r/nursing • u/NursingManChristDude BSN, RN, FoC, CRRN, CBIS, PCCN • Sep 16 '24

Nursing Hacks Just....walk out of the room

Here's a PSA for my fellow nurses, in case anyone hasn't realized they can do this:

If a patient is being rude to you, just walk out of the room. If necessary, don't even say anything beforehand. When you return, at the time of your choosing, simply ask them "Are you ready to be more respectful?"

I haven't had to do this often, because I am aware of he misogynistic attitude patients have in treating me, a male, with more respect than my fellow female employees.

But, it's like having a secret weapon in your back pocket at all times, and you should never feel disrespected/mistreated/abused by your patients. They need you, not the other way around. This certainly falls under the category of "nursing hack".

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u/Specialist-Most-7152 Sep 16 '24

I'd done it. It can go both ways. Either they respect you more and are pretty nice after (rare) or they complain to their family or patient relations and you get pulled into the office asking what you could had done differently. Honestly there is no winning that situation.

355

u/Jerking_From_Home RN, BSN, EMT-P, RSTLNE, ADHD, KNOWN FARTER, DEI SPECTRUM HIRE Sep 16 '24

That’s why right after you leave the room you put a note in their chart and let your charge or manager know.

It’s not about who’s right, but who complains first. The first person to say something puts the other person on automatic defense in the eyes of the unit manager/patient relations. Let someone know there’s a problem before they complain.

10

u/Medicp3009 RN - ICU 🍕 Sep 16 '24

The titles have me 💀 bro.

13

u/Jerking_From_Home RN, BSN, EMT-P, RSTLNE, ADHD, KNOWN FARTER, DEI SPECTRUM HIRE Sep 16 '24

You can put the medic through nursing school, but you can’t stop him from getting in trouble at the hospital bc turning off the medic personality is impossible.

7

u/Medicp3009 RN - ICU 🍕 Sep 16 '24

Facts. We are cut from the same cloth. Medic to sicu RN.

4

u/Jerking_From_Home RN, BSN, EMT-P, RSTLNE, ADHD, KNOWN FARTER, DEI SPECTRUM HIRE Sep 16 '24

It’s all fun and games until someone complains.

3

u/gasparsgirl1017 Sep 16 '24

Me: all 125lbs of me sitting on a PCP patient in the ED while PD, security, the EMS crew that brought him in and Fire that followed them are also trying to also restrain him while my coworkers are trying to figure out what to do. "Hey, we don't act like that here! Knock it off!"

Older and seasoned PD to me: "So... you used to be on the street, huh? Medic?"

Me: "Used to? Still do. For fun. I SAID KNOCK IT OFF. Jesus, I hate waiting for orders, can we take him back in the truck and do something then start over?"

Everyone but my coworkers, none of whom were first responders: "Hahahahahaha! No."

Me: "Fair. This is payback for waiting to push the rest of the narcan until I rolled into the ambulance bay."

Fire and EMS: "Hahahahahahahaha, yeah."

Coworkers still standing back waiting for orders: "That's not funny."

Me: "Well it isn't NOW, it is when I'm not in scrubs."

We are just feral and when you put EMS in a hospital setting, it's just a trap and release program. A very expensive trap and release program.