Human nurses...

[mdnightinlondon]

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Is it just me or are R.N.'s the hardest clients to work with? I am a non-licensed technician and have been working in the same clinic for about 3 years. Over this time, I have met about 8 R.N.'s and would not wish those experiences on my worst enemy. I'm sure they are nice enough people outside of this situation but my god, I have never been more put down in my life!

 

[Minnerbelle]

Is it just me or are R.N.'s the hardest clients to work with? I am a non-licensed technician and have been working in the same clinic for about 3 years. Over this time, I have met about 8 R.N.'s and would not wish those experiences on my worst enemy. I'm sure they are nice enough people outside of this situation but my god, I have never been more put down in my life!

Please expand and share. I've never worked with clients (RN or otherwise). I'd love to have fun stories to read while I'm slacking at work tomorrow. 😀

before anyone gets offended, I'd like to say that I just want to hear these stories because I'm a b***chy character who likes to hear people vent. Not sure that RN's deserve being singled out. I have noooo experience and have noooo idea, but I know SDN is so much funner at work when I'm not refreshing over and over to see no new posts.

 

[PrimalMU]

Honestly, I've found that our clients who are nurses aren't any more or any less difficult to work with than our non-nurse clients. There are those who think they know everything, but then again there are the idiots who know absolutely nothing about medicine who think they know everything as well.

 

[NStarz]

Just speculation as I'm really only just starting to get clinical hours, but aren't human MDs/DOs just as bad (if not worse)?

 

[mdnightinlondon]

Happily!
At my small animal clinic, the vets interpret lab results and then write us a small paragraph of the highlights and then we call the owners with the results. In a nutshell, sometimes we give the owners results without knowing extensively, through and through, exactly what they mean. If the owners have technical questions, we can ask the doctor when we don't understand something and then call the owner back to elaborate.
Today, I called an owner and she interrupted me, mid-sentence, with all sorts of medical jargon that I did not understand so when I said that I would need to consult with the vet before answering she told me to fax her the results and she would interpret them herself. I rightly asked if she was a veterinarian... she was an R.N. Then, she was angry because another technician gave her a certain antibiotic and she felt that another antibiotic would have been better. I let her know that the veterinarian would have prescribed the other antibiotic if she felt the dog needed it.
Long story short, in my experience, human nurses either feel that they can treat the animal better than the veterinarian or the attempt to make us feel stupid if we are not at their equivalent level of expertise. Maybe they don't understand that vet med is in some ways different to human med in treatment/medicines..or that vet techs (at least in my state (AZ) don't have to have the same level of education as human nurses do to call themselves animal "nurses"

 

[mdnightinlondon]

Just speculation as I'm really only just starting to get clinical hours, but aren't human MDs/DOs just as bad (if not worse)?

That is sometimes true as well. It's also true that you get tough clients who don't know anything about medicine and still act like they do but I guess I just get frustrated because I think, would I ever go to the doctor's office and tell them that I am a veterinary technician and I will just remove my sutures/staples/whatever myself or I'll have my vet interpret my lab results? The answer is no because I'm not that full of myself.

***This does not include all M.D.'s or R.N.'s...I'm just venting. I know we all get difficult clients regardless of what they do for a living

 

[PrimalMU]

Just speculation as I'm really only just starting to get clinical hours, but aren't human MDs/DOs just as bad (if not worse)?

Oddly enough, my clinic doesn't have this problem either. A few of our clients who are MDs really respect veterinarians. One of our clients used to be at John Hopkins before moving to this area, and she was an absolute delight to work with!

 

[Armymutt25A]

I've got 4 RNs in my family, and one half way through school. They all ask ME any questions involving animals - I hadn't set foot in a clinic in a decade before last summer. Luckily, my baby sister got into Glasgow this year, so she can start taking the heat instead. 🙂

 

[breenie]

One reason I like RNs: They aren't afraid of needles! If you want to send their cat home with some SQ fluids for a few days, you don't have to reassure them, "Yes, really, it's okay to stick your cat with that needle."

As mentioned, sometimes they can be know-it-all-y, but I've found that most of our RN clients aren't. They're usually just curious, and trying to figure out what is similar, what is not, how animals work, etc. It's nice to have clients who have a bit of a medical background and are enthusiastic about learning how to care for their pets.

 

[karmapple]

Yes, some of the most pain-in-the-arse clients I've ever met were RNs.

