Some nurses seriously need their head examined

Vito Andolini · Oct 13, 2009

Seriously? 3 times TODAY! I haven't felt insulted 3 times in the last year. Maybe nursing isn't for you, a lot of my patient's and their family members make it a goal to see how much they can try to insult me in one shift!! To the OP, this was a horrible thing, but a lot of people speak without thinking first, makes them look bad, but you can't let it get to you. Trust me, it will happen again-one of the downfalls of this job

And a downfall of living life on planet Earth.

We need thick skin.

canigraduate · Oct 13, 2009

Maybe nursing isn't for me? Thanks. That makes four. Maybe advice isn't for you.

I work in LTC and do fine there. The residents and their families are great, but so is my facility. No insults.

The insults come from my non-nursing job, where I work with jerks, and people in the community where I live, which is full of homeless and hopeless.

I tend to look past that most of the time as most people aren't aware of how stupid and rude they are.

Anyway, back to the thread, what the OP heard is completely inappropriate and I am so sorry that she has to put up with such nastiness.

tatara · Oct 13, 2009

Karma will take its toll on that pig!

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Oct 13, 2009

If you are Jewish, why is it offensive that someone remembered you as being Jewish?
I'm black. I can only imagine how often someone describes me as "the black guy". Well, I am black. If someone else has trouble with that, that's their problem, not mine. And why should I assume it's negative to be referred to as something that I truly am?
Well, as a matter of fact, I don't refer to my coworkers by their skin color. And that really is not a good description given the different hues that people come in these days.
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Well, let's see.
If someone at work was transferred off the unit, and a floated staffer ask, "Oh, where is that nurse, the smart one that used charge a lot, that was good at IVs, yada yada, with red hair and glasses, my first thought would not be to say, "Oh, you mean Jamie the AME Methodist/the Greek Orthodox/PCA Presbyterian/King's Avenue Baptist. There are a lot of other aspects of them to focus on.
You see Jewish is not the totality of my being, and it is also not what the focus on me at work is. And the vast majority of coworkers would not know that I am Jewish, though if asked my religion, I tell the them. But to describe as that, with no other description, shows what my coworker thought of me....not my skills, hair color, knowledge, glasses-wearing status, personality, family status or other things that might draw a picture to the inquirer. But my religion.
I can guarantee that when referring to Maria, she didn't refer to her as the Greek Orthodox nurse, or when she was asked about Jane (the pastor's wife), she didn't describe her as an Evangelical Christian as away to ID here. But with my red hair and blue eyes, the perfect way to describe me was "Oh, you mean caroladybelle, the Jew".

southernbeegirl, BSN, RN · Oct 13, 2009

i'm always described as "that fat black headed supervisor" or "that big girl with black hair that works the desk". doesnt bother me. i AM the big girl at the desk. i've even found myself talking to family members on the phone describing myself in similar ways so that they can realize who they are speaking to. i just go with it. whatever works. doesnt bother me.

fridayannelpn1974 · Oct 13, 2009

Every single nurse has something that someone else can compaint about. We're too fat, too short, too black, too white, too mexican, too religious, too atheiast, too lazy, too blonde, too loud, too quiet, too uncareing, too involved, too rude, too stoic, too emotional, too stupid, too brown noseing, too professional, too agressive, not aggressive enough, TOO WHATEVER! But for the most part what we all do is: DO OUR BEST TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR ASS! And ALMOST all of us, despite our personal opinion, do it without discriminating against you. No nurse worth their salt, would ever care for a patient based on any of these differences. It's our job. And although we don't get paid nearly enough for what we do - We do get paid more than many other professions. Do you really want to be a waitress? Or work at McDonald's. Wages and thus the loss of wages is what keeps a lot of nurses professional. The nurses who can't see the forest for the trees and go over the line -NEED TO BE FIRED! Anyone who makes a comment like that in front of a patient deserves to be disciplined. You have to keep it professional!!!! We all vent outside of the patient's earshot. It's human nature to vent. But NOT in earshot of the patient! Just my opinion.

Not_A_Hat_Person, RN · Oct 13, 2009

There's a time and place to vent about patients; it's not when the patient is right in front of you. That's what break rooms are for. Anesthetized patients can hear a lot in the OR. Someone should talk to this nurse before the wrong person overhears her.

When I was a student, I saw 2 incidents where nurses flat-out screamed at patients. The first involved a new mom who spoke very little English and was recovering from a lot of morphine. The nurse decided the way to get her up and walking was to scream "You have to get up and walk today!" The second involved an older patient who was being passive aggressive, and was in a lot of pain. At one point, the nurse walked over to the door, closed it, and started screaming at her. I was horrified.

