Why do patients..??

burnedoutRNinSC · Dec 7, 2010

Why do patients seem like they always wait until the last possible moment(6:30 when change of shift is 7) to tell you something that they should have told you 11 hours ago?? EX: This morphine that you have been giving me all day hasn't worked at all and my pain is 10 out of 10. I've had the worst headache of my life for the last 6 hours. Oh by the way, I forgot to tell them when I was admitted that I have a chronic issue and i am on 900 medications that I never mentioned to anyone (exaggeration, but you get my point). Does this only happen to me? I mean I do all my assesments and I always ask the patient several times throughout the day if they have any problems/concerns and they never seem to have any until change of shift. Sorry I guess I just had a rough day

Yeah! sounds like you had a rough day. Sounds very typical. Family members seem to make the plot thicken when they come to visit. If not they like to criticize your job performance as if they are experts at what you do. Don't feel bad. Its nothing personal against you. People like that are stupid and you just cant fix stupidity. :hdvwl:

pharmgirl · Dec 7, 2010

People like that are stupid and you just cant fix stupidity. :hdvwl:

And stupidity is contagious too....once one patient does something stupid, they all seem to chime in with their clever ways of driving us crazy at shift change! Like burnedout said, its nothing personal....smile and just keep thinking "its contagious and incurable" :)

tablefor9, RN · Dec 7, 2010

the clueless wonders. Sometimes, it's a good thing breathing is automatic, because otherwise the human race wouldn't thrive.

Worse is the patient that calls to see the nurse. You ask, "May she bring anything when she comes?"

They say, "No, I just need to see her,"

You get there, they say, "I need my pain medication,"

You bring the pain med, they say, "I need some juice," mind you, they didn't need it when you asked them the first time.

You bring the juice, they say, "I need a blanket...

and you've made 6 trips. Then, when you ask them if they need anything else (listing every conceivable thing they might need), they become offended.

*Those* are the patients that don't have 2 brain cells to bump together.

TonyaM73, ASN, RN · Dec 7, 2010

I just love this one too. A patient this evening told me..."Where is the PCT?" I told him that we are in shift change and that he is probably telling the incoming PCT about the patients. Pt: "He told me that he would be right back with some tape for my iv." I tell him that I just fixed his iv with some gauze to keep it in place. PT: "well the pct said that he would be right back with the tape" I say: sometimes we get called away and we can't come right back. Pt: "Well you know what they say about the road to hell is paved with good intentions" I tell him that I must be well on my way then. :)

solneeshka, BSN, RN · Dec 7, 2010

Oh, that dreaded 0600 - 0700 hour! That's when colostomy bags start springing leaks, PIVs that have been perfectly functional all night clot off, and Joe Immobile decides he really needs to pee in the toilet instead of the urinal, even though it takes him 20 minutes to get there, 20 minutes to do it, and 20 minutes to get back. And the inevitable new admit at 0645, plus a hyperglycemic and hypoglycemic accucheck, at least one of each. I feel like I'm a magnet for this stuff, it makes me crazy! A floor I pick up shifts on recently changed VS times from 0800 to 0600. That means we're waking everyone up for the day (assuming they slept at all) just before shift change, and naturally they all want all kinds of attention, they all want to go to the bathroom, they all want to take a shower, they all want to know when they are going home (because, after all, I'm the one who decides that). They all want to know what time the doctor will be in to see them, that one gets me every time. Aah, the night shift!

merlee · Dec 7, 2010

Hahahaha! I remember so much of this! But I have been a patient, too. Pain not too bad - "When you come down this way, please bring my Ibuprofen" Nurse comes in 1/2hr later. 'Need to do your accucheck Honey!' "Did you bring my Ibu?" 'I forgot, I'll bring it back when I finish my accuchecks.' I waited SIX hours, called 3 times. By the time I got my meds I needed the narcs......

MissBob · Dec 7, 2010

It's the "When will the doctor be in to see me?" question that I get asked 9,643 times a day that drives me up the wall. I usually smile and say, "Whenever the golf game is over." I'm tempted to ask our director if we can post a "FAQ" poster on the wall, that question being #1.

Daliadreamer · Dec 7, 2010

It's the "When will the doctor be in to see me?" question that I get asked 9,643 times a day that drives me up the wall. I usually smile and say, "Whenever the golf game is over." I'm tempted to ask our director if we can post a "FAQ" poster on the wall, that question being #1.

Let me just whip out my crystal ball here.....:)

NurseStephRN · Dec 7, 2010

how about when a patient calls to ask to be repositioned/made more comfy in bed.... you spend 15 minutes fluffing their pillows and placing them in JUST the right spot, wrapping warm blankets around them, scooting them up in the bed, getting the HOB just right.... and then you hear the dreaded words... "You know, I think I have to go to the bathroom!"

it is sooo hard to keep a smile on my face and say, alright let's go... *sigh*

carolmaccas66, BSN, RN · Dec 7, 2010

I think there's a name for this maybe? Anyway, I know many older people don't like to complain, they have their aches & pains & live with them, and it's only when they have really horrific pain that they will complain.

BUT the biggest gripe I have is when, especially on nightshift about 30 minutes before we finish, I always say do you need the toilet before we go, is there anything u need now? I always let my patients know the time we are finishing soon, etc so we're not called at the last minute. Well they ALWAYS want to go to the loo just b4 the other staff come on (they're still in handover), and it takes us a good 20 minutes to toilet some people, then we are late - again. I really, really resent it, especially after working for 10 hours with no break. I just can't be bothered anymore.

I've often said patients should be given a brochure with staff handover & changeover times, & to try and be considerate to not ask for non-essential things before the other staff have come on, so we can get out on time. I don't think this is an unreasonable thing to ask of patients.

No wonder last shift I was on the permanent staff said let's go (just as the h/over was finishing) cos she said if u hang around, all the bells start ringing & u get stuck, & hospitals are notorious for not paying overtime for any reason. So we all just left!

carolmaccas66, BSN, RN · Dec 7, 2010

NurseSteph

The worse ones are when u get heavy people out of bed, get them all comfortable, re-shuffle the pillows, get their socks & slippers on, ensure they're warm, ect, then 5 minutes later they're ringing bells saying: "I don't want to sit outside now, I want to go back to bed". So we did that, then 5 minutes later, the patient said: "I've changed my mind, I want to sit out in the chair". This guy hadn't been dx with dementia or anything, so I told him he was being silly & would have to stay in bed. He grumbled a bit, and then decided he didn't really want to sit out of bed anyway. I felt like saying: "Talk about procrastination, make up ur mind!"