Here is my theory: It just seems like all nurses are terrible clients, because the ones who feel the need to loudly proclaim, "I'm a nurse!" every 5 seconds are the ones who will interrupt you, challenge you, and insult you. The nice ones who trust the expertise of the veterinarian don't feel the need to constantly remind you of their occupation, and so all you remember is that they were a nice client, and not that they are an RN. Or maybe they never feel the need to tell you. I don't walk into my GP's office and constantly brag about being a vet student. I know I'm just another patient.

I'm betting (hoping?) the latter group of nurses is the larger one.

 

[der2002]

In nearly a year of working in a busy SA hospital, I've noticed that it isn't the MD/RN's who have been the most difficult clients (if anything, they are usually very understanding), rather those people who assume medical knowledge by internet proxy. The "well I read online that..." kinda folks. I am, however, in favor of people coming in well-read and ready to ask informed and thoughtful questions of the vet, especially when it comes to selecting from multiple procedures/treatments for their pet. Just don't assume that 15 minutes spent in a cursory google search makes you an expert in vet med (a massive pet peeve of mine...)

 

[eventualeventer]

Karmapple, I agree, and I've worked with some nurses and doctors - and even SA vets who knew they were not up enough on equine medicine - who were pleasant to deal with.

OTOH, sometimes I think that the human med people are a bit more irritating to me because I expect that they would know better. E.g., a doctor who wanted to take his foundering horse home and euthanize it himself - true, we can't stop you from doing whatever to your own horse as long as it doesn't cross the line of animal cruelty, but he asked for US to DISPENSE an entire bottle (1 bottle = 1 dose, and I have seen normal-sized horses who needed more) of Beuthanasia for him. Needless to say, we convinced him to get an actual vet to go to the farm and euthanize the horse.

 

[HopefulAg]

In nearly a year of working in a busy SA hospital, I've noticed that it isn't the MD/RN's who have been the most difficult clients (if anything, they are usually very understanding), rather those people who assume medical knowledge by internet proxy

These are pretty near the worst. If you're mispronouncing every other word, you likely don't know what you're talking about. If you bring in a huge stack of papers printed off the web where every other word is misspelled, they likely don't know what they're talking about either.

Though the 'my breeder said...' variant is way worse. Evidently every breeder not only has a DVM, but knows better than the ones who choose to practice medicine vs breeding. 🙄

 

[Whyevernot55]

I've met a few of both breeds - RNs and MDs who are completely rude know it alls, and those who are perfectly pleasant, curious, wonderful clients. My biggest pet peeve is the ones who treat me like I'm a ***** because I don't have DVM after my name. They INSIST on speaking to the vet even though the dog's labwork is perfectly normal, and I am perfectly capable of explaining what you need to know. We have one older, male MD who absolutely would NOT take no for an answer when we told him that the Dr he wanted to speak to was off that day. I told him I would have her call him tomorrow, or that he could speak to the other Dr right now. He asked me to call her AT HOME on her day off. When I said nope, no way, he asked for her home phone number. I was like...Sir, do you give YOUR clients your home phone number? 🙄

My boss loves the people who come in with a stack of paper from the internet. When they start tentatively mispronouncing large medical words they don't understand, she typically starts using large medical words right back at them. The incoherent terror of looking like a ***** usually makes them back off, and we can get back to the problem, ie the cat has hairballs. While I appreciate people trying to educate themselves, the internet has made it all too easy to find ridiculous information with no relevance. It only makes our jobs harder!

 

[Coquette22]

While I appreciate people trying to educate themselves, the internet has made it all too easy to find ridiculous information with no relevance. It only makes our jobs harder!

A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Actually, i've had some interesting encounters with nurses as a patient myself.

Last time I went to go donate blood, the nurse was like "so you're one of the lookers huh?" so I looked at her quizzically and she goes "people either look away when being stuck or stare intently"

I laughed and told her that I'm not a freak and don't get off on staring at needles, that I was just very curious as to how you find veins on human arms (esp mine) since they don't stick out like a cat's. We got in an interesting convo after that and compared our experiences.

 

[Bearby]

E.g., a doctor who wanted to take his foundering horse home and euthanize it himself - true, we can't stop you from doing whatever to your own horse as long as it doesn't cross the line of animal cruelty, but he asked for US to DISPENSE an entire bottle (1 bottle = 1 dose, and I have seen normal-sized horses who needed more) of Beuthanasia for him. Needless to say, we convinced him to get an actual vet to go to the farm and euthanize the horse.

