I have a friend who is blind. Everyone speaks to her very slowly. Dumb $hits!

My father has been very sick lately. When he was in the hospital, I called the nurse to ask how he was doing after he was transferred from the CCU to the regular floor. This was the conversation:

Nurse: Well, he won't open his eyes and he's not responding to requests.
Me: They did tell you he's deaf... right?
Nurse: ....um... no...
Me: He's pretty good at lip reading, but he has to have his eyes open.
Nurse: They didn't tell me he couldn't hear.
Me: Rather difficult to respond to requests if you can't hear them and aren't opening your eyes.

I'm betting they were all doing the baby speak at him and he was very luckily deaf to it all. *grin*

She is so right about that. It grates on my nerves too.

Hospital 101

I was recently in the hospital for a serious operation & some of the nurses do talk down to you, particulary the ones on 2nd shift. I handled that quite well when she asked how comfortable WE were by answering ...Fine! since the other nurse that just left had tucked me in. It only took about half of one shift for her to realize I was playing games with her but she did have to check around to see if there was another nurse on the floor.

After that we got along just fine.

Don't ever let an RN make you feel stupid.

I'm a "simple" little Hospital Maintenance Man... (HVAC, Electrical, Plumbing, Electronics, Computers, Programming, Certified Energy Manager...) I work with these people daily.

You think YOU get talked down to...

You just have to delight in the "duh" moments...

...and they occur so often that they become routine.

"The Nurse call system is down!" You walk up and turn the monitor back on for them.

"The exam light is burned out." (They are toggling the switch on the lamp.) You walk over and turn the wall switch back on that someone used instead, last time.

You have to have a sense of humor or they'll drive you mad...

Growing up all my life with my mom in a wheelchair. I can attest to how some people talking dumb to her. She has MS you fucktard not downs syndrome. I have to admit though that most of the home health nurses she has had over the years have been sweethearts but we have had some real shitheads too. They lasted about a week before my dad or I would tell them to hit the road, if you talk down to my mom your ass is gone!

Yeah, Demerol is some wicked shit. I got a prescription after my motorcycle accident and it's the first time I ever looked at an empty bottle of pills and wondered how I could scam more of them. Scary. Morphine has nothing on that stuff.

You can have a lot of fun with dumb people who think that you are one of them.

Yeah ... Have you ever noticed how many liberals just will assume you are liberal unless you tell them otherwise - and they will open up and just start Bush bashing, etc.? You can have fun with that erroneous assumption.

I must admit, as a healthcare provider I talk sort of loud to most old people. I just get tired of being asked to repeat myself by the ones that can't hear well. I may be a little more sensitive to hearing impaired people since I can't hear very well myself.

I had someone say 'I would rather be dead than a quad.'
I told him if it happens I would bring him a gun.

Heh. As a good Catholic girl who didn't smoke or drink, Demerol was my first introduction to the mellow, a reward for surviving three days of false labor and an emergency C-section. Almost worth it!

My motto while in the hospital was, "get small with Demerol!" Never before, never since, but never forgotten!

Sad experiences of an R.N.: Loved my work but glad to be retired.

As I said to the "little" Hospital Maintenance Man (with Degrees), who came grouchily five times to fix a lamp (he definitely didn't know how to fix): "You're lucky I could revive your heart in 3 minutes. After that, your little brain wouldn't be able to function."

As I said to the grumbling gentleman, who probably thought I was responsible for his discomfort, "You can't have a Demerol now, Sir. You had it one hour ago. It must be working if you don't remember it."

As I said to the adult children who informed me they already had found a permanent Nursing Home for their Dad, or Mom, "It's very nice. Have you discussed this with your Dad (or Mom)? He (she) is preparing to go home with you."

You want more?

How about the coing, patronising, high in pitch language parents use with their babies, people use with their pets, lovers use in intimacy. It makes me sick...

Another pet peeve: blogs languages. Acronyms, emoticons, diminutive English, loss of capital letters...It's pure laziness.

