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u/Chadwig315 RN - ICU 🍕 1d ago
Ive had patients where I can't even say their job without potentially outing who they are. That temptation is definitely strong when you meet someone so cool.
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u/IcyAnything6306 RN - Corrections 1d ago edited 1d ago
I had a patient like that, when I first became a nurse (read: young and hot), in a really intense manic phase propose to me, offer me cars, jewelry, to retire me 😂 the thing is he could have easily afforded all of it. He was really cool and highly respected in his field unfortunately also very sick and not in the right state of mind to be making such proposals. Would be a great flex lol but ofc that secret dies with me.
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u/Loraze_damn_he_cute RN - ICU 🍕 1d ago
You took care of Kanye West!
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u/guayna RN - Med/Surg 🍕 1d ago
Kanye has been young but never hot
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u/ClarkGablesTeeth L&D/Women's Health RN 1d ago
She said she was young and hot lol, not the celeb
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u/zeatherz RN Cardiac/Step-down 1d ago
Is he “highly respected”?
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u/Travis123083 Home health LPN 1d ago
This was me when I worked as a prison nurse. I'm still bound by NDA's for certain high profile inmates and other like Bill Crosby and Sandusky I can speak about in limited capacity. The temptation was definitely there to talk about them but I didn't want to lose my job or go to jail also.
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u/benzodiazaqueen RN - ER 🍕 1d ago
I had a patient like that (can’t say the job) when I was pretty new. It threw into very fresh perspective how many very nuanced aspects of our lives are controlled by very old people.
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u/doctormink Clinical Ethicist 1d ago
It’s worse when the celebrity is an asshat tbh. I wish I could tell you how I know that.
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u/Enough-One4975 RN 🍕 1d ago
See, those patients aren’t the types I want to tell people about, it’s the countless people suffering because their families can’t allow them to die that I can’t shut the fuck up about. Who cares about a celebrity?
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u/sheeeeelby RN - Cath Lab 🍕 1d ago
I can’t imagine the pressure to not spill any beans about mitch mcconnel.
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u/fightingtobewarm 1d ago
I can’t, because there would be no question that I’d talking if I knew he was dead
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u/Jobu99 Pharmacist 1d ago
He's dead on the inside
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u/thesockswhowearsfox RN - ER 🍕 22h ago
In fairness I think if he dies it’s a matter of public record and not covered by hippa- you can’t reveal diagnosis or cause of death, but the fact of him being dead is public record
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u/ChickenSedanwich BabyLand🍼 1d ago
ooooo boy i’d be singing like a freaking canary 😭😭😭
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u/SWMI5858 BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
That duty to report for the general public’s awareness outweighs any HIPPA violation.
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u/throwawaylandscape23 1d ago
Easy to say when it’s not your license on the line 😅 whoever spilled the beans would never be able to work in healthcare again (at a minimum).
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u/SWMI5858 BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago edited 1d ago
I’m your Reddit ethics advisor, general counsel, and risk manager. Do it.
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u/Mastacator RN, BSN 1d ago
Yeah, if you got caught you could expect death threats for the rest of your life, your family would be harassed, you'd get fake-ass federal charges, your home would be raided by federal agents, etc.
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u/Em_Es_Judd RN - Med/Surg 🍕 1d ago
HIPAA
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u/deferredmomentum RN - ER/SANE 🍕 22h ago
Pretty sure hipaa only applies when the patient is a human being, which Mitch McConnell clearly is not
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u/sheeeeelby RN - Cath Lab 🍕 16h ago
Lol interesting ethical question, does hipaa apply to demons?
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u/secondatthird EMT with Alphabet soup 1d ago
I don’t think my lawyer would let me say a single word about what I did
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u/deferredmomentum RN - ER/SANE 🍕 22h ago edited 12h ago
This is the main reason why I feel like he’s a vegetable rather than physically dead. An in-hospital death would take an insane amount of bribes to cover up just from the sheer amount of staff involved, and there’s no way somebody wouldn’t have talked yet.
Source: I’m big enough to admit I absolutely would have talked by now
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u/sheeeeelby RN - Cath Lab 🍕 16h ago
Yeah he’s probably mostly brain dead but technically still alive. Still unfit to work. Then again, he’s been mostly brain dead and unfit to work for the past several years.
