We’re All Tired, But None So Much As Healthcare Workers
Bad Behavior, Current Events, Health & Body, Hospital, Patients | Healthy | March 12, 2022
I work in healthcare. When you enter our hospital, you have to wear a mask. Duh, we’re a hospital. But of course, people come here trying to act smart. Just because we’re a hospital, it doesn’t mean we’ll let anything slide. We know that those “health reasons” for not wearing a mask don’t fly. We know that it’s not a HIPAA violation to ask if you’re vaccinated. But of course, some patients want to act high and mighty and righteous and are just looking for a fight. Or they are plain ignorant.
We had a patient who was insistent that the health crisis wasn’t real, even though he’d had a lengthy stay in the hospital with the illness in question.
We had a patient get mad that his mother’s appointment was rescheduled because she tested positive for the illness. He was mad because she couldn’t get Botox injections for her crow’s feet.
And then, we had this patient who called in before his daughter’s appointment.
Patient: “My daughter has [illness]. I don’t want to get it, so I’ve locked her in her room and I’m making her mother take care of her. I’ve been using hand sanitizer every hour, on the hour, and I have UV lights hanging up everywhere in the house. Anyway, I have an appointment at [time].”
Me: “I’m sorry, but we’ll have to reschedule it since someone in your household has [illness].”
He got angry.
Patient: “That’s ridiculous! I’m coming in anyway. I’ll just lie to your screeners at the front door!”
I added notes in his chart, marked “Important,” so he wouldn’t be able to.
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