What do patients say that irks you?

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"They are going to have to take the baby"

I don't know why but that statement makes my jaw clench up everytime I hear it.

I had a patient the other day ask me how I was going to insert a foley since "the head is down there, wont that hurt the baby?" For the love god, people .... come on .. 2 HOLES! SERIOUSLY! :uhoh3:

and my favorite of all time ...

"Does that machine beep everytime I dilate?" .. this one left me speechless

Please share your "omg, no she didn't say/ask that" quotes

Specializes in NICU.

I'm NICU but I go to a lot of deliveries. I've got a BUNCH!!! Here are a few.

1) We need to breastfeed!!!-(as we're intubating and bagging....)

2) How much does he weigh?-(as we're intubating and bagging...)

3) OMG, what are they doing to him? This is always said amongst the family, they never ask directly-

4) No eye ointment, it affects bonding-I'm ok with no erythro but this rationale bugs me...

From the nursery...

1) Is it ok for him to be on his stomach?

2) Um, nurse? His little mask is coming off/He's wet-Guess what? You can pull the mask down/ change his diaper.

3) We'd like to speak to the attending-This bothers me more than it should. We have a 40 bed unit with very sick kids. Invariably, this is always asked right after the NNP has given the family a VERY thorough update, plan of care and it's always the r/o sepsis/hyperbili kids (who are not that sick!) I hate calling the attending away from rounds to tell the family the SAME thing the NNP and I just told them.

4) When can we have him circumcized-Well, let's get him off the oscillator and his chest tubes out etc, then we'll talk...

My absolute favorite, from a repeat c/s where I was baby nurse. Dad said to me, "I wanna get a good look at who I'm going to sue!"

Later he claimed we just didn't appreciate his sense of humor!!!!

Hope I didn't offend anyone. Nice to hear what bugs other people. I don't feel so alone in my occasional grumpiness.

Specializes in NA, Stepdown, L&D, Trauma ICU, ER.
I always get a kick out of the "I'm afraid of IV's" from the girl with the eyebrow piercing and the stud through her tongue, covered with large tattoos! My usual reply is "Oh no - you don't get to complain about one poke in your arm when you let people punch holes in your face!"

I've heard this so many times from other RNs on my unit, it makes me wanna scream! I've got 5 tats, 7 piercings, and I swear to everything holy getting an IV is worse. Getting ink takes a while, but for me it was more of a scratchy burning feeling. Piercings do have the sharp needle pain, but it's over so much faster than getting an #18 angio put in. Even the most experienced nurses can't start an IV as quickly as a piercing is over. Please please please, don't assume that what you're going to do to your pt isn't as bad as what they've had done to themselves, it's often much worse.

Specializes in MR Peds, geris, psych, DON,ADON,SSD.
I always hate to hear:

Why are you being induced? (2 weeks before your due date)

"Because the baby is ready" :o

I have always wanted to say, "If the baby was ready, you'd be in labor."

:yeahthat: :yeahthat:

I always felt defensive when a nurse would ask me why I was being induced. My doctor and I decided together to be induced with my last three children when he felt the baby could be delivered safely. It was hard explaining that my sister had three stillborn babies and that due to similiar complications in my second pregnancy, we were concerned with the family history.

I know it's not the best choice, but if a patient is being induced hasn't it already been decided by the physician? I would think he/she would make such a decision based on the patient's medical history, etc.

I'm new here and just starting as a student so please don't flame me.

Specializes in Emergency Room.

I work ER, and every month or so we get people in for psych evals who will say "I'm just really stressed out by work." Really? I wonder what it is like to have a job that stresses you out? One 25 y/o girl last year came in hyperventilating about her job, her house etc etc. She said she'd gotten married the month before and they'd bought a house around the same time. I wanted to tell her that in 1 2 month period I....graduated from nursing school, moved in with my parents, started my first nsg job, got married, moved into an apartment, took boards, bought and moved into a house, and had a pregnancy scare (the first 5 within 4 weeks!). But I didn't. I just smiled and handed her another paper bag to breathe into.

