We all have our pet peeves, something that we are SURE is rude whether it bothers others or not. So I'm wondering -- what bothers you?
Things that bother me:
In a nurse's station with four or five unused computers, why does anyone have to sit down at the one I'm using, clearly marked with my scut sheet, my pen, my drink and my charting all pulled up and not finished? They take my spot, log me off (so I have to start over with any charting I didn't sign before the arrhythmia alarm jolted me out of my seat) and log in over me. Then when I return, they tell me "I didn't see your name on it." Why not just use the computer with the screensaver up and no ones stuff there?
People who put their feet up on the chairs in the nurse's station. Not only does it look totally unprofessional to anyone who visits the station, including families, but the C. Diff that that they' we picked up on their shoes is now transferred to the impossible-to-clean fabric chairs in the nurse's station.
Saying "no prob" in response to a thank you.
Taking the nurse's chair. Our rooms has a sofa and two chairs for visitors, a recliner for the patient and a chair at the computer station for the nurse to use when charting. So why do the visitors always have to take the nurse's chair? Clearly, the nurse can't chart from the sofa.
After you've taken the nurse's chair, why give me attitude when I ask you NOT to sit in front of my computer, but to sit in one of the five spots provided for visitors?
Visitors using the patient bathroom.
Staff who let patients use the staff bathroom. I've never been able to figure that one out.
Nursing: people who answer the phone without identifying themselves or department, and conversely, people who do not listen as I identify myself and department.
Non-nursing: cashiers who continue their conversation with coworkers while ringing you up, never making eye contact through the whole transaction. And the "no problem" in lieu of "you're welcome." I once almost wrote no problem in the line for a tip at a restaurant instead of a $ amount. The service was fair, but the no problem was grating.
I pointedly tell the cashier who doesn't give me his or her attention that I need him to focus for the next few minutes on my order. I tell him I worked like a dog for the money to pay for it and want to be certain no coupons are missed, no incorrect labelings happen, and that I feel welcome and appreciated when I get their attention for just a few minutes. No cashier has ever been rude to me when I spoke up, but if that ever does happen, I will definitely let the manager know. They can all talk about their sex lives, love lives, kids, friends, and so on some other time.
The point is, just speak up, don't sizzle inside.
I say "No problem". Hmm, I'll have to watch that.
Sometimes, people answer with such a long "greeting" that I have a hard time catching it all and might forget why I even called. LOL
Name droppers: "Oh I've known Dr **** for a long time, we go right back so he'll do for me". Or when I was a student and another student with a superiority complex 1. Hated being called 'the student' because she felt it was belittling (come on! You ARE the student! One of many!) and 2. She spoke to a doctor in theatre and sincerely believed other (long term highly experienced staff and doctors) were all in awe that she knew the doctor (not joking, wish I was).
Ignorance: I actually started a post about this under psych nursing but it still irks me. People (particularly one ex colleague who has only ever worked in a LTC facility) who say "you have to be crazy to work in psych" or as she once said "you have to have some form of mental illness yourself to work in that field, even if it's just depression or anxiety". *** would she know? Shut your inexperienced ignorant gob.
Talking while trying to take a manual blood pressure: Shut The Front Door!
Non-Nursing: Roundabouts. At a roundabout, if you're in the left lane, you go left or straight ahead. Right lane, you go right or straight ahead. Left lane does not go right! Argh!
Sickies: if you are so unwell you need to call in sick so often, go to the ED because you obviously have some disease. Otherwise pull your head in and show up to work.
I've got a coworker who blows her nose at least thrice daily. She doesn't just blow it though. She makes very loud, very ugly music with her schnoz. It's absolutely disgusting and rude!
My pet peeve, right at this moment, is my super loud neighbors. The children, teens and adults are outside literally screaming. Why?!?!?!?! I dread starting nocs with this problem. It's not a weekend and it's around 1730!! I think they are playing football in the parking lot!!!
You can have my upstairs neighbors. After I have slept for two, maybe three hours, they wake me up at two thirty in the morning with nonstop opening and closing of their closet doors, stomping back and forth from the living room to the bedroom, or the bedroom to the bathroom, converse with each other in the bedroom over my head so loud that I can almost make out what they are saying, rubbing something back and forth and back and forth in a loud rhythmic motion for several minutes at a time, annoy their brat until the brat starts crying, then make loud fun of the brat as the brat cries, use the toilet, then flush it several times. What do you do in the toilet that requires six flushes at 2:30 in the morning? At some point, the smoke starts coming through the walls and my asthma gets triggered so that I can't breathe. Yes, I made the decision to move years ago, but I. just. can. not. Why? When I work, I don't earn enough to get financially able to move away from this hell hole, so I guess my pet peeve is neighbors that act like animals and the property managers who encourage and reward them for their behavior.