I had a person call the other day and ask to take home some Euthasol for their dog that they wanted to put down. All I could think as I told them that legally we couldn't do that was, "what if this person tried to use it on themselves instead"

Just don't assume that 15 minutes spent in a cursory google search makes you an expert in vet med (a massive pet peeve of mine...)

Ah, Dr. Google...brilliant and stupid all at the same time.


I don't have any first-hand frustrations with RNs or MDs but I did have a lady come in whose husband was an MD. Their dog had an ear infection and she said that she would just have her husband look at it and treat it. The doctor responded with "If your child had an ear infection would you bring him to see me?" The client allowed the vet to proceed with ear cytology and treatment.

 

[PrimalMU]

One good thing about RNs and MDs is that they are usually much more understanding of the need for diagnostics. They know firsthand why you can't just look at a patient and diagnose Cushings, etc, without some bloodwork.

 

[StartingoverVet]

Here is my theory: It just seems like all nurses are terrible clients, because the ones who feel the need to loudly proclaim, "I'm a nurse!" every 5 seconds are the ones who will interrupt you, challenge you, and insult you. The nice ones who trust the expertise of the veterinarian don't feel the need to constantly remind you of their occupation, and so all you remember is that they were a nice client, and not that they are an RN. Or maybe they never feel the need to tell you. I don't walk into my GP's office and constantly brag about being a vet student. I know I'm just another patient.

I'm betting (hoping?) the latter group of nurses is the larger one.

I agree with this. I had the same negative perception of nurses and then realized it was just a couple who loudly proclaim their occupation as if that meant they should be treated them differently.

Especially when it comes to "coming back" with their (usually) dogs for a procedure. "If I'm there he'll be calmer and I'm a nurse so it's ok." What they don't get (and what is the dirty little secret) is that most dogs are at their worst around their owners. Unfortunately, you can't really tell that to most owners.

 

[nyanko]

Especially when it comes to "coming back" with their (usually) dogs for a procedure. "If I'm there he'll be calmer and I'm a nurse so it's ok." What they don't get (and what is the dirty little secret) is that most dogs are at their worst around their owners. Unfortunately, you can't really tell that to most owners.

I know this is usually the case and it makes me feel kind of bad when I tell people that my cat is actually much calmer and better around me because then I feel like one of those owners. So I don't say anything usually and just let them take him back and they come back to me with a soiled carrier and Ridley looking terrified and are like "I don't know what happened, he was so good in here..." and I'm like yeah...

 

[168135]

My mom is an R.N. She's an awesome client 😉

 

[that redhead]

...because I think, would I ever go to the doctor's office and tell them that I am a veterinary technician and I will just remove my sutures/staples/whatever myself or I'll have my vet interpret my lab results? The answer is no because I'm not that full of myself.

During my time at my small animal clinic, one tech removed her own sutures (from a hand surgery, given permission by her doctor), one tech stitched up his own hand (he was like that.. 😛) and one of the tech's mom's came in and had her wrist x-rayed and had the results read by our head doctor. In all three cases it was never "Oh my doctor is an idiot, I can do this better because I'm a vet tech!" it was a matter of saving time and money.

To be honest, I think many medical skills translate between human and animal medicine. There's no need to be stuffy about it, like the RN was to you, but she probably -could- read and understand the results! Maybe next time, though, you should politely ask her why she didn't just draw the blood, run the blood and draw her own conclusions instead of wasting you/lab tech/doctor's time? 😉

 

[svendenhowser]

Well I am an RN and I think I'd make a great client 😛

I do agree than nurses can be bad patients, especially the older ones who know nothing about your speciality area (I'm a vascular surgical nurse) and come from somewhere like general practice but think they know everything about vascular sugery 🙄

I personally respect anyones judgement who I believe has more training or expertise than myself (which honestly is pretty much everyone 😛). I don't go to the doctor and say "I have this and this, give me this medication", I give them my symptoms and let them do the work, if I have an inkling of what it is then fine, but I let the person in the know do the work.

I'm pretty sure as a new graduate vet next year I will be relying heavily on the vet nursing staff for help and reassurance initially. Theres plenty of things I won't be confident in that nurses will be and I have no problems saying so and asking for help.

 

[CupOfJeaux]

Most of the nurses I've met make pretty good clients, especially when an animal needs something like sub q fluids or insulin.

