So, long story short, I recently got back in touch with an old highschool friend whom I had lost touch with over the past 10 years or so over facebook.
She is one of these chronically ill with a number of things, none of which QUITE make sense to me, always in the ED person... She ended up really having something wrong once and unfortunately had a complication that left her debilitated (a very reasonable, very expected complication - to point out - pre-op she moved into a handicapped accessible home in anticipation of this complication). This is unfortunate, no doubt.
But what kills me is, even before this injury and certainly thereafter - all of her postings are disparaging comments about how "stupid" all doctors and nurses are and other comments like that, and how she is "abused" - for what amounted to looking for a muscle twitch or movement in a flaccid post-op extremity by nail bed pressure and various pinching up extremities, pain from an infiltrated IV, and now she is trying to sue the doctors and nurses for patient abuse and just keeps a constant rail on the hospital staff via text message, facebook, blogs, etc... every time she is admitted, in the ED, or thinking about her health issues, and to be honest - her complaints are things that are just, albeit uncomfortable, or inconvenient (take a second pregnancy test, even though you did one a day ago, for example), that are routine, common and part of the deal when you come to the hospital. Video taping the room, snapping secret pictures of nurses ID's who come into the room - even the janitor!
She is the epitome of the patient that no one wants to go NEAR, who people avoid the room, who comes back and tries to sue the staff.... Eeek! What in the world do you do?? It is extremely hard to ignore this behavior, because it is relentless, but also as a nurse - its exceptionally irritating and more than mildly offensive to hear people rail on nurses who are CLEARLY just doing their job. I have told her I am offended by this, I have tried to explain rationale, explained and explained and explained - but all she says is "Well, on Web MD...." and "Well, i don't know how YOU are as a nurse, so I can't say to you specifically....but THESE ones..."
