Why are healthcare profession pts the WORST to take care of???

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jul 31, 2005

health care professionals must have seen/read/signed the hipaa paperwork a dozen times . . . so why can't they understand when it applies to them? :lol2: i've had them tell me that "they're staying with me, so i consider myself immediate family".

"i'm the closest thing to family that he has."

"i'm his wife in every way that matters. we just don't have the piece of paper. is that piece of paper really so important?"

"i'm his doctor." (you're a !gynecologist . . . my guess is you're not his doctor)

my personal favorite (happens all the time) is someone from the or showing up in scrubs to visit their neighbor/son's teacher/choir director from their church and wanting all the information.

ruby (don't even get me started on what a five star patient my very own dh was!)

**RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN** · Aug 1, 2005

Not a nurse, but geez I can see where you are coming from. That would irritate anyone. Good luck to you :wink2:

pricklypear · Aug 1, 2005

I've found they're either the best patients/family, or the worst. Usually if the pt is a nurse, they're great, it's the nurse sister/SIL/neice, whatever who's the pain.

It's very frustrating to know what we do, and have to stand back and watch someone we love being cared for by someone we don't know. I had a few experiences last year with my MIL and husband, and just decided to be all eyes and ears only, unless I saw or heard something totally out of whack. I know I appreciate it when people stand back and let me do my job w/o questioning everything, watching the monitor "are you going to do anything about that?" I didn't want to put any extra pressure on anybody, taking their concentration off my family member. It worked like a charm.

I think some people play it up thinking 1) it will make people take better care of their family member or 2) they'll look cool in front of the family. YOu know it's gonna be bad when the first thing some family member says is "Well, I'm a Nurse/paramedic/cna/pa/doctor/medic" or whatever. OMG, really!!! So, can you help me take care of your mom? Cause I'm sure you're smarter than me. Don't worry, I'll run everything by you before I do anything. :banghead:

Fonenurse · Aug 1, 2005

I get frustrated cos my husband, who is a pharmacist has been hospitalised a few times over the 25 years we have been married and the staff always assume he knows what is going to happen and never explain anything. Poor guy gets so frustrated - he knows nothing about direct patient care because he is responsible for ITU patients who are usually unconscious, and he is in charge of manufacturing TPN and IVs for our area of the country - so knows nothing about direct patient care - why would he? So it works both ways... but why do folk assume that he knows what I know, and vice versa - strange old world we live in... :nono:

pricklypear · Aug 1, 2005

I get frustrated cos my husband, who is a pharmacist has been hospitalised a few times over the 25 years we have been married and the staff always assume he knows what is going to happen and never explain anything. Poor guy gets so frustrated - he knows nothing about direct patient care because he is responsible for ITU patients who are usually unconscious, and he is in charge of manufacturing TPN and IVs for our area of the country - so knows nothing about direct patient care - why would he? So it works both ways... but why do folk assume that he knows what I know, and vice versa - strange old world we live in...

You're very right about this! It happens with nurses, too. I was taking care of a nurse last month who didn't get anything explained to her at all. I think because everybody assumed she knew what was going on, and that she would ask if she didn't. Well, I guess she was too embarassed to ask too many questions - and look like she was stupid. Well, she worked in Peds, for goodness sake. Like she was going to be up on all the latest adult cardiac care procedures, meds, etc. Poor thing. She never said anything because she didn't want anybody to think she was being a pain. So you're right, it does work both ways.

AtlantaRN, RN · Aug 1, 2005

yes, most of us are nuts, but that's just part of my charm. Yes healthcare workers are the worst patients...and they will strain your brain...

atlantarn

prmenrs, RN · Aug 1, 2005

My [adopted] son has had numerous surgeries and a few admissions in his 21 yrs of existence, and I can cite time upon time when I'm sure the staff thought they were dealing w/the mother from H***.

BUT.

I've also had RNs who tried to give a 3y/o s/p tonsillectomy a huge open glass of orange juice while I was in the cafeteria eating for the 1st time in >18hrs, tried to sleep in a broken banana lounger next to an air compressor (the room didn't have piped air, the doc ordered a mist tent w/room air), watched a a doc who had just tapped my son's shunt try to explain to the nurse why he wanted a serum glucose done NOW (I just reached for a syringe and drew it myself) to compare to the glucose in the CSF, listen to the baby next to my son scream itself silly while the oxymeter alarmed merrily, and the nurses, sitting maybe 10 ft away continued to chat w/o any effort to attend baby or monitor (my son's shunt was not working, he had a huge headache, and finally said, Mom can you fix that baby?)--so then, I got in trouble for trying to be the nurse instead of the mom from the NM!

