Is it me, or are patients getting ruder and more disrespectful each time you clock in for work?
I don't usually let rude patients/families get to me, but last night I had to deal with the most insane people ever. I had the misfortune of informing the patient and his family that he had gone into rapid a-fib and his cardiologist was not on call. The patient didn't believe that he was having a rapid ventricular response since "he didn't feel that his heart was going fast," and had me count an apical pulse and call the monitor tech to see if she concurred with my rate. (I was off by 2 beats).
I was also instructed by the family to print a set of strips indicating that he was in fact in a-fib. Mind you, this patient has a history of a-fib and was on amiodarone for a while, but the family decided to stop it b/c the patient is allergic to iodine. Despite the allergy, he never had a reaction to amiodarone, but the family still didn't want him to have it and... ta-da! He went back into a-fib.
I was also yelled at because I had to start a Cardizem gtt and as this patient has a habit of going hypotensive, decided that BP checks q30 minutes was a prudent thing to do. Oh, I was also a bad nurse b/c I put him on 2L NC. Oh, and my hospital is ridiculous because we don't have those donuts for people to sit on... oh and there CAN'T be a good reason for us to not have them in central supply.
Did I also mention that I was lazy because I left the BP cuff on him and set the machine to recycle every 30 mts? Yes... I did that so I wouldn't have to go in the room all night. (He told this to the PCA and she came and told me) So he refused to leave the BP cuff on, and preferred for me to go in every 30 mts to put the cuff on and off (this only went on for 3 cycles... at this time, he fell asleep and I slipped it on over his gown). This is the same man who complained that us night shift don't let him sleep.
I just had to run out of the room at this point and cry... I usually handle these kind of people really well. Before last night I don't remember the last time I let a patient/family make me cry. I actually felt bad giving report on this patient in the morning... I felt horrible to pass this person on to another nurse!
*oh and the KICKER. During one of my visits for a BP check, I accidentally bumped his foot which he REFUSES to leave on the bed. He prefers to let his foot hang off the bed on the side I do my care on. He totally went off on me! Apparently during my BSN program I was taught not to be careful, but to bump patients' feet and cause them pain. I also after 3 years of working cardiac, am unfamiliar with caring for dialysis patients and I don't know how to monitor an a-fib patient. He can't wait until I'm sick in a hospital bed so he can give me what's coming to me. this is the most hurtful thing ANYBODY has ever said to me. I couldn't even respond. I just turned around and left the room.
Sorry this is so long, guys. I just really needed to vent.
Working in med/surg for the past five years, I can think of quite a few memorable moments but there is one incident that really sticks with me: it was almost the end of my shift (I work nights 7p-7a) and one of my patients asked me to get her a cup of coffee. On my way to the pantry, an alarm sounded- one of my other patients was crashing! We coded her and she ended up being rushed to ICU (she made it!) When I got back to my floor, I remembered my other patient's coffee request and brought it in to her:
patient "what's this"
me "it's the coffee you asked for"
patient "I wanted it 45 minutes ago, I don't want it now."
me "I'm sorry, we had an emergency and I wasn't able to come back right away."
patient "you mean in this entire hospital NOBODY has the time to get an expletive cup of coffee for me when I want one!?"
me (starting to get a little annoyed) "Did you hear the alarm sound earlier? One of my other patients was dying. I'm sorry you had to wait, but that takes priority over a cup of coffee."
patient "if they had to look at your ugly lazy mug all night then they would be better off dead! I needed my coffee THEN you expletive. How dare you make me go without my caffeine, expletive. People like you shouldn't be nurses."
At this point I just turned and walked out of her room because I didn't trust myself not to say something I shouldn't
patient "Yeah, that's it. Go away. Just waddle your fat butt out of my room when I'm talking to you!"
As I was walking away, miss rude patient proceeded to throw the full cup coffee at me, getting it all over the back of my scrub top. Sheesh. Talk about a sense of entitlement. I was a bad nurse because I didn't get her coffee on time. The worst part was, she was an alert and oriented x3 40-ish year old with no psych history.
