I'm so over it. I'm so over dealing with ahole patients who are so entitled and disrespectful to staff and think that they are in some damn hotel with room service. I'm so over management choosing to side WITH these patients and not backing up staff. I am tired of the ridiculous pay, the crazy assignments, over-the-top patients, the cliques, and how hospital-based care is now some big business and how I am a glorified pill-pushing waitress. I'm tired of patients cursing at me, lying, manipulating and everything.
I'm tired of not feeling supported by management. I don't feel like I can talk to my manager. I am no-nonsense and I don't tolerate absolute disrespect or cursing from completely alert and oriented young people. Yet the manager thinks *I* am the problem and states I should take a class in how to deal with difficult patients....but seems to forget that these patients have a tendency to fire MULTIPLE nurses and even entire hospitals/nursing homes.
No. Nurses aren't the problem. PATIENTS and SOCIETY are the problem. Don't get me wrong. Not every patient or their family is bad...but the ones who are rotten ruin everything. And they are becoming more frequent.
Am I the only one who thinks nurses shouldn't have to put up with nonsense? We should be allowed to say that being cursed out or told to shut up by "with it" patients is unacceptable. Would you go over your manager's head to the Director of Nursing to have this addressed?
I am ready to escape the bedside. I am done with adult med/surg (which I do on a contingent basis). Any other contingent jobs out there that are decent paying and not at the bedside? I am done with acute care for adults...it keeps getting worse and worse.
Specializes in 8 years Telemetry/Med Surg, 5 years Stepdown/PCU.
I've been in home health for many years and admitting patients with follow up myself up to 1 1/2 years ago, I still talk to many for questions and some for service recovery. There have been the rare outliers, patient's and/or caregivers, that are near verbally hostile and/or completely unreasonable in their expectations.
When I read these threads though, and there are many, about this seemingly epidemic of patients demanding hotel type treatment, I have to wonder then why in their own homes they're usually so damn grateful for our service. I mean these patients are just 24-48 hrs off of your care often still anxious and hurting, and I'm not doing handstands for them, where did the belligerence and sense of entitlement go?
Easy it's because you are able to give one on one care
Specializes in 8 years Telemetry/Med Surg, 5 years Stepdown/PCU.
Oh my! I think you need to get out of patient care right now! You seem to have lost your ability to care, and without caring, you simply cannot be a good nurse.
I have been a nurse for many years, and I have never had a "bad" or "problem" patient. The behavior of patients is part of what we assess. Then we make our nursing diagnoses. Then we come up with interventions to deal with the behavior. It seems you have lost your ability to do that, which means you cannot be a good nurse to your patients with behavioral problems.
I teach a bit now, and I always explain to my students that there is no such thing as a "problem patient". There are only patient problems that nurses must address. I find that if I look at behavior as purposeful acts designed to achieve some desired outcome, then I analyze the situation and try to figure out what outcome that patient is trying to achieve. Then I try to develop nursing interventions designed to help the patient get his or her needs met without the patient becoming anxious,m angry, or disruptive. So far, I have always been able to find a way to satisfy the patient. I believe you will be able to do that too if you can change your focus from being personally offended and upset to focusing on your power and skills as a nurse to manage patient outcomes (including behavioral outcomes) through nursing interventions.
By the way, this approach is good for your emotional health and well-being too. Clearly your patients' behavior is a source of great pain for you. This means you are responding socially (being hurt and angry) to your patients' problems rather than responding as the professional nurse you are. Now whenever I have an upset patient, the first thing I ask is this: Does the patient have a legitimate reason to be angry at us? Did we fail to treat the patient with respect and caring? Has the patient been in severe pain and we didn't manage it properly? If we have done (or not done) something that would anger most reasonable people, then we need to evaluate our own nursing behavior and ensure that in future, we provide care that meets the highest standards.
If we have done nothing to bring about this kind of behavior, then we need to recognize that the patient has a problem, and as a professional nurse, I have been trained to deal with behavioral problems! I--and YOU--have that power to initiate my nursing expertise to deal with the problem.
I remember street signs saying "Hospital Quiet!","No Spitting,$500 fine."
Society has become someone being led by trash TV reality shows.The worst behavior is upheld as a great example.Patients are bombarded by big posters of their"rights",but no list of required behavior as a patient ,or visitor.
I would be willing to wear my old nurses cap again if we could go back to the old policies of this is a hospital NOT a hotel.The sick need rest,not your whole crew hanging out here all day,you can not stay overnight, nor sit on the clean beds.And keep your other children at home ,we are not a babysitting service.And if the nurse is not smiling and chatting with you it is because SHE IS BUSY WITH OTHER PATIENTS,yes ,that's right ,you are not her only patient,regardless of what the hospital brochure says.
I pray for all the wonderful nurses that this curse on our profession is soon gone or we will all be .
I def agree with the OP. I come across this very often in the hospital as well but I think its how you approach it that will get you through the day easier. I often use lines like "I only want the best for you as my patient". Oh your food didn't come out with the right amount of pepper on it?? Here is the number to the kitchen since that is not where I work and you can order something different. Oh you a&ox3 pt who understands what these meds are for and you still don't want to take them? Let me head to the computer for my note "pt refusing all meds at this time". Threatening to leave are ya? Here is the paper for you to sign and we will get you right on out of here. See you in a few days!
I refuse to fight or argue with anyone who is of sound mind and body. I also refuse to get all worked up over any of this stuff. Sometimes if you take a different approach then the outcome will be different.
I did patient care for 30+ years- all in the same system. Physically I couldn't continue (back injuries from work back in the day when people said "what is body mechanics?". So I transferred to Transfer Coordinator. Really liked my job but was "let go" because I was vocal about the practice of bringing ALL pts into the ED even if we didn't have beds. So at 59, I was jobless. I really like working, and finally found my dream job: Data Entry for the Cath Lab (Stemi and NStemi data) in a different hospital system. I do my work then go home. I have the freedom to make my own schedule, as long as I meet my deadlines. Most people I work with are close to my age (63). I'm part time. I'm lucky to be married to a Resp Therapist who works 3 12hr shifts, nights, weekend and I'm on his insurance.
Amen sister! I run across this sometimes in private duty, and all I can do is grit my teeth and bare it unless the parents become too much (which has only happened once and I asked to be assigned to another case).
You are not incorrect. It HAS gotten worse, it IS inappropriate, and it DOES negatively affect most Nurses. Unfortunately, in my own experiences in the acute care setting, it doesn't do any good to 'go above' a manager that seems to not be supportive. Sometimes, we simply need to leave and find other employment. It's not fair, but there are Nurses who simply don't seem affected by the abuse (although I'm always in awe of them). Good luck to you.
Not to say there aren't stupid politics and micro management here...cause there are...but I'm glad I work in Canada in our universal health care system. Sure, our hospitals may be a little run down and we may be short on supplies sometimes...but you need a hospital? this is what youre gonna get. Whether you're homeless or a millionaire, you're getting the same care in the same hospital and there isn't any competition so to hell with your patient satisfaction scores. This ain't a hotel.
Also - are you guys unionized in the US? Cause we are here in Ontario for the most part.. and it's super hard to get fired because of the unions. Like really hard. Like people who should have been fired a long time ago haven't been fired.
.thumb.jpg.8471d0001bcd262d428e0775cb934248.jpg){kind=small}
TNT_RN09, BSN, RN
71 Posts
Easy it's because you are able to give one on one care