No, this wasn't all the same admission or the same hospital.

In the last incident, this was my hosp, not my unit, and the NM was a friend. That's all it took. I burst into tears. I just told her what happened. She dealt w/the RN who 'reported' me.

We've also had fabulous nurses who made my life easier, with whom my son fell in love (he had pet names for all of them). "Mom, she's a blondie, Mom." "I know, honey, and she can hear you, too." They made sure I got fed sent to eat and sleep, and that I was never out of the loop. They even let me in the PACU.

And I made sure they were never out of Hershey's kisses or Kona coffee. My mother thought I was unbelieveably cheap, so she made me take her to See's candy and bought the unit the good stuff.

So--sometimes, we have to look @ both sides of the bed, and try to see the big picture, not from task to task.

Jolie, BSN · Aug 1, 2005

And then there is the other side of the coin.

When I had my girls, I did my best to keep my profession from the staff, because I didn't want anyone to assume that I knew it all and didn't need teaching. My youngest came home on phototherapy, so we had a home health nurse visit daily. The first one to come out was impressed by the way I had secured the bili blanket and asked me if I was a pediatrician. (That was funny enough-like a pediatrician would know how to secure a bili blanket!) As soon as she found out that I was a nurse, she started in on her litany of complaints, including how she was inappropriately assigned to OB/GYN cases since she had a history of sexual abuse. That was WAY more than I cared to hear. Why do so many healthcare professionals think that their colleague patients give a rat's behind about their personal and professional problems? I called the agency as soom as she left and insisted that she not be allowed to return!

mstigerlily · Aug 1, 2005

I have found this to be true also. We work in a ritzy area so we have a lot of professional pts, doctors, lawyers, nurses, even professional athlete's (well their wives at least because I work in postpartum) and I would always get nervous when I heard in report "This pt is a nurse" but so far in my five months there, I've taken care of an NP who work in a cardiac floor, a pediatrician, an ER nurse, an oncology nurse and a nurse who now work in risk management and they ALL asked just as many questions and needed just as much teaching as non-nurses. Even the pediatrician had tons of questions about her son/breastfeeding, etc as she worked in an urgent care and didn't see any newborns!

So I treat them just like anyone else, do all the same discharge teaching and teaching/orienting on admission, explaining meds/procedures and I find they really appreciate it.

Melissa

You're very right about this! It happens with nurses, too. I was taking care of a nurse last month who didn't get anything explained to her at all. I think because everybody assumed she knew what was going on, and that she would ask if she didn't. Well, I guess she was too embarassed to ask too many questions - and look like she was stupid. Well, she worked in Peds, for goodness sake. Like she was going to be up on all the latest adult cardiac care procedures, meds, etc. Poor thing. She never said anything because she didn't want anybody to think she was being a pain. So you're right, it does work both ways.

mstigerlily · Aug 1, 2005

"i'm his doctor." (you're a !gynecologist . . . my guess is you're not his doctor)

:roll

allnurses Guide · Aug 1, 2005

You're very right about this! It happens with nurses, too. I was taking care of a nurse last month who didn't get anything explained to her at all. I think because everybody assumed she knew what was going on, and that she would ask if she didn't. Well, I guess she was too embarassed to ask too many questions - and look like she was stupid. Well, she worked in Peds, for goodness sake. Like she was going to be up on all the latest adult cardiac care procedures, meds, etc. Poor thing. She never said anything because she didn't want anybody to think she was being a pain. So you're right, it does work both ways.

This happened to me . . . when I had my son 4 years ago by cesarean . . everyone from the nurse to the doc assumed I knew everything I needed to know because I am an OB nurse!!!!

No, I'm a scared 40-something woman in labor with a baby in trouble - talk to me!!

I didn't say much either . . . I didn't want to be a pain.

So, this goes both ways really. I haven't had many patients who were in medicine be a pain - mostly they worked hard to not be a pain.

steph