Often, I hardly understand what people are telling me. Sometimes, it's better if I don't. Will I succumb and use it? I already do. In English only. With much distate...LOL

OK! I have recovered from reading that whole thread in one setting and reacting as the devoted caregiver I was.

I have to tell you that I've been a heart- surgery-patient lately. Some staff had big problems with me. Everything you said is true and should not be tolerated. We can add neglect and incompetence to the faulty language and attitude. At times, it's frightening.

Claudia......

As I posted to you some time ago both my Wife & older sister are Registered Nurses. They are old school in that the patient came first, personal ambition for promotion, management rather then care giving were concepts alien to the training they recieved & the sense of duty to the application of patient care instilled into them.

It should be no surprise they both graduated from the same school of nursing which was under the administration of a Catholic Hospital. Sadly that school & one other which was under the auspices of our other major hospital are both gone.

Registered Nurses today are expected to continue their education to a masters degree level at which point human nature being what it is ....most feel over qualified to engage in patient care & seek out administrative positions. As most Nursing studies today are academically based in a collegiate setting, the time honored professionalism for patient care is not emphasized as it was years ago & the hospital training has been relegated to a second tier of importance.

I guess it is hard to provide patient care when you spend your time polishing your resume & reading emploment opportunities for nurses with proper educational credentials. Somehow I think something has been lost here.

dudley1 -

Yes! I totally agree with you. In my days, registered nursing was a vocation and a profession. I was fortunate to work during the golden age of nursing. Today, as you explain so well, it's a career. I would find it very hard to be part of this group.I would miss not to do nursing care

In my recent experience, as a patient, I seldom saw an R.N., except at medication time. And it was never the same R.N. I watched closely what was being done to me. I quizzed the medication nurse on every pill she/he gave to me. It was really a test.I was a difficult patient.I was also a scared patient. In 5 days, 4 times, a mistake was made. I agreed to move to rehab. only if I would take control of my medications. Otherwise I would have gone directly home.

Never mind the language. It's the competence that I question. It's scary.

I hope you're doing well, dudley. You're fortunate to have good nurses with you. My best wishes to all.

You guys are so awesome-I just love the topics and responses that I find here.
I've been lucky to have had some good nurses and some crummy nurses who were lucky to have had me. I don't take shit from the bitchy ones and they find that out right away. I give them my badattude and hide my chart so that they can't have my larnyx removed in the middle of the night for example. Usually, I have them laughing before long. When my sister had her kid she was going into shock afterward. She kept hitting the call button. I fixed her bed, but couldn't find where they were hiding the extra blankets, so I went to the Nurse's station, to ask for some help. I kid you not, they were sitting on their butts gossiping about celebutards AND filing their talons. They wouldn't shut up long enough to hear me, so I got louder. They looked at me in disgust, so I spoke abit quieter when I asked, "Which one of you snotty bitches is going to get off her ass and do her job of nursing before I upset this whole maternity/labor ward"?
They moved quickly then, and on my way out I said, "Take good care of my sister or I'll be back!" They treated her well after, her kid was a problem birth and had to stay in the hospital for about 2 months. My sister kept asking me what I had said to the nurses, because they went from treating her like slime to treating her like a queen. I just said, they don't want to see me again is all...
My three sister in laws, (The 3 Furies) like to brag about what bitches they are. I just like to think that I can be assertive when necessary.
The funniest part of this story, the hospital had one of those dopey no guns signs. So? Plus, my Mom had left her teeny bottle of Vodka at my house months before at Christmas, she was a nervous wreck, so I brought that in my coat pocket so that she could have a cocktail when she returned home. If those nurses only knew the restraint of legal gun carrying and booze running ladies like myself. Too funny.

Give em hell Lisa Kay Bob...

Vetfromhell,
Thats lisakay-jim-bob! hahahhahaa!

I'm hard of hearing and yet everyone talks to me like I'm in a wheelchair. That's pretty fucked up...pretty fucked up now...

Don't even get me started on doctors!!!