This was a first. . .

Ruby Vee, BSN · Aug 19, 2016

Nope, that's a new one for me, too. But I have had a number of interesting interactions with patients. There was the one kid who put on his call light, and when I came into the room he handed me his cell phone and said "I need you to tell my girlfriend I never want to see her again." I told him if he was well enough to talk on the phone, he was well enough to do his own break-up.

quazar · Aug 19, 2016

OP: I commend you for your self control. I surely would have burst out laughing. Ruby Vee, I commend you for your awesome come back and quick thinking.

Mia415 · Aug 21, 2016

I watch too much judge Judy... But I probably would have said that "before we started our appointment I did not agree to reimburse you for your services to me. That's not how these appointment work, I'm sorry"

dont over think it! I can see you are genuinely concerned for this patient and that's awesome. But you are certainly not obligated to say anything else. You could offer him resources for food or shelter if appropriate.

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Aug 21, 2016

So I've met close to 250,000 patients throughout my career and I've got to say this is the first time this has ever happened.
I was doing rounds when I walked into a patient's room. My gut instinct after talking to the pt for 30 seconds was that he was bipolar, very histrionic and labile affect.
So anyway the guy is going on and on and I'm trying to do my H&P. Eventually I finish my exam and I'm on my way out when he says to me, " So how much are you going to pay me?"
- excuse me?
"I just taught you a lesson, I've contributed to your medical experience, so how much are you going to pay me for that service?"
I was laughing on the inside, but he sure caught me off guard, I had to think for a second to actually respond. He had the most serious face, and as much as I wanted to smile and keep walking out of his room, he was looking for a response.
So I tell the guy, I'll pay you in paper. Paper prescriptions when you're discharged. LOL. It was the first thing that came to mind.
I've had thousands of homeless pts who will straight up ask me for money, but nothing ever like this. Weird.
Anyone else experience something like this?

Check your math. 250,000 patients? Assuming you've been practicing for 40 years- that would be 6250 different patients/ year. Assuming a 5 day work week, and two weeks vacation per year, that is 25 new patients every single day of that 40 years. In other words, a new patient, every twenty minutes, every day for four decades.

As my late grandmother used to say: "I've told you a hundred million times not to exaggerate!"

roser13, ASN, RN · Aug 21, 2016

Check your math. 250,000 patients? Assuming you've been practicing for 40 years- that would be 6250 different patients/ year. Assuming a 5 day work week, and two weeks vacation per year, that is 25 new patients every single day of that 40 years. In other words, a new patient, every twenty minutes, every day for four decades.
As my late grandmother used to say: "I've told you a hundred million times not to exaggerate!"

OP has 8 years of experience. Years, not decades.

(meanmaryjean, we will no doubt soon be accused of NETY, bullying and all sorts of rudeness.)

YoutubeTheNP · Aug 21, 2016

Check your math. 250,000 patients? Assuming you've been practicing for 40 years- that would be 6250 different patients/ year. Assuming a 5 day work week, and two weeks vacation per year, that is 25 new patients every single day of that 40 years. In other words, a new patient, every twenty minutes, every day for four decades.
As my late grandmother used to say: "I've told you a hundred million times not to exaggerate!"

hehehe. all you have to do is ask nicely meanmary and I would love to explain !! would you like to know? The number is real!!

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Aug 21, 2016

hehehe. all you have to do is ask nicely meanmary and I would love to explain !! would you like to know? The number is real!!

Color me skeptical. Tell me the story.

YoutubeTheNP · Aug 22, 2016

Check your math. 250,000 patients? Assuming you've been practicing for 40 years- that would be 6250 different patients/ year. Assuming a 5 day work week, and two weeks vacation per year, that is 25 new patients every single day of that 40 years. In other words, a new patient, every twenty minutes, every day for four decades.
As my late grandmother used to say: "I've told you a hundred million times not to exaggerate!"

Nevermind about my last post, it was a rhetorical question. So anyway my first job out of NP school was one of the busiest Ers in the nation, literally over 400k visits each year between the Main ER, Ob/gyn ED, Psych ED, and the urgent care. Part of my job would be to MS every patient (medically screen) because it decreased our door to provider time, and decreased our rate of AMA, and LWBS. I'm sorry meanmary but your assumptions were very far off, here's the details:

4 years at the job, and sadly no vacations, I don't go anywhere boo. Dedicated to the job I guess. 10 hour shifts. 20 shifts a month. I would sometimes screen 200-230 patients a day. Mind you in my OP I said "I've met close to 250k pts". Not necessarily, meet, dx, treat, and dispo. I would interact with these pts very fast, from 1-5 mins, and order labs, imaging, whatever their CC centered around. I didn't do this each shift because eventually seeing these many people make you go insane each day lol, I would spend a lot of time in the urgent care as well where we would see about 250-300 pts a day.

After 4 years of that job, I met probably over 200k pts. All the others came from working in ER as an RN, clinicals during my NP, working when I was a nursing assistant back in college, and my current job.

Hope that clarifies it for you

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Aug 22, 2016

Sorry- still not buying that you have seen a patient every four minutes every single shift for the past eight years. Not humanly possible.

YoutubeTheNP · Aug 22, 2016

Sorry- still not buying that you have seen a patient every four minutes every single shift for the past eight years. Not humanly possible.

Appreciate your opinion miss Jean, however you are going on a tangent from the original thread. I'd like to redirect your thought process to the actual purpose of this thread. I'm not selling anything so you can interpret however your heart desires. Please reread what I wrote. 1: I did it for 4 years, 2: it wasn't every shift.

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Aug 22, 2016

You are the provider, the therapeutic relationship should not, and does not, require personal payment.

Inform your patient of that fact.