To tell or not to tell?

Anonymous865 · Feb 21, 2015

I'm an APRN and credentialed at all the hospitals. Like Elkpark, I avoid any medical care and fortunately am very healthy.
However, my 2 y/o granddaughter was in the PICU for 3 months last year and my son and DIL were very happy I was able to explain everything to them and I usually stayed the night and took care of her - she was extremely ill and ended up with trach/PEG and the nurses were very comfortable with me suctioning her, turning her, changing her, etc., and it made her more comfortable having a familiar face. I do want to add though that I always asked first and since its a childrens tertiary hospital, patient centered care is the focus and I cooperated with everything and got "checked off" on all care I did before I did.
I recently ran into one of the PICU APRNs and she said how she wished other families would get involved too in the care of their children. As it was expected that my granddaughter would go home with trach/vent/PEG we all were preparing to help care for her at home.

When my mother was hospitalized for 2 weeks at a different hospital, my experience was more like what you described. Mom was very confused (oriented to person only) and was assist x 2. Dad stayed with her all day. I stayed all night. We told the staff that we were willing to assist with anything and that we were trainable. They told us how to do something, and we helped with changing her brief, changing linens, bathing, feeding, even giving her meds (she wouldn't cooperate with the nurse, but would swallow for me.)

It was nice when I happened to over hear her nurse tell the oncoming nurse during shift change that "she (referring to mom) has a great family. Someone is always with her, and they are a lot of help." It was gratifying to know they saw us as part of the team, and nice that they knew if we called for help that we REALLY needed help. We liked knowing that by doing the simple stuff, the nurse could spend more time on the important stuff.

The culture of that hospital was so different from the academic/research/magnet hospital. The staff seemed so much happier, and I know the patients were happier.

TexMex22 · Feb 21, 2015

You won't have to tell. If you are there very long your behavior will give you away. It's hard to hide who you are.

psu_213, BSN, RN · Feb 21, 2015

As a nurse, I don't care one way or the other if a patient tells me they are a nurse. They care I provide is not any different, the hand hygiene I perform is not any different, etc. I'm more likely to use the proper healthcare terms to describe a procedure, result, etc. to a nurse than to a non-nurse, but that is about the only difference. The only thing that drives me nuts are patients who say to me "oh, I understand. I'm a nurse!" All while there CNA name tag from their place of employment is clearly visible. :cautious:

Going in as a patient myself, the reason I would tell them I am a nurse is so that the providers feel that they can tell me what is actually going on, the real name of the meds they are using, etc. I don't want to be told they are giving me "sleepy meds"--just tell me the real name.

Mr. Murse · Feb 21, 2015

I don't see why you need to even think about it beforehand. If a server goes to a restaurant, do they sit down at the table and when the server comes tell them, "I'd like this and this, oh, and by the way, I'm a server." Of course not, it's annoying when people in the medical field (the patient or the family) try to let you know by the "big words" they use or by outright telling you that they're medical staff, but should you get into a conversation with your server and they ask what you do, then you're probably not going to lie either.

To me it would be the same if I were a patient. I wouldn't go out of my way to mention it, but if someone happens to ask me what I do for a living then I'm not going to avoid telling them either or play dumb so they don't know. I've had doctors for patients that still needed explaining on things, and non-medical field patients that knew more about their condition than I did. I never assume people in the medical field necessarily know anything about what's going on.

Now, for goodness sake, either way be the kind of patient you'd like to have, especially if they find out you're a nurse. In my experience most nurses either make the best or the worst patients.

Also, I hope reading these responses has helped some nurses on here realize that "baby talk" is annoying to everyone, whether you're in the medical field or not. I get irked when I hear a nurse talking to an adult patient like they're a child (unless it's one of those rare warranted occasions, haha).

Libby1987 · Feb 21, 2015

Does anyone agree that nurses and/or physicians have some things in common re their percieved experience on the other side?

Do you notice the common thread that exists for caregivers with the role reversal as the recipient of care?

Or there's no consistent difference between nurses/physicians/caregivers in their experiences as a patient than the average lay person?

klone, MSN, RN · Feb 21, 2015

They usually find out just because I can't keep my mouth shut from talking about nursey things. It's just in my verbage. Doc asked me once at a visit what I'd been taking for a headache that was plaguing me and I told him 800mg of ibuprofen Q6. He looked at me and said "So you're in medicine? What do you do and where do you work?" LOL!

Yes, I don't announce that I'm a nurse. It generally comes out by the questions I ask.

dudette10, MSN, RN · Feb 21, 2015

As a nurse, I like to know if a patient or family member at bedside is in healthcare and in what capacity. I always ask then if I can forego the layman's terms and use medical terminology. It's just easier that way. They get the same education and attention, but I don't have to think about the terms I'm using.

klone, MSN, RN · Feb 21, 2015

Discount?? What discount? You get discounts???

When I have had elective, OOP procedures done, I was also offered a healthcare worker discount.

dudette10, MSN, RN · Feb 21, 2015

One pt I had wouldn't do anything without his doctor/daughter agreeing. She had a PhD in psychology for goodness' sake! She didn't know **** from shinola medically-speaking.

ziplag · Feb 22, 2015

I would let them "know". Especially for surgery, I want them to know (from Monsters, Inc)... "I'm watching, always watching"

nrsang97, BSN, RN · Feb 22, 2015

I don't have to say I am a nurse. It comes out in the questions I ask or what I say.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Feb 22, 2015

I am having surgery Monday. Should I let them know I am an RN or see how it goes? I don't know if it is in my records that the care nurses can see. I just don't know if I can keep my mouth shut.
Different organization than where I work (mostly b/c doc is Board certified and recommended by PCP)

Depends upon why you want to let them know. I really hate it when nurses or their family members are admitted with the "I'm WATCHING you" mentality. A nurse from a Diabetes clinic, while excellent at his or her job, probably has very little idea how things ought to go during an admission for heart surgery, and the cardiac ICU nurse probably ought not to be directing the care of a family member with breast cancer or a knee replacement.

I've been a patient quite often in the past few years, and usually they figure it out relatively quickly (without being told) just by my vocabulary.