Specializes in LTC, Home Health, L&D, Nsy, PP.
I always felt defensive when a nurse would ask me why I was being induced. My doctor and I decided together to be induced with my last three children when he felt the baby could be delivered safely. It was hard explaining that my sister had three stillborn babies and that due to similiar complications in my second pregnancy, we were concerned with the family history.

I know it's not the best choice, but if a patient is being induced hasn't it already been decided by the physician? I would think he/she would make such a decision based on the patient's medical history, etc.

I'm new here and just starting as a student so please don't flame me.

Yes, the MD and the patient make the decision to induce; however, it is important to us as nurses who will be caring for you during your labor to know if there is a particular reason you are being induced. We need to know if there is something we need to be watching for ... etc. MD's are not the only ones concerned for you and your unborn child, nor are they the only ones who need to be made aware of your history.

:gandalf:

Yes, the MD and the patient make the decision to induce; however, it is important to us as nurses who will be caring for you during your labor to know if there is a particular reason you are being induced. We need to know if there is something we need to be watching for ... etc. MD's are not the only ones concerned for you and your unborn child, nor are they the only ones who need to be made aware of your history.

I was going to say the exact same thing. I don't believe the nurses are there to judge the decisions that you make. If this decision is made between you and your doctor based on facts that aren't obvious (such as your family hx), it's important for the nurses to know this. They aren't asking these questions to make a judgment call about you, they are asking because they want to be made aware of something that could influence your labor.

I understand what you are saying though. There are some people who are totally anti-induction and will make judgments about the mom or question her ability to make a decision. Usually these people do not have an OB background and may not be aware of the problems which make an induction necessary.

I hope this makes sense to you. And welcome to Allnurses! :) The people here are really awesome.

Specializes in trauma,ortho, neuro.

what really irks me is ivda patients who act like you are killing them drawing blood with a butterfly needle. I really want to say don't act like u aren't use to it.

I am a home health nurse. One day I was seeing a patient with CHF and COPD. Her daughter kept fitting it into the conversation the she worked at the hospital. I really didnt care so I never made any kind of remark. I started listening to the patients lungs, and the daughter looked at me and said, "I dont have to use a stethoscope to listen to her lungs." I had to bite my tongue because her mom was so diminished in the lower lobes that I sent her to the ER and she had 700 CC of fluid drained from each lung. I wanted to tell the daughter that she should have listened more closely and sent her to the hospital sooner, because she was just sitting there drowning in fluid. Oh, the daughter did work at the hospital......in the cafeteria.

I walked into a patient's room tonight after dinner to retrieve her tray to find her plate cover inverted and full of soapy water. She was shaving her legs and armpits using it as a basin !!!!!!!!! I almost threw up. I was speechless. Never a dull moment.

this doesn't bother me as much as the poor woman who obviously severe pain and her husband is on the phone saying "no she isn't doing much" because the TOCO doesn't read more than 30 or 40.

I also get frustrated with the 300 lb woman who gets upset with me because I have trouble keeping her baby on the monitor or they blame the baby.

Specializes in Perinatal only!.

What irks me?

I get irked when the patient's family asks me for the seventh time, isn't it time to call the doctor? "Um, no, the doctor does not want to sit here and wait for you to dilate from six to ten centimeters and then push for two hours" left unsaid of course.

I get irked when the grandmother asks for the seventh time if we should proceed to Cesarean Section because she had all six of her kids in two hours and her daughter is still in labor with her first baby four hours after arrival.

I get irked when the patient doesn't want me to place a fetal scalp electrode despite persistent decelerations and difficulty keeping the kid on the external fetal monitor.....but plans a circumcision tomorrow.

I get irked when seventeen year olds come in with a six page birth plan that dictates what WORDS I can use to describe a contraction ("the nurse shall not use the word contraction or pain, but rather surge and pressure"). But my favorite is the 41 and 5/7 week gestation 17 year old patient refusing pitocin induction of labor in favor of more natural methods of induction like "thumbsucking and sexual intercourse". For real, folks.

Oh yeah, I get irked when patients put their tray on the floor in the hall outside their room. Hospital, hotel, hospital, hotel they both start with H, but that's where it ends.

Thanks for the vent!

Don't worry about me--when patients inevitably thank me and tell me I did a great job, I always tell them that I am so blessed to have the coolest job in the world.

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