A few months ago though, we had a call from a nursing student like 5 mins before closing on a saturday afternoon. She said her cat had red discharge from its eyes. The doctors told her that they couldn't tell her what was wrong with the cat without seeing her and told her she should probably go to the E.R. clinic because we were closing. Well she aparently didn't want to go to the E.R. clinic and said, "Well I am a nursing student, so I think I will just look through my textbooks and diagonis the problem myself." 🙄

 

[jpeterman13]

IME, the R.N's are totally fine to work with. M.D.'s are more than fine, they are a delight and are completely respectful and trusting of the doctor. It's the medical technicians and assistants that give us so much grief. We had a med tech in last week who somehow self diagnosed her dog with diabetes. She was somehow getting ahold of insulin and was administering it to her dog (noone knows where she was getting it, she refused to tell us). BIG SURPRISE, she overdosed her dog and had to take him to the ER. So she came to us the next day whining about how the ER told her that it was because of the insulin and that that was "preposterous". She wanted the doctor to tell her what the correct dose would be. She wouldn't tell her because she didn't even know if the dog was actually a diabetic. There was a swarm of swear words, tears, and screams in that exam room . And I stood there awkwardly as she was doing all of this...insane.

 

[Vet Engineer]

We have a few MDs that are huge pains and DDS that is a bit much.

One of the MDs brought her dog in because it was having trouble breathing. Turns out, she had pneumonia, but the owner wouldn't let us keep her overnight on IV fluids with a humidifier because dogs don't need that much medical attention. Instead she just brought the dog in every day for a quick "recheck". Anyways, the dog ended up dying at home. It was SO frustrating and upsetting knowing that we could have helped that poor dog.

 

[NStarz]

We have a few MDs that are huge pains and DDS that is a bit much.

One of the MDs brought her dog in because it was having trouble breathing. Turns out, she had pneumonia, but the owner wouldn't let us keep her overnight on IV fluids with a humidifier because dogs don't need that much medical attention. Instead she just brought the dog in every day for a quick "recheck". Anyways, the dog ended up dying at home. It was SO frustrating and upsetting knowing that we could have helped that poor dog.

That's just disgusting. Hopefully the "it's just a dog" mentality is fading.

 

[eventualeventer]

Jpeterman, in Maryland you can get insulin OTC (not sure about other states). I was with a friend when she went to get some for her diabetic cat -- they didn't ask for her name or anything, just handed her a bottle of Humulin and a box of insulin syringes. 😱 <- my face of surprise, as I had no idea before that

 

[Veracosa]

I must say that some our most obnoxious clients are nurses (or PA's). Not to say all nurses are bad, but there is something about people with abrasive personalities that are in a medical field that makes them EXTRA annoying.

Usually the prime offenders just second guess everything and think they know better. These are also the same people that don't quite comprehend that what goes for a person doesn't always mean it's good for a pet...like the ones that check BG's on their pet three times daily and adjust the insulin at their whim (and wonder why Fluffy runs away from them).

On the flip side, some of our best clients are MD's, so I guess it all depends on personality.

My favorite "bad nurse" story is how we had a pediatric nurse bring her pug puppy back in a week after being diagnosed with demodex. Her puppy was vomiting after she would get her Ivermectin.
We figure out that she was dosing the puppy with 3 mL by mouth instead of 0.3 mL. Thank goodness the pup vomited...
But just think, she was a pediatric nurse! Decimal points should be her business! oy vey!

 

[sunshinevet]

What they don't get (and what is the dirty little secret) is that most dogs are at their worst around their owners. Unfortunately, you can't really tell that to most owners.

I do tell this to most owners. Seriously, try it. It makes your life so much easier.

I work in a couple of vet clinics in very wealthy suburbs, so a lot of people who come in are doctors. Some are just fantastic, and understand the costs of veterinary care and bring their animal in for every little thing, others are way more painful. Some are extreme advocates for their patients, which is nice to see.

My most annoying encounter with someone in the medical profession was actually a medical student - she was in her 5th year (out of 6). We were euthanaising the family dog - her brother and her mother were there, the mother was an absolute mess - completely devestated. This daughter proceeded to ask me and the vet questions about the vet course, and comparing it to the med course, literally up until the point where I was holding up the vein and the vet was about to inject - and she asks another question!!! At this point in time, the vet actually pointed out how upset her mother was, and how inappropriate this conversation was, and the girl shut up. I really hope it was some strange grief coping mechanism, as opposed to an outright lack of compassion...

