What type of family member drives you craziest?

[ShayRN]

This one is compliments of Virgo RN on another thread. I wish I would have had a beverage alert before reading it. I am going to post Virgo's first, then for a little fun add a couple of my own.

Back to the topic at hand; some other annoying family member types:

The Comedian: This is the guy/gal who is always cracking a joke, they think they are hilarious, and if you don't laugh at their stupid jokes (as if you haven't heard them all a million times), then they make some snide comment about how the nurse has no sense of humor.

The Attention Seeker: This person likes to talk about their own ailments/illnesses/medication regimens, so the focus is on them and not the loved one in the hospital bed.

The Family Member with Broken Arms: This person plops down in a chair and turns on the TV, and every time Granny needs a sip of water or a pillow fluffed, they come out into the hallway and hunt down the nurse to do it.

The Consumer Advocate: This person's priorities are out of order. As you are preparing the patient for open heart surgery scheduled for the next morning, the Consumer Advocate draws attention to 2cm in diameter mustard stain on the patient's gown and points it out as evidence of poor customer service.

The Ineedanurse: This is the one who puts a call light on saying I NEED A NURSE IN HERE! Then when you get there, they need a refill on their water picture or the lights out in the room.

The Supervisor: This is the family member who has absolutely no idea how to do your job, but they are going to tell you how to do it.

The Do you know who I AM: Enough said

Ok, those are a few of mine. What are yours?

[Student2Registered]

Well, as I read this, I thought "yes, yes, yes" and didn't think I could add any more to the list until...I experienced the dirtbag...

The husband who does all of the above in the original post but then...

Finds you alone at the nurses station and invites you to his hotel room and tells you that "all you have to do is lay there" blech!

[Straydandelion]

I am only bothered by the family member with no ears..no words go in and they all come out. In other words ones can't seem to listen/understand much of anything.

[wanderlust99]

There are some true psychotic family members out there. Had one yesterday & I wanted to strangle her or burst into tears and cry in the corner. Came home & drank and now I'm feeling a bit better.

[readytoroll]

The interpreter: This one will tell you that her mother said she is not enjoying the food and won't eat it unless the texture is changed...again. When her mother hasn't spoken more than two words in the last six months as she is in the advanced stages of Alzheimer disease.

InDenial: Wants physical therapy ordered for her 80 some odd year old mother with Alzheimer because her grasp has decreased.

The misguided: A resident's family member told me the reason he fell is that we changed his room and it must have confused him (his room was changed almost a month ago) and in the same breath told me that I should tie him to the bed (her words) to prevent it from happening again. Again this is a resident with severe dementia who has muscle weakness and a penchant for trying to get up on his own...sigh

[readytoroll]

Well, as I read this, I thought "yes, yes, yes" and didn't think I could add any more to the list until...I experienced the dirtbag...

The husband who does all of the above in the original post but then...

Finds you alone at the nurses station and invites you to his hotel room and tells you that "all you have to do is lay there" blech!

Ugh I haven't met that one yet, thank goodness!

[mom4josh]

Well, as I read this, I thought "yes, yes, yes" and didn't think I could add any more to the list until...I experienced the dirtbag...

The husband who does all of the above in the original post but then...

Finds you alone at the nurses station and invites you to his hotel room and tells you that "all you have to do is lay there" blech!

All I can say is... ewwwwwwwwwwww! I think I would say, "Too bad for you I'm going to tell your wife!"

Other than those already posted, probably the worst for me is the family who won't make their 96-year-old mother with stage IV colon cancer a DNR. They just let her get chemo last week and can't understand why it hasn't worked yet.

[MedSurgeMess]

The name dropper: likes to tell you all of the bigwigs that they know/are friendly with. And make veiled threats to turn you in for bad care if you aren't subservient to their, or the patients', every need.......

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

I had exposure to the Over Anxious Parent a few times...but I'm not talking about a pediatric patient. These pts were all adults, in their right mind(supposedly) and their parents were there treating them like they were 5 years old.

That's about all i can think of-I'm fortunate that we don't get too much exposure to family/visitors in the OR.

[sssrn]

How about The Ass-umer. "You're a MALE nurse? You're either gay or couldn't get into medical school."

[HuggyPuglet]

The name dropper: likes to tell you all of the bigwigs that they know/are friendly with. And make veiled threats to turn you in for bad care if you aren't subservient to their, or the patients', every need.......

Oh yeh, or the "my (fill in the blank) is a lawyer" or better yet "I am a lawyer" and profess to know EVERYTHING about the care of their loved one and every bit of what they claim they know is detrimental to the patient. Think along the lines of "my mother needs a drink of water NOW" when the pt is NPO for testing or due to a family member not (usually the one mentioned) not making the decision for a PEG tube, hence the pt remains NPO with IVF.

[*ac*]

The stalker. They sneak up behind you, and when you turn around you almost run into them. They ask for something, in an over-polite, ingratiating, way, that is totally manipulative - if you're fooled, you think, well if I do this one thing for them, they will leave me alone; but no, it's just the beginning of long, long, day.