Nursing: when checking a residents blood pressure, blood sugar, giving a PRN- whatever the task I'm doing for the resident, and visitor wants a B/P check or blood sugar, or " can ya grab me some Tylenol?". I hate that!
Non nursing: someone at a grocery store who takes the entire aisle, then gives me a dirty look for saying excuse me.
I thought I was the only one who felt this way at the grocery store! Depending on my mood I don't move over or say excuse me and stare them down until the get the hint!!!
I just love it when a sick-as-stink patient's family member repeatedly asks me to get the pt something to drink when I have repeatedly given the reasons that pt is NPO. I love it even more when after the fourth time in 20 minutes that I've explained this, the family member calls me a "******* ******," for not allowing even an ice chip. Yeah. Love that. Especially when I hear that pt died less than 5 hours later.
My other favorite is when I've been in a critical patient's room for hours and hours on end and have only left to go pee and to grab meds and other supplies to keep the patient alive, alarms are blaring from one of the four IV pumps, the vent or the monitor and my room phone is ringing me....there are bougies and blood on the floor...the patient's wife comes up to me and says, "When you get a fresh pot of coffee made, I'll take a cup. Just a little cream and sugah, but not too much, dear."
I thought I was the only one who felt this way at the grocery store! Depending on my mood I don't move over or say excuse me and stare them down until the get the hint!!!
You aren't!! and I was just living this on Sunday. Walking down the aisle and the guy sees me - like, even makes eye contact, and he and his cart are just parked right in the middle of the aisle with his bratty kids handing all over both sides of the cart. Not once, but TWICE he did this. I said excuse me like 4 times to this guy. After the fourth time, I just moved his cart for him. GRRRR!
When I'm shopping with my kids (2-1/2-year-old twins), I keep the cart in the middle of the aisle so they don't grab random items off the shelves. I try to stay aware of other people in the aisle, and move whenever anyone asks.
My biggest workplace-related pet peeve is not replacing things. Not re-ordering meds, not restocking the med cart, not putting a new blank page in the chart when you write on the last blank page. When I worked at a school, I was the only person who plugged in the electric Hoyer lift.
I worked for years with co-workers who whispered among themselves constantly. I once got sick of it and said, loudly,"would you two like to be alone?" Either find somewhere else to have your private conversation or wait until I'm out of earshot. This was pre-nursing, so HIPAA didn't apply (even then, open whispering is still rude).
Co-workers who go outside to take smoking breaks repeatedly during a shift, leaving the non-smoking staff to cover everyone's patients. This is my favorite: "I'm gonna run to the bathroom", then returning twenty-five minutes later reeking of tobacco smoke when the bathroom is within a few steps of where they were working.
When I worked in Assisted Living, I worked in a building where I was literally the only non-smoker on my shift. All of the other staff to their smoke breaks at the same time, leaving me alone to deal with anything that came up.
True story: patient's 20-something daughter at bedside, being totally obnoxious with unnecessary questions, unnecessary bustling around the bedside, etc. All while wearing blindingly white, fresh out-of-package scrubs. I did not bite and did not ask daughter what part of healthcare she worked in. Night nurse tucking patient in that night asks patient where in healthcare does daughter work? Big sigh from patient. "She doesn't. She just bought those scrubs to make you think she does." Which is both crazy & kinda sad, now that I write it out.
The eating and drinking in front of an NPO patient really bothers me, too. I was NPO for a week one time -- CSF leak, so I was battling constant nausea and a headache unlike anything I had ever experienced before. And the woman in the next bed kept having her multiple boyfriends and multitudinous children go out and get her fried chicken or some other fragrant food. I was so thirsty, and they kept walking back and forth past my bed with Big Gulps -- and sucking noisily on their straws. It was torture! (And the rap music was torture, too!)
I think that when a patient is NPO and is really hungry and is an add-on for MRI and then the parents/family proceed to bring in a ton of food and eat in front of them (especially when it's the WHOLE family). That is a major pet peeve of mine, especially when the kid was clearly fine having them leave for 10 minutes to get the food (I get it if the kid goes ballistic if they leave but this usually isn't the case). What is another 20 eating it down in the cafeteria away from your starving teenager?
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Oh my....
Kooky Korky, BSN, RN
5,216 Posts
I pointedly tell the cashier who doesn't give me his or her attention that I need him to focus for the next few minutes on my order. I tell him I worked like a dog for the money to pay for it and want to be certain no coupons are missed, no incorrect labelings happen, and that I feel welcome and appreciated when I get their attention for just a few minutes. No cashier has ever been rude to me when I spoke up, but if that ever does happen, I will definitely let the manager know. They can all talk about their sex lives, love lives, kids, friends, and so on some other time.
The point is, just speak up, don't sizzle inside.
I say "No problem". Hmm, I'll have to watch that.
Sometimes, people answer with such a long "greeting" that I have a hard time catching it all and might forget why I even called. LOL