What's the meanest thing a patient has said to you?

Published

Just curious, what's the meanest, rudest, nastiest thing a patient has said to you? Tonight I had someone tell me they wished I would die and go straight to he!! Then they said they hoped it rained everywhere I went. They also told someone they were a son of a b. What's your best line?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care.

Told me my bangs weren't cute.. :cry:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med-Surg.

Alert/oriented patient who was impossible to please told me, "I hope you can never have children because if the way you treat me is any indication, then you would be a terrible mother". She repeated it through the shift.

Still tame compared to how she treated my coworkers. She was truly the meanest patient I have ever encountered.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

19 year old patient yelled at me for not giving him his Colace on time "What kind of nurse are you?"

Not the meanest thing ever, but I cried anyway, for reasons other than Colace. He had cancer of the aorta and died a week later.

I'm sure I've been called everything under the sun, but that rolls off me. This one stuck.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Urgent Care, Oncology.

Pt:"You're nice, but you could stand to lose a few pounds. You'll never find a husband looking like that."

Me: "Well, thank goodness I already met the man of my dreams and married him!"

Pt: "Don't fool yourself honey, he's seeing someone on the side."

Pt. requested my every day for two weeks to run me ragged "to help me out." I was probably 40 pounds overweight at that point. As a sidenote, my husband and I are still together 5 years later... with no issues. :sneaky:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Palliative, Onc, Med-Surg, Home Hospice.

I was called a soul sucking c once. But since the guy was drunk and the other tech I was working with had just shoved an ammonia ampule under his nose, that was probably why. He later apologized.

I had a long termer who told me I was mean and I needed to stop treating her like she was a b and I about popped my cork. I actually had to leave the room and she wanted the nursing supervisor called. Unfortunately, she didn't fire me. It wasn't that she told me I was mean, it was that she would NOT listen that got me so angry. I felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall with her.

It's funny, those patients who have called me horrible names didn't bother me. It's been the ones who wouldn't listen to me, or allow me to explain that got to me.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Registered Nurse.

Racking my brain....hmmm.....I think someone may have said I was fat once or twice...and someone said I was dumb once or twice...but all were out of it and demented....so I just laughed and didn't take it personally. I've been told I was beautiful by many, many demented patients too....but maybe I am a little bit, hahaha ;)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Pretty sure I have been called everything under the sun and more. Sticks and stones... :cheeky:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I was accused of being a bumble bee and was then swatted at.

Admittedly, not the worst accusation in the world.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I had a family call me ugly. And than when I left the room looking insulted they complained to my charged nurse.

Are we not humans with feelings? I could of taken a confused patient calling me names. But this was a family member just being mean.

Le sigh.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

As a nursing assistant... I had a coworker who told a resident once that I was Mormon, the resident used to throw things at me because she was trying to get kicked out. She used to ask some pretty insulting things like "how come you're not married of to some seventy year old man with seven wives yet? Even they didn't want you? " I got a lot worse from call center work. I had a guy tell me he was going to find me and come eat my soul and another who told me he hoped I got cancer and a slow painful death before I went to the hell I deserved because I wouldn't refund him 95 cents.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ED, School Nurse.

Sweet as pie alert and oriented little old lady I had as a patient working med-surg one night. The next night I came in and she was climbing out of bed, ripping her lines out and calling me a "f****ng [insert derogatory term for prostitute here]". I'm pretty sure she ended up having a UTI.

I'm sure I have been called all kinds of fun things by angry drunk people when I worked in the ER, but none of them stuck with me.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion