Refusing Patients' Requests: Can it be done?

[George4life]

Hello. I am a 24-year-old student considering beginning the pursuit of a career in nursing( R.N). I have read many threads about the life of a nurse- some claiming it to be pleasant, while others speak negatively about the profession. I am posting this new thread( which by the way is the first thread I have ever posted in my entire life lol) because I read a thread that wrote about how one nurse was annoyed that his patient repeatedly pushed the buzzer for trivial items such as a desire to have the light turned on, to have the phone handed to him, and so on and so forth. MY QUESTION FOR ALL OF YOU EXPERIENCED NURSES IS THIS.Can a nurse simply ignore a patient at times?Does the aforementioned nurse have to hand the telephone to the patient every time he asks for it? (keep in mind that the telephone is only inches away from his bed and the patient is perfectly capable of getting it himself.) ARE THERE TIMES WHEN A NURSE CAN REFUSE A PATIENTS' NON-MEDICAL RELATED REQUEST? SHARE YOUR STORIES.

[RNforLongTime]

What I do is tell them what I will and won't do, and then follow thru. A lot of people aren't used to being told "no." I spent a lot of my childhood as free farm help, and one thing I learned about animals is also true of 2 footed animals. Consistency is the key. Yes is always yes, no is always no. You don't let a dog get away with chasing chickens today, then be mad because he does it tomorrow. This is when you need to talk to the oncoming shifts and maintain consistency. If one shift lets the patient go out to smoke, to the cafeteria, leave the floor, etc., it's harder on the next shift if you try to follow the rules.

THIS IS A BIG PROBLEM with some of my coworkers. Some of them do not enforce visiting hours. One let the family spend all night at the bedside of one of our pt's who was NOT actively dying. So the next night when I came on shift, I'm the bad guy because I made them leave! "they let me stay last night" I say well really they shouldn't have let you stay, we don't really have the room in here for another bed/recliner and I can't be stepping over you to get to my patient who is my priority.

If a patient request is unreasonable then yes I can refuse it! NO you cannot go out to smoke because this is a smoke-free campus. NO you cannot have anything to eat because you've got a small bowel obstruction hence the NG tube down your nose.

[bluemorningglory]

I have several residents who choose to scream instead of using the call light or purposefully set off their pressure or seatbelt alarms because "staff comes faster". I have been known to ensure the resident is safe, ensure their request is non-urgent, and that that call light is truely within reach... and if so, have the resident active their call light and leave the room. I ensure that their call light is answered timely (sometimes by me in a minute or two).

:)

I had a patient who yelled "Nuuuurseeee...." I got so fed up I walked into her room, placed the call light in her hand without a word, pushed her finger onto the button, did an about face, left the room, came back in and asked "How can I help you?"