There are different stages in life. I am in the stage where my parents are elderly and need a lot of health care. So I spend a lot of time around nurses and only grow in respect for the job they do. Particularly when my dad gets grumpy with them while they are only trying to do their jobs!
That's why I was drawn to this article, in which nurses tell Business Insider what patients could do to make their jobs easier. However, patients would probably just get angrier at them which is why they DON'T say these things out loud.
Things nurses wish they could tell patients include:
- They don’t necessarily love the doctors they’re working with– Patients don’t always know if they are being treated by a good doctor, so if a nurse tells you you can get a second opinion, they may be trying to tell you something.
- A hospital isn’t a hotel– Nurses aren’t maids and they can’t stop what they are doing to be at our beck and call.
- Your condition isn’t always a priority– Nurses will treat patients with more serious conditions first, so your sore throat isn’t necessarily going to be a priority.
- Nurses are on a tight schedule, and tardiness makes their lives harder– Nurses already work long days, don’t make it longer by being late.
- Try to be more concise when relaying your medical history– Nurse’s schedules are pretty tight so help them out by relaying your information in a timely manner.
- Nurses are people too– Try to remember that nurses have lives and can have bad days too.
- It pays to be polite– If you’re mean to a nurse you aren’t going to get better treatment.
- They know more than a patient with a smartphone– Nurses have degrees, don’t tell them what to do because you saw someone do it on TV or you Googled your symptoms.
- Don’t yell out “Nurse!”– Nobody likes being yelled at. Use the call light, that’s what it’s there for, but only use it when you really need something or you’ll get on your nurse’s bad side.
- Vaccinate your kids– Thanks to parents who don’t vaccinate, there have been 940 cases of measles in the US this year alone, the most in 24 years.