This is definately the type of incident that needs to be in the nursing notes AND your hospital's incident report. I'd want her doctor to also have a copy. Where do people get off thinking the world revolves around them? Hugs to you.
Well, I work psych, so I've had a LOT of stuff said to me LOL...2 things stand out, however.
When I worked inpatient, I had a guy on the unit that was major CREEPY...he remains to this day the only person I've ever been really afraid of. He would stare at me over the counter and grin, and laugh in a bizarre manner...all normal for psychotic patients, but one day I called everybody up to the counter for 2100 med pass, and I said to him 'How are you, X?' He replied 'I need a knife...it's a fine time for you to die, isn't it?' and walked away...creeped me OUT. He ended up attacking one of my techs that night.
More recently, in my current job working outpatient, I was walking down the street to a nearby diner when I noticed one of my patients, who sees me weekly for medication administration, standing on the corner. He hadn't been doing well in recent weeks due to some paranoia about being 'poisoned' by the Mafia (his meds were changed from brand to generic so he was convinced he was a target), and we watch him carefully due to his history of violent assault and sex offenses...he was arguing with some non-existant person, when he spied me suddenly and yelled 'YOU! YOU are the reason I can't take my meds! Your dad is a spy and he's WATCHING ME!' I attempted to elude him by stating that I was on my lunch break and that I would like to speak with him after lunch...not a chance. He followed me all the way down the street, about 6 inches from my shoulder, literally screaming for the entire block to hear about my dad the Mafia boss and how we'd put spiders in his veins...he ended with 'You will PAY FOR THIS, YOU *****!' and stormed off. He came in 2 hours later as if nothing happened.
Wow that is so scary!! How do you handle something like that? Maybe I'm too sensitive but that would really really get to me. I'd be pretty shook up.
I've heard the craziest things in the recovery room. Anesthesia is like alcohol.......the truth comes out!! A lot of the men are sexually inappropriate when they wake up. There was one that kept fondling my breasts while I was hooking him up to the monitor. He then asked the other nurse at the bedside "why don't you lean over and drop that titty in my mouth baby?" When he finally "recovered" he was a totally different person. No foul language. Very proper acting, etc.
I also have had my most mouth dropping moments from family members. The hardest for me was the woman who accused me of murdering her sister. She had terminal restlessness in the morning and came to us. Was put on a lose dose morphine drip and by the time sister came after work, she was unresponsive. Then I came on shift and got called "murderer" for the next 8 hours. (I should say, her sister had brain cancer for the prior 8 monthes. That had nothing to do with the fact she was dying.) It was the longest night of my life.
i had this patient that i totally swear was the devil's mother. she was sooo evil.
one day i was bent over the bed of her roommate doing a treatment. all the sudden, i heard her ask her sister, "where do you think she even finds clothes big enough to cover that big asz?"
i had this patient that i totally swear was the devil's mother. she was sooo evil.
one day i was bent over the bed of her roommate doing a treatment. all the sudden, i heard her ask her sister, "where do you think she even finds clothes big enough to cover that big asz?"
:cool:I would have started singing "I like big butts I cannot lie..........".
Did I also mention that I was lazy because I left the BP cuff on him and set the machine to recycle every 30 mts? Yes... I did that so I wouldn't have to go in the room all night. (He told this to the PCA and she came and told me) So he refused to leave the BP cuff on, and preferred for me to go in every 30 mts to put the cuff on and off (this only went on for 3 cycles... at this time, he fell asleep and I slipped it on over his gown). This is the same man who complained that us night shift don't let him sleep.
I actually felt bad giving report on this patient in the morning... I felt horrible to pass this person on to another nurse!
psalm, RN
1,263 Posts
This is definately the type of incident that needs to be in the nursing notes AND your hospital's incident report. I'd want her doctor to also have a copy. Where do people get off thinking the world revolves around them? Hugs to you.