happened, mind you, we try to joke and have a good time with my patient, he has one wicked sense of humor, so we get along quite well in that respect. Most nights while doing hs care are very light-hearted and full of jokes and one-liners on both our ends. I try to keep his spirits up, as he can do nothing for himself, and this seems to give him a bit of control over a situation in which he has very little of that.

so, the other night, while getting his hs care taken care of with the aide assisting, all of us laughing, joking making it a good time for the him, I asked him how it is I can always manage to have everything done and lights out by 0100, and "you almost never wake up at night for me".... immediately, that wicked sense of humor of his kicked in, he looked me straight in the eye and mouthed to me (as he was off Passey-Muir) "because you're a sleep-nazi!"

(his other night nurses can't seem to get lights out much before 0230)

He was joking, of course, because that's the sense of humor he has (which is great)

I told him, hey, you don't get enough sleep most nights, and the way I see it, I get paid to make sure you sleep at night (and he agreed)

Of course the next night when I came in, I just had to tell his Mum,"hey, did your son tell you what he called me last night?", proceeding to relay the conversation from the night before, and the patient looking at his Mum, "I was just joking. I was just joking" and Mum of course, nearly choked on her coffee, she was laughing so hard! ( she agrees with me wholeheartedly on his lack of sleep on nights I'm not there)

Dad laughed even harder when he found out.

I am so glad to be able to joke around with my patient and have a good time with him

Now the running joke when I walk in the door every night to work is "Hey *****, your sleep nazi is here!"

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Specializes in Pediatric Private Duty; Camp Nursing.

I work with an alert/oriented young woman whose mobility is severely limited, and she, too, has a wicked sense of humor. Your client sounds exactly like mine, down to the resistance to bedtime! I SO enjoy working with her. We trade barbs constantly and laugh all evening, at ourselves and each other. Sometimes we play tricks on each other- she tries to give me wet willies when I carry her (she's tiny) so I put toothpaste on her nose which she cannot get off by herself. I don't even want to give examples of our funniest verbal exchanges, because out of context they would sound so bad! :devil: She appreciates our rapport as she gets really tired of people treating her delicately and often with unintended condescension. I believe that even though professionalism is important, it's also important to be the companion that a client needs. Her philosophy is- if she has to have somebody around her 24 hours/day, it has to be caregivers that she can be comfortable with and have fun with.

I often remind her that although we goof around and joke a lot, I'm always vigilant of her health, safety and medical needs, even if I don't seem like it. I'm constantly assessing her, adhering to her plan of care, encouraging compliance, providing everything she needs. When she gives the slightest cough, I'm the Stethoscope Nazi, and if need be, the CPT Nazi. If her urine is concentrated, I'm the Hydration Nazi. And yes I'm a major Sleep Nazi too! She used to think I was just being neurotic about these things, until I read her her 485 recently. She had no idea all these things I continually bug her with was my actual written JOB requirements, doctor-ordered!!! :roflmao: Like I just enjoy nagging her!

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2 pages into this thread, someone is gonna make a comment about how offended they are how ashamed you should be. ANC syndrome.

source: ANC (the all nurses cycle); 2014 kadeemb textbook for all stuff :unsure:

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Specializes in Pediatric Private Duty; Camp Nursing.

Yeah, well, anyone who comments how offended they are and how ashamed we should be is the type of person that would not last long on my client's case!! She/he'd be fired very quickly as a grumpy wet blanket!! :cheeky:

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

The context of the OP & quotation marks change the meaning. You get it or you don't

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Specializes in Pediatric Private Duty; Camp Nursing.

"Something-Nazi" has been a part of pop culture lingo since Seinfeld's "Soup Nazi" episode. I'd be surprised if anybody would take it the wrong way.

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Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.

I have two different clients who could make a sailor blush with their potty mouth language.... and when I'm with them, I "speak their language". I have another client who is a very conservative and religious teenager, and I sound like the church choir leader when I'm at his house.

