White Supremacist patients

[vashtee, RN]

I am looking for a witty response for hateful patients that have white supremacist tattoos...

I had a patient that had a double lightening bolt tattoo in his arm... everyone else involved in his care SAW the tattoo, but didn't understand its meaning. I did. During a neuro assessment, he actually said "Heil Hitler" and laughed a couple of times, as though he were joking. But I know he wasn't. I was so horrified, I didn't say anything, and spent all last night kicking myself for not having anything clever to say.

If it ever comes up again, how would you handle it?

[JenTheRN]

Ignore it and continue to give this patient care as his nurse. It's not up to us to judge our patients. If it really goes against your beliefs to care for this person, ask another nurse to take him over.

In nursing we encounter people from all walks of life, many of whom we will not agree with. Unless this person was harassing or assulting you, I think it's best just to keep your thoughts to your self and move on.

[elkpark]

I wouldn't worry about any "witty" responses. I would just ignore the behavior unless/until it gets to the point of being abusive or interfering with your doing your job, and then report it to your superiors and/or security. If you respond and engage with people like that, you're just giving them what they want -- it's not like anything you say is going to make them "see the light" and change their views ... Getting a rise out of you just reinforces the behavior.

[hearts895, RN BSN]

I would be very careful not to engage people like this in any more conversation than is absolutely necessary. I completely understand your horror at dealing with this kind of person, but these types of people have a high potential to be very dangerous (IMHO) and its never a good idea to have them even think twice about you or consider some type of terrible retaliation against you. You can't change their hearts - you can only hope they leave you alone as much as possible. Just my

[Faeriewand, ASN, RN]

You can't change his mind, you can only change his diaper

[netglow, ASN, RN]

Here is something you can try and see if it works for you. Got this tip from another RN. When you have someone like this as a patient, and you find they are making your BP rise, you just shut yourself down. Exhale slowly and thoroughly. Then for the remainder of the time you have them, just turn them into a Sim Man in your mind. No need to make any kind of connection with them. Think of sim lab. You never spent a moment worrying about what Sim Man was going to do or say, you just knew you needed to complete assessments/treatments on that body. I don't know if you get what this idea is about, but, there are times when it's good to be able to see some people as just another body... e.g." mov'in meat" as they say..

[mamamerlee, LPN]

I have a sense that he may have thought you are Jewish, and was trying to get a rise out of you. Ignoring his remarks is the best you can do.

Over the years I have dealt with a variety of people that made racist remarks, and I just keep working. You can't change them with a snappy comeback, but giving them the best care you can is the purest one-upmanship.

[fungez]

Well, you can always bribe your charge to assign a minority nurse to him. That might be fun.

Seriously, I would just ignore it, as long as he was civil to everyone. Everyone is entitled to his opinion, no matter how stupid that opinion is. If you feel like it's going to stress you out too much too much to see that tatoo, ask to be reassigned.

[imintrouble, BSN, RN]

Sometimes ignoring the idiot works as well as anything.

[caroladybelle, BSN, RN]

I am Jewish and have dealt with a number of white supremacist pts, because I grew up in an area where they are common.

I generally say nothing - I am not likely to change their mind. What gets scary is when they flirt with me or ask for dates. My appearance does not fall within their stereotypes.

A bigger problem, is when I have coworkers that make racist comments - quite common in GA and FL. You call them on it and they give it the, "Oh, you know what I mean - I wasn't referring to YOU".

I now live up North and work in a teaching hospital with a very diverse staff and pt groups thus it is no longer an issue.

[goodstudentnowRN]

Oh boy, I live in Florida and when I was a student nurse, I used to be abused by these patients. I used to ignore them. I remember one of them told me that I will not get a job easily out of school because the recession allow white people to chose their white comrades for employment. He believed this is a good thing because he said that nursing is supposed to be a white profession. I ignored him totally and went to the rest room and laughed so hard. I sympathized with him because he seemed to be buried deep, deep in ignorance. By coincidence a nurse told me recently that what he said a year ago about the recession, he was right. Let me see because I serve a living God and I will get a job.

[stephie_love]

Ignore him. Smile and go about your work. I have the feeling that witty responses would only get you into trouble with that type of person...

I had a patient the other day that was covered in tattoos of naked women...and when I went to assess his bowel sounds, he had a tattoo of a lady parts below his belly button!