Nursing is known as a fast-paced job
full of various responsibilities. Often, accepting responsibilities that are
beyond the scope of your nursing license or skill level can sometimes have
serious consequences for you, your nursing career, and more importantly, your
patients. On the other hand, some patients can sometimes be needy and you can
expect rather unnecessary requests and questionable demands from them. In those
cases, it’s important to know when and how to say no to some irrational
requests coming from patients. Not only will that help you do your job properly
and take good care of patients, but it will also protect you from burnout and
legal actions. So, here are several situations in which it is perfectly fine to
say NO to patients’ needs and requests.
1. Patient’s request for
additional visitation hours
Being in a hospital for whatever
reason isn’t easy at all. From your patient’s point of view, spending days or
even weeks in this facility can be a real torture. That’s why you’ve probably
been in a situation in which a patient asks you for a few additional hours of
visitation from his family of friends. Having to say NO to this is probably one
of the hardest things, but you have to. If you’d let this patient have his way,
all the others would expect the same treatment. And, after all, rules are
rules!
2. Patient seeking
medications
Painful injuries or surgeries can
cause a lot of pain. Thus, endless requests of patients for more medications
should be ignored. You are the person who knows what’s best for them and saying
NO to this request shouldn’t make you feel bad. After all, your primary focus
is taking care of patients and making them feel better.
3. Requests to be admitted
before others
Waiting in line for hours. Who likes
that? When you add urgency to that it is almost understandable that some
patients request admission before others in line. These situations sometimes
create frenziness on the ward, and make everyone nervous. This is where you
step in. It’s perfectly OK to warn some patients that they need to wait for
their turn and not make other patients in line angry.
4. Constant need for
attention
Have you ever been in a situation in
which a patient constantly pages you and asks for your immediate supervision?
You are a nurse, of course you have! Although the vast majority of them could
be wonderful, some happen to be in constant need of your attention. They are
probably bored or tired, but you have to explain nicely to the patient that you
have other responsibilities, as well as other patients to take care of.
5. Disruptive behavior
The majority of patients are a
pleasure to work with. They make the job truly rewarding and treat your staff
with respect. But there are also those who can sometimes make your life
miserable. For example, they use inappropriate language, make unreasonable
demands, or even worse, turn to physical abuse. Thankfully, these inappropriate
situations are rare, but when they occur, make sure to put a stop on it
immediately.
Nursing is a profession in which you
encounter and constantly work with a wide range of different people. Of course,
a great deal of them are extremely polite and understanding. But, like in any
other job, you might come across some people who will make unreasonable demands,
or even be abusive. These are the situations in which you have to use the word
NO in order to put a stop to it and maintain peace on the ward. You will not
only make yourself feel better because you did your job right, but also make
all the other patients at peace.
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