Life as a nurse, doctor or any other healthcare professional can be incredibly rewarding and unbelievably difficult at the same time. There are many pros, but the list of cons can sometimes seem to be equally as long (if not longer), especially after a hard day of helping patients, not all of whom are the brightest of the bunch.
A British nurse, who goes by the nickname GoddessBadger on Imgur, shared her work stories about the most oblivious, impolite, and downright bizarre patients she’s ever had to deal with. Upvote the stories you enjoyed the most, share them with your amigos, and keep on scrolling. While we’re on the subject of nurses, be sure to check out our post about the best and funniest nurse memes — they’re sure to get a chuckle or two out of you.
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"We, of course, explain to her that cola is not an appropriate food to be giving to her child."
Need a license for everything else, having a baby should be top of the list
Load More Replies...What the actual f**k? I don’t understand how a parent doesn’t know that babies either need breastmilk or formula.
But she had the cola on hand Breastfeeding 'ruins your figure'. (Don't worry, I don't understand that one either.)
Load More Replies...How can someone go through an entire pregnancy and never find out how to feed a baby?
Ask the mothers who hit up the welfare department for disposable diapers.
Load More Replies...Poor baby. I hope it had no lasting health problems from all that caffeine and the Mom did learn her lesson.
Thinking about this... how did the baby survive a) without formula/ breastmilk and b) with caffein instead?
Load More Replies...Better, having to take a child raising course once they are pregnant. Otherwise baby will not be handed over after birth.
Load More Replies...Please tell me this baby was taken away from the parents and brought to a safe home?
Mom sounds stupid more than malicious. They should try parenting classes and monitoring before taking the kid away.
Load More Replies...But it's very true. And it said they weren't all funny--just notable.
Load More Replies...I would say that too. But is it really in the eyes of the law if the parent did not know better? Although how anyone can think that Cola is appropriate for a baby is beyond me.
Load More Replies...This is precisely the reason people need to take tests before being allowed to procreate.
This makes me think she's very young, and obviously very stupid, with a side of pool size ignorance.
Are some parents really this stupid that they it is okay to give cola to a baby? That would be like letting your baby drink a Monster.
They give them hard liquor 'to help with teething'. They give them beer 'because'. They give them marshmallows when they're older 'because that's what they eat.' I had a friend who worked CSP; you wouldn't BELIEVE the stories I heard! I worked for welfare for 33 years. I heard more.
Load More Replies...I fear people, meaning this young girls parents, should be more involved. How is it a female can Become impregnated, go thru pregnancy, bare a child, and not one adult with half a brain be by her side and teach her. IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD when that child does not have an adult to raise her.
We're too far into the 'don't ruin their lives' culture. And with the anti-life-all-women-should-have-that-baby-no-matter-what people trying to make stupid laws, this is what we get!
Load More Replies...As a nurse I really hope this hospital got counseling for this woman on how to care for a baby.
If any mother is that stupid then I find it hard to beleive that she is capable of properly caring for her child at all, I mean really......feeding her baby coke.
And think where her priorities lie. She had Cake for herself, but didn't buy milk for her baby. People!
Load More Replies...A few years ago I taught a parenting class and informed a mother who was feeding her baby cola from a baby bottle that she shouldn't do that. She insisted "But he LIKES it!"
"But it's all he'll drink." It's amazing the stories people will tell you.
Load More Replies...Oh, yeah. How about: the only reason I send her to school is that the law makes me do it. She doesn't need to; she can stay on welfare." ?
Load More Replies...giving a baby a taste for caffeine is really c**p, apart from the obvious health risks, you are setting her/him up for addiction,
How is this supposed to be funny? This is child neglect and could have killed the baby...!
When I lived in a small town in central Ohio, many people told me that I should put Mountain Dew my babies bottle, to calm her down when she's fussy. Thankfully, I did not take this advice.
What part of the world is this where people do not have some kind of class or parent advice???
Modern day America. "You can't tell me what to do."
Load More Replies...Wait until they're, like, six, and even then only give them a sip occasionally, *not* as the only thing they drink!
I didn't even know that stuff *existed* until I was ten!
Load More Replies...If it doesn’t say on the bottle not to feed it to an infant, the mother can sue the heck out of the cola people. (In the USA - here in Europe we believe in using the brain).
Contraceptives should be mandatory at 5, and people (of both sexes!) should have to a) take classes and b) pass a mandatory intelligence and practicality test before being allowed to have a baby.
Wait, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, or some other brand? Because only one is acceptable to drink. Not by babies, but you know what I mean. Also, the correct answer is Coca-Cola.
"Carry on with your c**p and you will be booked in for an autopsy!!"
"Truly amazing how much this gets thrown at us NHS nurses when somebody can’t get their own way... Do they not realise that we pay taxes too?"
GoddessBadger’s work stories were a booming success on Imgur. It even made the front page! Her meme collection got 4,930 upvotes and was viewed over 150,220 times at the time of writing. But these numbers keep on getting bigger and bigger, as the stories go even more viral.
The emergency room nurse from England detailed just how weird her shifts can get: from one patient refusing suppositories because they’re ‘not gay’ to a mother giving her baby fizzy drinks instead of formula. [Groans internally]
It takes the patience of a saint to get through to people who are as oblivious as this. So we’re probably all grateful that there are so many healthcare professionals out there who are patient enough to excuse our mistakes.
