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

pixiestudent2 · Jun 8, 2015

I worked child psych, the child was assigned 1 to 1 staff and a patient said to the off going tech "but I don't want you to leave, I don't want her, she's so ugly!"

Another child called me ratchet, I had to ask my coworkers what that meant.

I'm not ratchet lol

SweetPotatoes · Jun 8, 2015

Me: "Hi, my name is Dazglue and I'll be your nurse tonight. Can I get you anything right now?"
Patient: "I don't associate with black people." After that she promptly pressed the call light requesting a new nurse.

I haven't even started nursing school yet but I've been warned about this already (I'm black).

OnlinePersona, LPN · Jun 8, 2015

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 out rained everywhere I went. They also told someone the were a son of a b. What's your best line?

Lol yesterday someone said I looked like urkel BUT she said it was a compliment?

Bad day

Red Kryptonite · Jun 8, 2015

I haven't even started nursing school yet but I've been warned about this already (I'm black).

Honestly makes me wonder what year I'm living in....SMH

That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Jun 8, 2015

Could be worse. At least they didn't say f***ing male nurse. ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ lol

I get that a lot too. I really don't care what people say. Learned to let it ride early on in the ER>

NOADLS · Jun 8, 2015

I haven't even started nursing school yet but I've been warned about this already (I'm black).

Less work for you. More work for the white nurses.

annabanana2 · Jun 8, 2015

A lady shrieked at me about how I was trying to kill her, as I was a Pakistani terrorist. For reference, I'm blonde and blue-eyed. Her yelling just went on, and on, and on... I don't think she ever took a breath so there was no way I could break in to try and redirect. I sat there and just stared at her for several minutes to see if she would pause but she didn't so eventually I just... backed out of the room quietly and left.

Phoenix16, RN, MSN · Jun 8, 2015

- 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.

Mine was somewhat close to yours. An elderly patient who was oriented enough said she didn't want no Nig.. caring for her. I was a new nurse at the facility and even though I along with other staff members informed the supervisors of the situation, they insisted that I needed to toughen up because I was going to hear a lot worse the longer I stayed in nursing. So ofcourse I was sent back to care for the patient and each time she yelled "I don't want no nig.." To this day I can't remember hearing anything more hurtful. But with this job you have to take it with a smile, or if need be, go and cry your eyes out in the restroom.

One thing I can definitely say is that some of the insults that us nurses hear, either bills or breaks your character/spirit

Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP · Jun 8, 2015

I've talked laboring women through many a delivery, helped hold them etc. while pushing. Gotten called all kinds of names there. They always apologize afterward.

I think the worst thing beyond that was being called an effing bee who was too stupid to get my **** together. Because I told a babydaddy he had to have his ID with him if he wanted to sign the affidavit of parentage on his baby's birth certificate.

Yawn. Whatever, buddy. I've got a brother that's an ex-Marine and another who's an ER nurse. If you've got cuss words and insults I haven't heard I'll pay you to let me hear them. Also, I'm old enough to be your mama, and I'm only 35 [at the time], so I ain't skeered.

Pretty tame compared to what I've already read here.

ScrappytheCoco · Jun 8, 2015

I've been called the B and C words more times than I can count in the ED. :/

Probably the worst ever was when a psych pt told me he would follow me home and cut my throat...gotta love ED nursing!

blackribbon · Jun 8, 2015

I have heard some pretty things on the psych floor that I am contingent on...but I expect that. There was the statement that I wasn't "beautiful enough" to touch this patient's meds with my bare hands ... he wanted me to have on gloves but I wasn't touching the pills anyway...just opening them and dropping them in the paper cup...I reflected on this and considering the young man was 28 and I'm almost 50...maybe it wasn't as much of an insult as it felt at the time. Some gradiose manics have said more than their share of choice statements...but I just document and laugh. I know I had a schizophrenic who had one of his "voices" that said rude things about me that made my patient laugh ... but ironically, the patient seem to like me and he would tell the voice to hush up like I might overhear. :)

On the med/surg floor I was trying to reason with a patient who wanted me to do things that the doctor's orders didn't allow. I finally resorted to saying "I can't do that or I will lose my license and my kids will starve to death.". She looked me in the eye and shouted "I don't see no ring on your hand!" ... I stopped what I was doing and answered the truth. "HE DIED!" At least she had the decency to shut up for a few minutes...apologized then went back to being the patient from hell. (normally, this wouldn't have phased me but it had been a rough week).

missmollie, ADN, BSN, RN · Jun 8, 2015

I had a lady with a really deep southern accent. I asked her "Is there anything I can do for you before I leave?" Her response: What country are you from? You ain't got no accent I've ever heard of, and I can't understand a word you say!

Normal insults don't bother me, but I was born and raised in Indiana, not another country.