The Customer is always right

[MrsMommaRN]

last night we had a group of rude patients and family members. i work on a post op elective joint replacement floor. none of these patients are in critical condition post surgery, if so they go to the icu. i tell you this because it goes along with my story.

we had a woman in her 40s fresh post op knee replacement. complaining the moment she hit the floor. why didn't she have a nurse in her room providing near constant care, why was her room at the end of the hall, etc etc.

we have a policy regarding overnight visitors, unless the pt is critical, terminal, or unable to speak for themselves(mute, mental retardation, etc) no overnight visitors.

the family member of above patient asked if she could stay. it was nicely explained "unfortunetely we are unable to allow visitors unless...." family and patient got upset wanted to speak to someone else. this is where i come in. i again as nicely as i could explained our policy and apoligized. the pt and the family went nuts. started yelling told me i was just feeding them a line, shoving crap down their throat etc. then proceeded to threaten me stating if i knew what was best i would leave the room and shut my mouth. sucker for punishment i am i stayed and tried to reason with the irate people who in turn basically told me i suck and should choose another profession, i was never meant to be a nurse etc. etc.

i took this personally. i calmly left the room and called my supervisor. she said just let them stay.

ok what burns my butt is i am sooo tired of the patients and their families walking all over us:nurse: and we are just supposed to smile and kiss some more butt. why couldn't the supervisor just have some balls and stand behind her nurses and reinforce the rules? its all about damn patient satisfaction and &*#*ing press ganey.

sorry for the vent. i feel much better now. thanks for listening.:redbeathe

[RN1982]

Hehehe, this reminds me of the situation I experienced at my other job. We had a very demanding family who thought they were an exception the the rules, management made a deal with the family that they can come in every ten minutes and check on their mother but can not stay at the bedside. Well the patient ended up getting transferred to the SICU who, would ya know, lock the unit doors at night. So when the security called up to the unit and said the family is here. The nurse calmly said," no visiting hours ended at 10pm, and start at 10am they are more than welcome to come back then. They were explained visiting hours and we only allow family in when the patient is near death" (you all know the drill)..Nurse hangs up the phone, ten minutes later, security calls back says the family wants the same deal that they had on the previous unit. Nurse says no and it doesn't apply to THIS unit and hangs up the phone. I know that family and I'm sure they were fuming. I'm curious how long its going to take for management to lose their spine and give in.

[BunnyRN]

Some family members and patients are rude at times. It is sad that some people do not know how to control their bad habits in public. Trust me, these people are nasty everywhere. Some people are hard to please, that's just life. However, I believe that the nursing supervisor should have come up to the unit, and assess the situation. This would have also helped the situation. I just "Kill them with Kindness"!!! Patience is appreciated by some, and others are impatient, and are extremely needy, and demand attention constantly. I find that many are lonely, and like the attention, but nurses have to share themselves with other patients.

Last night I received a transfer patient who left a brand new room, for our old unit. She was afraid, I should say overwhelmly anxious. Our unit did not have the lights controlled by remote, the large flat screen tv, nice view, but it is decent. I orientated her to the unit, and made her feel comfortable, and I must say she was my BEST patient.

Some days we have demanding and difficult patients, but I believe that management should help nurses during those moments. Some nurses do not allow family members to stay, whether they're good or bad, but some families have made the shift run smoothly!!!

[ghillbert, MSN, NP]

We have a patient right now who is so RUDE it drives me crazy. I avoid her at all costs. The people in my program are the nicest people you'll ever find, always smiling, positive and friendly. She is constantly rude, condescending, and just plain beyotchy. She actually tells us what times we are allowed in her room to check her.. and we have to abide by it! Grr.. just burns me up to think of her.

So today.. I went up to this woman's room to take her to a test. I said good morning, and she ignored me. Then she waved her hands. I asked "What does that mean?" and she said "It means get out of my room... get out!". So I got out. When I went back in after she told me to, she tells me to get something of hers.

I couldn't stand it anymore, so I said "Mrs..., I will get you whatever you want, but please don't speak to me like that". She said "I'll speak to you however I damn well want". I said "Then we're going to have a problem". THEN the crazy woman says "Anyhow, what, I didn't say anything?". I said "You told me get out of your room" and she said "No I didn't, don't lie".!!!!

Obviously crazy. However, just had me fed up. I might have to do whatever you want, but I don't have to take abuse while I'm doing it. Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!

[BunnyRN]

re: ghillbert

I couldn't stand it anymore, so I said "Mrs..., I will get you whatever you want, but please don't speak to me like that". She said "I'll speak to you however I damn well want". I said "Then we're going to have a problem". THEN the crazy woman says "Anyhow, what, I didn't say anything?". I said "You told me get out of your room" and she said "No I didn't, don't lie".!!!!

Obviously, the person has psychological problems. I would not even consider confronting her.

[psalm, RN]

re: ghillbert

I couldn't stand it anymore, so I said "Mrs..., I will get you whatever you want, but please don't speak to me like that". She said "I'll speak to you however I damn well want". I said "Then we're going to have a problem". THEN the crazy woman says "Anyhow, what, I didn't say anything?". I said "You told me get out of your room" and she said "No I didn't, don't lie".!!!!

Obviously, the person has psychological problems. I would not even consider confronting her.

...well, you just assessed her as having psychological problems, right? So it needs to be documented for your protection, protection of other staff and patients, and proper intervention. Her doc needs to know about this, and maybe a psych consult.

Not every surly pt. gets a psych consult, but it is patients like this, where we have to use our assessment skills and set limits. Just because it's not on a psych floor doesn't mean we let it go.