"She was at LEAST 80 years old"
My (now passed) 90 year old grandmother said she didn't want to date anyone in her retirement home because they were all too old for her and she didn't have the energy to lift her butt in the air anymore. She had 8 children and said that every time she took her pants off she got pregnant. I hope I'm as spunky when I'm 90.
Speaking of patience with patients (pun intended), Jacksonville University has some great advice on how to deal with incredibly inconvenient individuals. The most important thing for a healthcare professional is to remain calm and maintain control.
Furthermore, it’s vitally important that nurses, doctors, and other hospital staff be as empathetic as they can. If a patient is angry or upset, they might simply want to complain a tad, so try talking to them, show them that you understand their pain and that you’re on their side. We’re all human beings and we all want to be heard.
"Racism is surprisingly common. I am British but not white so I face a lot of these comments. Sometimes I can be on an entire shift without a white British staff member...
If you’re a racist, I have one thing to say to you... 'Grow the f**k up.'"
I understand asking for someone who is more fluent in your language due to misunderstandings and language barriers but definitely not because of race. That’s just ignorant. My regular GP is an Indian and there are rare occasions where he says something that I need him to repeat and he is happy to do so. He is one of the best GP’s I have come across in a very long time.
"We end up giving them an IV instead since they were adamant they didn’t want a suppository."
"After much deliberation and a look through their medical records, we realised they meant “Sickle Cell” as in anemia."
Arguing with patients is also never the answer because it doesn’t lead to anything other than more arguments: it’s far better to be respectful; the ER is not the place for a screaming match over whose opinion is correct. That being said, you have to set concrete limits on how a patient can treat you. If a person is being disrespectful, say that this is the wrong way to treat you and walk away. At the end of the day, if you’re feeling exhausted and emotionally sapped, just remember, that you’re doing this job for a reason and that the temporary inconvenience is worth it in the long run.
"This was truly one of the most bizarre excuses I’ve ever heard for a dildo stuck up the butt. This patient insisted that he was minding his own business, running as he normally does in the morning when a dildo wielding assailant appeared and started chasing after him. He claimed he tripped and that’s when our mysterious dildo man inserted the toy... Did we believe him... No... and they never caught the dildo wielding man."
"These types end up in the ED often and often they just need to go home and sleep it off. Discharge is often queried with “How am I supposed to get home?!” Why is that my problem? The Ambulance Service is not your personal taxi service."
Well, if you sit awhile over there in that waiting room, you can take yourself home in the morning.
My mother has some neuropathy (numbness) in her feet as a result of chemo. She keeps telling people she has necrophilia.
If you have to take her places...I think is just wait in the car for her rather than catch the strange looks from people that don’t get it! Lol
Load More Replies...Two young men are sitting in hospital and get into a conversation: 1. "So what are you here for? " 2. "I had a castration, and you? 1. "Just here for observation?" 2. "Damn, that's the word I forgot."
Hahahahaha...defiantly to late for an evaluation!
Load More Replies...Half of these belong on r/boneappletea. The other half is just people being idiots. Still funny anyways!
I saw a t-shirt one day that said "Nurse..the first person you see after you say the words 'Hold my Beer' and 'Watch this'"
as long as they dont reveal the patients names these confessions are not hippa violations
These are hilarious! My former father-in-law was famous for using wrong word. He had a cold one time and asked his wife for some of that nitroglycerin instead of Neoitran! He afforded us a lot of laughs!
Number 11 about the drunk people. If Rescue is called for a public drunk and they are alone, they have to be taken to the ER. They can't just be left out there. Because they can and/or will hurt or kill themselves.
The blatantly for-profit hospitals (like the ones run by the Catholics--seriously) tell them to' go home and take a shower, then come back' before they'll even see them. (Only reason I know is this is the complaints I heard while working in the county hospital's admissions office.)
Load More Replies...My mother has some neuropathy (numbness) in her feet as a result of chemo. She keeps telling people she has necrophilia.
If you have to take her places...I think is just wait in the car for her rather than catch the strange looks from people that don’t get it! Lol
Load More Replies...Two young men are sitting in hospital and get into a conversation: 1. "So what are you here for? " 2. "I had a castration, and you? 1. "Just here for observation?" 2. "Damn, that's the word I forgot."
Hahahahaha...defiantly to late for an evaluation!
Load More Replies...Half of these belong on r/boneappletea. The other half is just people being idiots. Still funny anyways!
I saw a t-shirt one day that said "Nurse..the first person you see after you say the words 'Hold my Beer' and 'Watch this'"
as long as they dont reveal the patients names these confessions are not hippa violations
These are hilarious! My former father-in-law was famous for using wrong word. He had a cold one time and asked his wife for some of that nitroglycerin instead of Neoitran! He afforded us a lot of laughs!
Number 11 about the drunk people. If Rescue is called for a public drunk and they are alone, they have to be taken to the ER. They can't just be left out there. Because they can and/or will hurt or kill themselves.
The blatantly for-profit hospitals (like the ones run by the Catholics--seriously) tell them to' go home and take a shower, then come back' before they'll even see them. (Only reason I know is this is the complaints I heard while working in the county hospital's admissions office.)
Load More Replies...