Hi, my name is AngelfireRN, I'll be your nurse tonight.
I am not a waitress, nor am I your slave.
Yelling and hurling obscenities at me will not get you your pain meds any sooner than they are ordered. Nor will having your family member or entourage do the same.
Threatening lawsuits and having umpteen family members camp out in the halls or hold up the nurse's station will not get you preferential treatment.
Physically grabbing me as I go down the hall is NOT a good idea.
I do not give the orders, but I do have to follow/enforce them. This is something that you should take up with your doctor.
No, I will not call him again to ask him for more pain medicine. He has been called twice and has said no both times.
No, I will not give you his number so you can "straighten him out".
No, you are not my only patient, and I highly doubt that you are single-handedly paying my salary. On the off chance that you are, let's talk about a raise.
NO, NO, NO, I most empahatically will NOT come get you when it is time for your next pain shot while you are having a smoke break. I also will not bring it to you in the smoking room. (Have actually said that, I am allergic to cigarettes. I did it once, had an asthma attack, desatted to 83, and turned blue, according to the patient and my charge nurse, after the patient had to help me back to the floor).
No, I don't really care if your family has not eaten all day, they drove here by themselves, they are not sick, and no, I will not call for 6 guest trays. (This of course, is if the patient in question does not need all 6 family members present, and is not at death's door).
No, you may not have 3 six-packs of soda from the kitchen, there are other people that would like a snack, too.
No, they will not open up the kitchen up just for you, at 1 in the morning, because you don't like the snacks we have on the floor.
I could think of hundreds, but those will do for a start. I know it sounds mean, but this is why I got out of bedside nursing. When a hospital becomes the Hilton, I'm gone!
Nurses are human..we need to have an outlet to vent somewhere...as long as we're not saying some of these things to patients. You notice I said "some"...I think many patients(not psych patients) would benefit from a cold hard dose of reality!
Specializes in med-surg, psych, ER, school nurse-CRNP.
this is kind of sad to me. i have a son with paranoid sz and he doesn't try to pick up women, but he has to be reminded to shower and brush teeth, their cognitive thinking is very weak and need a lot of coaching. my son is genuine and caring, paranoid , yea, sorry you feel that way , if i'd not had a son with this disorder i would of never known how to care as i do for the mentally challenged, they are quite special and gifted. the stigma hurts. a too caring cna.
this is the op...and while i understand your position and feel for you, please do not come on a vent thread and bash someone for venting. no one directed it at you. this thread has (had, rather) gone 61 pages without a single dissenter in the ranks.
i'm sorry, but after all we have said on this site about not bashing venters on vent threads, this just fries me. maybe it's because i consider this thread my baby, it has had more activity than any other i ever started. i just think that coming on a vent thread to tell us how we don't know and how we are of a lesser caliber because we vent is the height of discourtesy.
and i fully agree with the cold, hard dose of reality comment. i also think the slap for a temper fit should be brought back into practice, but then again, i live in the south, where we have it down to an art form.
had one in clinic the other day that had what she called "full-body panic attacks". i could hear her tuning up while i was setting up a test for her (yet again), and her dh saying "honey, get hold of your nerves...come on, now." then the screaming started. i walked in, and she was banging her fists and kicking her feet against the chair. i'm sorry, that's not a panic attack, that's an attention-seeking temper fit. and hubby's the enabler. so, to her, i'd love to say , and very nearly did,
"get over yourself. you're sixty-some-odd years old, grow up! quit whining to me about how if you're 'calm' you think you're dying and take the blasted meds. if you truly were having a panic attack, you would not care enough to ask me what i was giving you, what mg it was, and then try to spit it out."
to the hubby, "now is the time for tough love, dear heart...what she needs is a good smack, not patronizing. all you're doing is feeding it."
let the flames begin.
btw, doc called the other clinic to tell them about the "floor show", it was that bad. usually she's so laid back and nothing gets her, so i know that this must have been something to more than just me. oh , and pt already sees a psych, and is on a-z meds, before anyone thinks i did not try to give her something to help, long-term. if what she's on ain't getting it, nothing will. it is sad in a way, but when you know that they are just putting on, it'll make you mad as a hornet, too.
"Saying 'I don't want to be a nuisance' and 'I think you're a lovely nurse' doesn't make up for you being painful and demanding, and calling out plaintively for a nurse when your bell isn't answered 0.3 seconds after you press it endears you to no-one, particularly the poor patient trying to sleep in the bed next door."
-No, I don't know how much longer your mother will live but she can't go peacefully if you are hovering over her like a gnat.
-Oh you vomitted again..surprise, surprise. That is why I specifically told you not to eat that dinner tray and I would bring your nausea medication.
-No I don't know the results of your CT scan, you just arrived on the floor 30 seconds ago.
-Yes your IV site will hurt if you continue to smack at it, yes I saw you doing it from the doorway.
-You don't know why your blood sugar is >400 tonight. So it's not that Big gulp and debbie cake that your girlfriend brought you from the corner store?
-Yes we are turning your dad every two hours and much better than you were at home since he came in with a stage 3 decub to his sacrum.
You are right. The doctor has made you NPO b/c you need to drop a few pounds. In fact, he might suction out some adipose tissue during your lap choly in the morning.
How can you sit in front of me crunched over in a ball and complain about diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pains while being triaged, and then go eat a pack of chips, cookies, pepsi, and go outside to smoke?
Why have you came into the hospital 5 times this week still telling me you are going to kill yourself? Then tell me you are going to go outside and stand in front of a bus, but then walk back in.....again?
If I have had gastritis and can wipe my own butt, so can you.
You are a piece of . . . . parent, and don't deserve to keep your 7 children, or have any more.
You are a piece of ...... child, and your parent shouldn't leave you jack .... when they die.
How can you let so and so have 15 pressure ulcers, see and smell necrotic tissue....and know what pus is, and think they are ok? WHAT ARE YOU SMOKING?
To Nurse Managers: Why don't you try stepping out of your role for a week, take assignments, work as a RN that you used to be...then maybe you will understand why we are tired and getting intolerate of patient's and/or their families disrespectful, ungracious attitudes, as well as their sense of entitlement! I think to be a nurse manager, if you are in that position for >one year, it should be a job requirement that one must be a staff RN for one month for CEU's and courses in empathy towards their staff. Maybe then one would understand what nurses are experiencing as a nurse! I also would like to say I personally have had it up to my ears about patients being customers. The last time I looked, I wasn't in Bloomingdale's working. Yes, I know in the literal sense one may look upon patients as customers. But since this effect took place, I think the disrespect and the verbal abuse against nurses has increased. Patients and/or their families are constantly treating nurses as less than human. Where have all the nice people gone?
This is such a great thread!!! My husband is a Paramedic and believes Blow dart Ativan/Versed should be allowed. And we should replace the bathroom air fresheners that are set @ a specific time with Paxil or __________ insert your med of choice. We would have such a happy helpful pt population, .
Hi. I am a first semester nursing student and I have to say I have enjoyed reading this thread! I've been reading all the experiences everyone has gone through and am 1) shocked what you all go through, and 2) amazed how you keep your cool!
The many adventures of nursing....what a great opportunity!
GadgetRN71, ASN, RN
1,841 Posts
Nurses are human..we need to have an outlet to vent somewhere...as long as we're not saying some of these things to patients. You notice I said "some"...I think many patients(not psych patients) would benefit from a cold hard dose of reality!