I make the worst patient
As a nurse, there are few things more irritating than the patient who seems to be wasting my time.
They come in with pain or fever and haven't tried ibuprofen or Tylenol. They insist on an immediate appointment for things that have been going on for weeks. They tell the medical assistant or nurse one thing and the doctor something totally different. And they are hypercritical of my staff.
The other day, I got to be a patient. I had something nasty going on with my toes. I won't go into that.
Anyway, the problem had been going on for weeks, so I called for an immediate appointment. Of course, I hadn't tried Tylenol or ibuprofen. I was really critical of the staff. And, I forgot a few things, so my story changed when the doctor came in.
If I were the nurse, I would be totally annoyed with me. Will this change how I interact with my patients? Don't be silly.
So you walked in the other persons shoes and you still can't understand?
Do you think you are at that point in your life where you can't get any better? I hope not cause that would mean your are dead. You had the unique experience of having been that patient that annoyed you, empathy and sympathy should have been learned. I advice you to re-experience those moment so you can improve as a person. You are basically saying because you know better its ok for you to behave like that but they can't. Many medical staff i work with forget that we got training in this all and we experience it everyday. It is perfectly fair that they didn't know any better that is exactly why they come to us for help...not to be judge.
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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 04/15/2013 - 23:35.Post new comment