What do you do if you are assigned a patient you know outside of work?

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I recently saw a name very similar to a resident I used to work at my nursing home job on the tele monitor. Made me wonder what is the policy on this, whether it be a patient from another facility, your neighbor, your second grade teacher, etc etc. Are you supposed to refuse to accept this patient and trade with another nurse?

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Specializes in Telemetry.

If it's someone I know personally, I will ask to trade.

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Specializes in ICU, ED, Trauma, Transplant.

I've always told whomever was making the assignments how I knew the person and how I'd wish to not be their nurse, and 100% of the time, they've understood and simply did not assign them to me.

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Specializes in Hospice.

If its someone you know personally we usually get reassigned but if its someone you took care of at a nh or at a hospital (for a diff job) that would not be a problem

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Specializes in M/S, Travel Nursing, Pulmonary.
If it's someone I know personally, I will ask to trade.

I've always told whomever was making the assignments how I knew the person and how I'd wish to not be their nurse, and 100% of the time, they've understood and simply did not assign them to me.

If its someone you know personally we usually get reassigned but if its someone you took care of at a nh or at a hospital (for a diff job) that would not be a problem

Why?

Me: I use it to my advantage. Chat with them a bit, ask how things are going and use the familiarity to foster a good learning environment for them (pt. teaching is a chinche with people you know).

IDK, I've never run into a relative or anything. I did once have the daughter of a Case Manager I knew at another facility as a patient, that was no issue. She (the case manager) was glad to see me. Had a friend (ok, he was a friend of a friend) I had lost contact with come in once, I admitted him (oh, how he blushed when I asked "Do you use any social or recreational drugs?"). :lol2:

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Specializes in ICU, ED, Trauma, Transplant.
Why?

Um... I'm probably going to go with, "because, if I know them, or if they know me outside of my job, I'm not certain they would be comfortable WITH ME being their nurse."

Would my mother's friend be really comfortable with me removing her lady partsl packing the morning after her hysterectomy? Or would my friend of a friend truly be okay with me inserting their foley? Probably not, so I'd save them the humiliation (being a patient is embarrassing enough sometimes) and just step aside and let one of my co-workers care for them instead.

I don't really see how knowing someone already can make pt teaching easier. Once you care for a stranger and build a good rapport with them, that would probably make pt teaching easier, too.

I think it's a bit inappropriate to care for someone you know outside of work, especially if 1) you surprise them with the news you're going to be their nurse right when you walk into their room at the beginning of your shift, 2) if they don't request you as their nurse beforehand, or 3) if someone else you work with can be their nurse instead.

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Specializes in M/S, Travel Nursing, Pulmonary.
Um... I'm probably going to go with, "because, if I know them, or if they know me outside of my job, I'm not certain they would be comfortable WITH ME being their nurse."

Would my mother's friend be really comfortable with me removing her lady partsl packing the morning after her hysterectomy? Or would my friend of a friend truly be okay with me inserting their foley? Probably not, so I'd save them the humiliation (being a patient is embarrassing enough sometimes) and just step aside and let one of my co-workers care for them instead.

I don't really see how knowing someone already can make pt teaching easier. Once you care for a stranger and build a good rapport with them, that would probably make pt teaching easier, too.

I think it's a bit inappropriate to care for someone you know outside of work, especially if 1) you surprise them with the news you're going to be their nurse right when you walk into their room at the beginning of your shift, 2) if they don't request you as their nurse beforehand, or 3) if someone else you work with can be their nurse instead.

Ha ha. Funny you use the example "mother's friend". I'm thinking about that now and I'd probably walk away from it.

Yeah, guess all my experiences have been more with aquantences than with close friends.

Teaching was easier just cause..........since I knew them, I assiciated points I was trying to make with stuff I knew they understood/liked. With the "friend of a friend", I used baseball somehow.........I don't remember how now.

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Specializes in Peds Hem, Onc, Med/Surg.

I agree with Erikson. To me it isn't that big of a deal. I am here to do my job and if that includes someone I know, even better. I've had friends of my mother be my patients before and if anything they take advantage of me. :D

Patient: "Hey can I get an extra coffee? The other nurse didn't want to give me another one."

Family member of patient: "Can you maybe ask one of your doctor friends for an extra inhaler for me?"

Patient: "Can you tell the night shift nurse that she walks funny? She should see a doctor."

^Real life examples. -_______________-

Plus knowing my nearest and dearest, half of them wouldn't be embarrassed at all. I mean they already ask me about sexual dysfunctions or things I don't really want to know (or see), so why would taking care of them in a hospital setting be any different. The other half are nurses. (Now thinking about it I might ask to trade if I got one of them, they would be telling me what to do all the time.LOL)

The real advantage I think is that they are comfortable enough with me, that they are not afraid to ask about issues or misunderstandings. The one that asked me about the coffee, turns out she had no idea why she was there. She was a direct admit and even though the doctor had repeated explained why she was there she didn't get it. By the time I left she wasn't as agitated because she at least understood why she was there and what was going on.

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It depends. I have traded patients if it is someone that I know outside of work. However, I have also had to care for a few coworkers (darned HMO). They really can't get assigned a nurse that doesn't know them, because in our hospital, everybody knows everybody. That's why I chose the PPO plan, so I don't have to come here for treatment and have everybody know my business

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Specializes in LTC, Psych, Hospice.

Here's my take on your question:

(1) I have taken care of several of my parents friends in hospice.

(2) Two of my neigbors asked which agency I worked for so they could make sure I'd be the nurse for their family member.

(3) Once I was asked to make a home visit to get the pre-admit paper work signed. When I saw the pts name, I told my DON that I would do it, but I didn't want to be the nurse because I'd dated the pt in high school. When I arrived at the pts home, his parents were so excited to see me. His daddy told me that he knew the pt was going to be in good hands, because I would be his nurse. How could I refuse? It turned out to be a very positive experience for all of us. Over the next 8 years, I took care of this families other son and their mother.

Just my :twocents:

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Plenty of people live in small towns where everybody really does know everybody. I lived in just such an area for about 5 years and if I couldn't have looked after patients who were also personal friends or people I knew socially, I wouldn't have been able to go to work!

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I think this is very situational. Many people are very relieved to see a familiar face.

When I worked in Acute Dialysis many, many years ago, I was assigned one of my former nursing school instructors who was in ICU. I was scared $hitle$$ that she would know if I was doing something wrong! When she was a little better she told me how comforting it was to her to see me - she knew me, and was certain I would give her the best care. As it was, I was to dialyze her many times during her hospitalization.

I was happy to get to know her as a person - I respected her as an instructor.

And I've done many years of home care - you walk into a home and see that you are familiar with a relative that has a different last name. Well, sometimes that can be either a challenge or a relief!

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