I feel it's crucial to establish rapport with any patient, but particularly so with clients in this genre of nursing... people who are in many cases completely dependent upon us for the most basic of their needs.

Private Duty Nursing is just that -- PRIVATE DUTY. Yes, I am a healthcare professional and I represent my agency when I'm working, but as I tell my clients, "I am here for YOU and YOUR needs." The agency isn't there in the room with me when I'm providing care -- it's a very private relationship between me and my client.

My two "cuss like a sailor" clients have trouble keeping nurses, and I think in many cases it's because of a lack of rapport... you can't be in someone's home and see them at their most vulnerable and act like you're superior to them. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that every nurse who refuses to cuss is "acting superior" -- but for people who have limited education / life experience, it can SEEM that way. Similar to when we talk "medical-speak" instead of using layman's terms... it can make patients feel "less than".

I'm there as a nurse, and I'm there to care for the entire individual, and that includes their psycho-social well-being as well as their medical/physical needs. If they don't feel comfortable with me, the whole thing just isn't going to work. The ability to develop that one-on-one connection with a patient, to actually build a meaningful relationship, is my favorite part of PDN!

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Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.

Oh, and I'm the biggest Hydration Nazi you'll ever meet when it comes to my SCI patients! Why do they not like to drink???? *sigh*

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Specializes in Oncology.

I don't do private duty nursing, but saw this on the front page. That's great you have such a good rapport with that client!

When I saw this title I thought it would be about my dad! He's my own personal adequate-sleep-champion when I'm on night shift! I'll be over at his house helping him and he'll tell me to go home and take a nap! Or when he asked me to take him to his colonoscopy at 0930 he asked if that was too early (even though I was in a long stretch off).

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
I have two different clients who could make a sailor blush with their potty mouth language.... and when I'm with them, I "speak their language". I have another client who is a very conservative and religious teenager, and I sound like the church choir leader when I'm at his house.

I feel it's crucial to establish rapport with any patient, but particularly so with clients in this genre of nursing... people who are in many cases completely dependent upon us for the most basic of their needs.

Private Duty Nursing is just that -- PRIVATE DUTY. Yes, I am a healthcare professional and I represent my agency when I'm working, but as I tell my clients, "I am here for YOU and YOUR needs." The agency isn't there in the room with me when I'm providing care -- it's a very private relationship between me and my client.

My two "cuss like a sailor" clients have trouble keeping nurses, and I think in many cases it's because of a lack of rapport... you can't be in someone's home and see them at their most vulnerable and act like you're superior to them. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that every nurse who refuses to cuss is "acting superior" -- but for people who have limited education / life experience, it can SEEM that way. Similar to when we talk "medical-speak" instead of using layman's terms... it can make patients feel "less than".

I'm there as a nurse, and I'm there to care for the entire individual, and that includes their psycho-social well-being as well as their medical/physical needs. If they don't feel comfortable with me, the whole thing just isn't going to work. The ability to develop that one-on-one connection with a patient, to actually build a meaningful relationship, is my favorite part of PDN!

Well said! :yes:

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Specializes in Peds(PICU, NICU float), PDN, ICU.

The good stuff in this job! Don't see it too often, but yep its nice!

One of my patients had a lift that went from floor to ceiling. My pts mom joked it was a stripper pole and she could use the sling and lift too. I could not stop laughing! That family always jokes like that and makes a sad situation not seem so bad. I'm still cautious with my responses as things always have a way of getting back to the office. But its nice when they have a sense of humor and a personality!

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Specializes in Pediatric Private Duty; Camp Nursing.

I told my aforementioned client about this discussion and how the OP's rapport with her client sounded a lot like ours. She thought it was so funny, and agreed that I, too can be a Sleep Nazi. She then said to me with a wink, "I'll betcha he's a {insert her dx here} patient. We can be real a-holes!" :roflmao:

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