Maybe because I'm older than lots of people here, I have seen and heard a pretty fair amount of this stuff, mostly from surgeons. In fact, it was pretty standard fare in OR when I worked there. I was offended, too, but not to the degree you guys are now. I knew my response here would be unpopular , so I'm taking my lumps. Ouch!
The culture we are living in is so overly concerned with political correctness, IMHO, and nobody seems to realize that PC is not all it's rated to be. It is destructive because we lean on rules and laws to try to make people actually think, feel, and believe a certain way. I'm going to T, F, and B as I want, your rules be darned. Just because I might not SAY something does not mean I'm not T, F, and B'ing it.

Maybe being older has something to do with it. I've noticed that a lot of people who complain about Political Correctness tend to long for the "good old days" when it was okay to be openly rude or hostile to the right people. Not that I'm trying to call you racist or sexist, just saying times change, but people don't. Yes, some people take things too far, but one person's PC is another's consideration. As my grandmother used to say "Your mind is a silent place for a reason."

Another thing I've noticed about older nurses is that they were usually treated very badly by doctors back in the day. Now that doctors are (usually) looked down upon for abusing nurses, nurses who have been abused sometimes hate that. It's like people who brag about how badly their parents beat them, then complain about child abuse laws. There's a sense of "I went through hell, so why don't they have to?"

ktwlpn, LPN · Oct 13, 2009

I work with a chronic malcontent.We have been cutting this gal a break for many months-rationalizing her behaviors .....She just drains the energy outta me. All of the rules,regs,protocols are "ridiculous" All of the routine stuff is stupid,too. She goes off full steam ahead on things without input from others or following the chain of command. She has no backbone with the cna's and lets them tell her what they are going to do or not do. Worse-she says this crap around visitors,cna's and other departments. I thought I was pretty good at not letting others attitudes change mine BUT I have been in the DON's office TWICE for crap she did...With the economy like it is right now the last thing I need is to jeopardize my job.I detest working with nurses like this-keeping our mouths shut, just going along is going to come back on us....I'm sure of it...

Scrubby · Oct 14, 2009

Thanks for all your responses. :loveya:

Yes I guess that in some ways I have overreacted. Giving them the look or saying 'can we have some respect for the patient' would have worked well. I have done this with comments about overweight patients and it does the trick. Now I am aware that there are some nurses who are quite frankly the scum of the earth and would say just about anything and next time I probably won't be so surprised.

Now I too don't believe in firing this person for as far as I'm aware a single offence. IMHO it must be made very clear to them that their comments are not to be tolerated. They need to be aware that they have deeply offended someone and hopefully they'll be careful not to blurt out comments that are insulting and stupid.

Due to different shifts and being really busy I have not had the time to speak with them. But I still intend to.

Scrubby · Oct 14, 2009

I am blown away by this inappropriate, heartless remark. And I am saddened by the fact that NO ONE said anything. Could everyone have been in shock? She must be a very powerful person if no one spoke up.
My heart aches for everyone who heard this, and especially for the student.
Take corrective action as soon as possible.

The surgeon said at the time 'that's a harsh judgement!' but he said it to her in a friendly way and sort of laughed as though it was a joke. Yes she's friendly with the surgeons so it's not like they are going to pull her aside and tell her it was unprofessional.

Vito Andolini · Oct 17, 2009

Every single nurse has something that someone else can compaint about. We're too fat, too short, too black, too white, too mexican, too religious, too atheiast, too lazy, too blonde, too loud, too quiet, too uncareing, too involved, too rude, too stoic, too emotional, too stupid, too brown noseing, too professional, too agressive, not aggressive enough, TOO WHATEVER! But for the most part what we all do is: DO OUR BEST TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR ASS! AND EVERY OTHER PART
And ALMOST all of us, despite our personal opinion, do it without discriminating against you. No nurse worth their salt, would ever care for a patient based on any of these differences. It's our job. And although we don't get paid nearly enough for what we do - We do get paid more than many other professions. Do you really want to be a waitress? Or work at McDonald's. Wages and thus the loss of wages is what keeps a lot of nurses professional. The nurses who can't see the forest for the trees and go over the line -NEED TO BE FIRED! Anyone who makes a comment like that in front of a patient deserves to be disciplined. You have to keep it professional!!!! We all vent outside of the patient's earshot. It's human nature to vent. But NOT in earshot of the patient! Just my opinion.

It happened in the OR, for pity's sake! The guy was asleep!!!!! It was an ignorant remark, needing correction. But the patient didn't hear it. He was asleep and there were no family members around - just OP and surgeon, other OR personnel.

And guess what - we ARE taught that poor hygiene can lead to disease. Poor hygiene and disease prevention is why we push for circumcision. So she wasn't exactly even wrong in what she said!

jonesecho, RN · Oct 17, 2009

It is not good to cry all weekend over this. I will tell you there have been many times that I have let what other co-workers say bother me at home after work. This is really awful and unhealthy. I agree with you that it was quite an ignorant thing to say. The sad thing is that people like this sometimes keep going on and doing great at their jobs while the ones that it bothers the most may have the most difficulty at work. talk to someone that can give you good advice on how to not let other peoples ignorance rule our lives and make us unhealthy. take care and good luck to your relative who is battling cancer.