 

[DVMDream]

I know this is usually the case and it makes me feel kind of bad when I tell people that my cat is actually much calmer and better around me because then I feel like one of those owners. So I don't say anything usually and just let them take him back and they come back to me with a soiled carrier and Ridley looking terrified and are like "I don't know what happened, he was so good in here..." and I'm like yeah...

We have a dog that comes into our clinic who is like your cat; as long as his dad is there he will not try to eat us. When dad is not there; he will snarl, snap, growl, lunge, alligator roll, etc. The dog is actully not allowed to come in unless dad is going to be with him. Luckily for us, dad likes to be with him and is willing to help hold him down for treatments, etc. It is really nice when you can have an owner who understands why we have to hold certain ways for treatments and understands that we are doing what is best for the dog and is willing to help us do it....so we do not get eaten. 😛

 

[StartingoverVet]

I do tell this to most owners. Seriously, try it. It makes your life so much easier.

I think I communicated poorly. Of course you tell the patients that, but they don't want to hear it. The ones who protest the loudest are the ones who are usually the biggest trouble!

 

[breenie]

When dad is not there; he will snarl, snap, growl, lunge, alligator roll, etc.

Oh man, gotta watch out for those alligator rolls!

 

[Vet Engineer]

We have a dog that comes into our clinic who is like your cat; as long as his dad is there he will not try to eat us. When dad is not there; he will snarl, snap, growl, lunge, alligator roll, etc. The dog is actully not allowed to come in unless dad is going to be with him. Luckily for us, dad likes to be with him and is willing to help hold him down for treatments, etc. It is really nice when you can have an owner who understands why we have to hold certain ways for treatments and understands that we are doing what is best for the dog and is willing to help us do it....so we do not get eaten. 😛

We have a police dog client like that. If the handler/owner is with him, he is fine, but he will attack without her. I wouldn't mind if all GSDs were like that though. It's better than the high energy, cooped up all day, untrained ones that are totally uncontrollable.

 

[KKibo]

Never really had a problem with R.N.'s or M.D.'s at out clinic, most are actually really respectful and willing to go the distance with diagnostics, its the hippies, or i guess granolas may be the better term😀, that kill me in this area. Anyone else have that problem?

Another one that bugs me, is the pre-nursing...or better yet expre-nursing students that work at the clinic I do. They Kiiiiiiiiill me 😡. Thankfully most have quit, except for one very obnoxious individual.

 

[Jamr0ckin]

In my experience, EMTs are the worse. They know just enough to get them in trouble. I specifically remember a cat that was diagnosed with diabetes and they did glucose curves themselves and adjusted the insulin rate themselves (even changed from PZI to Humulin!). The owners didn't bring the cat in for 3 years after the initial diagnoses when the cat was in a diabetic ketoacidotic crisis.
The owners that we have that are nurses/doctors are fairly reasonable and respect the difference in the professions. But EMTs seem to treat their pets without consultation more than others in my opinion.

 

[BlacKAT33]

In my experience, EMTs are the worse. They know just enough to get them in trouble. I specifically remember a cat that was diagnosed with diabetes and they did glucose curves themselves and adjusted the insulin rate themselves (even changed from PZI to Humulin!). The owners didn't bring the cat in for 3 years after the initial diagnoses when the cat was in a diabetic ketoacidotic crisis.
The owners that we have that are nurses/doctors are fairly reasonable and respect the difference in the professions. But EMTs seem to treat their pets without consultation more than others in my opinion.

I haven't commented about nurses because i dont have that much experience with nurses+their pets. However, i would totally agree that EMTs think they know everything. I have met SO many pre-meds who are EMTs and they act like they can diagnose and treat everyone. it's soooooo annoying

 

[twelvetigers]

Okay, here's my $0.02.

There are always going to be 'problem' clients - ones that don't want to comply, that complain about the cost, that read on the internet and then try to sound like they know everything about it as a result, and those that are just plain rude. Now, if you look at the total percentage of 'problem' clients, it would be what, 5%? Something like that?

Now, how many of the clinic's clients are 'professionals' (RNs, EMTs, MDs, DOs, DDSs, etc.)? Maybe 8%? Ish?

So, how many of the 8% are also part of the 5%?

The reason we notice these people so much more is because, when they are both a 'professional' AND a 'problem' client, they have a bit more background to toss around. They think that this background means that they are able to handle a lot more than they actually can, or that they are giving good input...

So it's not all 'professionals' are 'problem' clients. It's just extra difficult when they are.