What Would You Do: Nursing Edition

[ClaraRedheart, BSN, RN]

What is the worst thing that you've heard a co-worker say to a patient (I wouldn't comment unless you're pretty sure that co-worker wouldn't remember, just in case they're on here). I'll start with myself.. the worst thing I said accidentally. When I was in a patient's room, we had to wait for a computer program to load, so I watched the TV show the patient and her husband were watching and it was discussing a recent beached mutant animal that was thought to be chupicabra or something weird and it turns out it was just a hairless coyote. They then go on to show different hairless animals that look nothing like their species. I said "Wow, it's so strange, you don't even recognize them as a bear/coyote/etc... without their hair. It's like the loss of it totally changes them." The second I walked out the door, it hit me... This was a cancer patient, a woman who has lost all of her hair. I was in tears once I realized. Did not mean to hurt her feelings and went in to apologize soon after. Turns out, she didn't even notice (so she said). I try to be careful what I say. That was an early reminder to be extra careful. A year or two later, a PCT and I were bed-bathing a severely depressed elderly patient that was so depressed she wouldn't talk, just stare into space, though nothing was physically wrong. The PCT said, upon removing the shirt "Wow, those are fake". Ummm... No. I never said anything to her about it, though I wish I would have. I'm sure you've all got stories.

[ClaraRedheart, BSN, RN]

The only reason I'm posting this is because I was just watching the show on Youtube and recounting several of my stories to my husband (who does not care at all about my nursing stories, but he really does love me) and thinking that I bet nurses have a lot of stories of this sort of thing. Thought I'd ask because I love stories from other nurses. Part of the reason I'm a nurse in the first place :)

[Hygiene Queen]

I was training a really stupid CNA. I'm not being mean. She was an idiot. Anyway, we were showering a very obese woman, "Mary", that had been messed up from steroids and had a severe chronic illness. Mary had had a pretty bad psychotic episode, was quiet, but was AOx3. I guess the aide didn't think Mary knew her head from her butt. The aide took one look at the patient after I had her undressed and said, "Wow! She's really FAT!!!"

I was mortified. I looked at my patient and said, "Mary, I don't think this young lady knows you understand. You understood that, didn't you?"

Mary replied, "Yes!"

"How does that make you feel?"

"Like ****".

I rounded on the CNA and told she was thoughtless and rude. I kicked her out of the shower room.

Mary had been a nurse herself. I told her, "I'm sorry. Do you know that girl wants to be a nurse?"

Mary gave a flat chuckle and replied, "NO!"

That was the most painful thing I ever heard someone say to a patient. I had a loooong talk with this gal. Had to tell her crap I shouldn't have to tell anybody, like "these are people that have feelings". She didn't get it. She was fired within three days of starting.