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

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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?

Specializes in ICU, LTACH, Internal Medicine.

- I am an American and I want to be waited (yes, WAITED he said) by an American nurse!

- me, shocked but polite: sorry, sir, but I got my nursing degree here in the US.

- responce: with the way you speak, you need to be thrown out to that (obscene) you came from!

What was characteristic, my preceptor and the NM supported the patient.

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

It wasn't me (although I've had my fair share of rude patients) but the other night my coworker was taking care of a man with a BAL of 400. The patient proceeded to get out of bed, crap in the floor, pee all in our linen cabinet, and all while security was just sitting there watching him. When the nurse went in there to stop him, the patient (being HIV +) told my coworker that he was going to cut himself and shove all the blood in my coworkers mouth and that my coworker was a ******* *****.

The patient sobered up over the night shift and was sweet as pie when I got there in the morning. Lol

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Specializes in Registered Nurse.
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.

I was told by a very wise instructor/professor once that we do not have to take abuse from lucid patients or family/friends. We can tell the patient or family, or even a MD, (as long as their needs are met and you speak politely) that we are leaving the room until the situation is calm, respectful to a degree, and constructive. I have done so a few times in the last 25+ years, and you would be surprised how often they back down and act right.

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Specializes in Psychiatric.

When I was in aged care, one of our residents was becoming psychotic. She was rampaging around the facility at 3am throwing anything she could. She cornered me and with a pretty scary growl, told me she was going to smash my face through the glass and watch me bleed. She was verging on 90 years old, I was 26 but her ferocity frightened the *bleep* out of me!

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Specializes in Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.

Hmmm there are so many to choose from thanks to the ED. My favorite was "Evil Little %*&^&". She later asked my name and I said "Why I believe you already know it" and showed her my ID which we had altered to read..."ELB,RN". There there was the ever popular "effing (insert vulgar word for lady bits)" Actually that was the straw that broke the camels back for me. I quit two weeks later. I'm known to use a fair amount of profanity but I do draw the line. I think the worst thing someone ever said to me was a fellow church member, of all people, who asked me how I could do a job where all I did was hurt innocent babies. :blink:

It was all I could do not to flatten her.

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Specializes in Registered Nurse.
- I am an American and I want to be waited (yes, WAITED he said) by an American nurse!

- me, shocked but polite: sorry, sir, but I got my nursing degree here in the US.

- responce: with the way you speak, you need to be thrown out to that (obscene) you came from!

What was characteristic, my preceptor and the NM supported the patient.

Saddest part is that the NM backed the patient on this exchange. I would have told the patient his behavior was unacceptable, unless he was confused.

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Specializes in Registered Nurse.
Hmmm there are so many to choose from thanks to the ED. My favorite was "Evil Little %*&^&". She later asked my name and I said "Why I believe you already know it" and showed her my ID which we had altered to read..."ELB,RN". There there was the ever popular "effing (insert vulgar word for lady bits)" Actually that was the straw that broke the camels back for me. I quit two weeks later. I'm known to use a fair amount of profanity but I do draw the line. I think the worst thing someone ever said to me was a fellow church member, of all people, who asked me how I could do a job where all I did was hurt innocent babies. :blink:

It was all I could do not to flatten her.

Ouchie!!! ugh

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Specializes in ICU, LTACH, Internal Medicine.

NursesRmorefun,

Your instructor and yourself were rather fortunate not to be in a place where everything begins and ends with "customer service". One such hotspital (intended: hotel/hospital) I made a grave mistake to work into would fire an RN on the spot for things like that.

And no, the patient is question was as lucid as he could be. I was told, as a sort of back-patting, that "yeah, he is a rasist but he is our customer as well and the latter thing is more important".

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Specializes in Registered Nurse.
NursesRmorefun,

Your instructor and yourself were rather fortunate not to be in a place where everything begins and ends with "customer service". One such hotspital (intended: hotel/hospital) I made a grave mistake to work into would fire an RN on the spot for things like that.

I feel sorry for those that work in places like that. I worked in a place (that most of these typed things happened) that supported staff as long as they were doing and saying what was the right thing. And it was a high end hospital catering to an affluent community too! If a patient was being hostile, they didn't agree with the patient that they could be inappropriate. Maybe you are better off not working for a place like that.

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I had a patient (psych pt in Iraq) try to intimidate me.

'You know Im crazy? I could shoot you'

I was so mad at my sgt for not taking the m16 away from a self admitted dangerous pt. I was tiny at the time, the only female, and they left me alone with him. I stayed calm and said something I knew then and know now that I shouldnt have.

'Your not crazy, you want out of deployment. Probably a girlfriend issue?'

He calmed down and then told me a Jody story. It was actually pretty sad. He then asked if this was going to have negative impact on his career. He turned out to be just a very sad and hurt soldier who wanted to try to fix things back home. I have other stories, but that was the one that came to mind.

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Specializes in ICU, LTACH, Internal Medicine.

NursesRmofun,

the problem is, one virtually cannot figure out the atmosphere of the unit until working there or at least having an old and very trusted friend as an insider.

I found couple of "pointers" since, like if a hospital proudly presents something named "diversity statement"or something about welcoming everyone regardless of color, ethnicity, etc., it means that it either had problems with EEOC or expects them to happen any moment and so immigrants/minorities/accent speakers better not bother to apply there. But ultimately one can only figure how things really are in a place after he gets there.

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

Preop patient in from home, no anxiety meds yet on board: What happened to your face?

My cat had accidentally scratched me the night before. Patient then went on to tell me how he would have thrown the cat against the wall. Then proceeded to go on and on about harming cats. I had to step out and then come back later to wheel him into the OR- fortunately I went out to interview ahead of time so I didn't actually need to take him right away. Yeah, I admit, I'm a crazy cat lady, and hearing about violence towards cats from a complete stranger who started off by demanding to know what happened to my face, well, what can I say?

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