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u/sheeeeelby RN - Cath Lab 🍕 1d ago
One good thing about living in a tiny rural state where nothing is happening is that this never happens. The highest profile people that get admitted are local/state government officials. Even then, I wouldn’t even know who they are unless they told me.
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u/Chemistry-Least 1d ago
"Oh, you're the comptroller? Here's a juice box."
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u/Mrs_Jellybean BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
The MP (member of parliament) came into my unit when I was working. Big press/popularity project. "Hey, what can I do for you as a nurse?" or something to that effect, as I'm walking by with an arm load of supplies for a dressing that was going to take close to an hour. Um, get out of the way? I had to ask afterwards who he was because I had no clue.
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u/Fifteen_inches 1d ago
We had a former NBA player on my (CNA) floor once, it was actually a strain to find him a bed because even at the fullest extension of the largest bed he still couldn’t lay flat.
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u/secret_hitman 1d ago
Anything at/above 6 feet tall seems really uncomfortable. Had a 5'10" that was constantly needing to be pulled up to get off the footboard. I know extensions exist, but that only adds 6" if you're lucky.
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u/TheMarkHasBeenMade BSN RN CWOCN 1d ago
An acquired skill I never considered I’d have when I first got into nursing is being able to pretty accurately guesstimate height just by observing someone in a hospital bed.
Like, I know that biddy is itty bitty when there’s like a foot and a half of bed between the footboard and her toes
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u/Wild-Tale-257 1d ago
Not famous person, but their family.
They were visiting the patient when me and another nurse entered. The other one must have stare at them for them to say: "you must recognize me from somewhere isn't?" Only for the patient to turn on the TV and there's the family member, a reporter of our national television channel.
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u/Scared-Replacement24 RN, PACU 1d ago
I live and work in the Philly area and there have been a few. Mostly sports guys and I have no idea til after 😂
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u/IndigoFlame90 Current BSN, RN, former LPN 1d ago
My husband went to the official orthopedic practice of the Eagles and there were legit signs up saying to just leave them alone if you saw them. 😅
Apparently they had a discrete separate waiting room kind of tucked behind the reception desk and staff would get them directly from the room rather than call out their names (honesty, fair).
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u/Standard-Physics2222 BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
story time. Many, many years ago (early 2010's), I had a patient who was a former Olympic athlete who had actually won a gold medal during the 90's and was relatively known. This patient also ended up having a complication during her rather benign surgery (Doc knicked her aorta) and almost died. The doc ended up never telling the patient (just said it was an unknown accident) so I had a former gold medal Olympic champion who a doc almost killed (and was hiding that fact) and a small part of me wanted to share it with everyone....
Which I did not...
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u/cytochrome_p450_3a4 MD 1d ago
Did they call in vascular surgery? How did the patient not know they had a major aortic injury? I’m sure they had to have found out eventually
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u/Standard-Physics2222 BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
I pulled up the doc surgery notes, said (all of a sudden) there was lots of arterial blood, Vascular was called in including 3 other docs, patient was given multiple blood products and put on so much heparin that they're PTT was off the charts.
While the patient was there for the next week, it really did not seem like they or their family was aware of the exact injury. I'm not sure if the doc came clean later or the family later figured it out. I was working at a rather smaller facility (less than 100 beds, mostly ortho/OBGYN with a 8 bed semi ICU unit) and the patient should have been shipped out but wasn't...
Again, gold medal champion that was relatively known. The patient got better but the mistake seriously hindered them and I believe affected their overall health moving forward
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u/cytochrome_p450_3a4 MD 1d ago
Ahh, I almost asked if this was a gyne surgery because that was my guess for an iatrogenic aortic injury. Is usually the case for when that happens after a “usually benign surgery”. Hopefully they called for vascular surgery help earlier rather than later. My colleagues put their ego aside and are quick to call.
PTT doesn’t really matter because the heparin you give for vascular surgery is going to be off the charts dosing compared to the floor/ICU. That’s normal. They’ll get activated clotting times if they’re concerned in the OR. Usually the concern is they’re under-heparinized.
Just my nosey input as an anesthesiologist
Edit: heparin was probably given because they most likely cross-clamped the aorta to make the aortic repair and didn’t want the aorta to clot off for obvious reasons
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u/Standard-Physics2222 BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
Also due to heavy blood loss, she threw tons of clots in both of her legs, hence the heavy heparin use. And you are right, it was post lap hyst
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u/cytochrome_p450_3a4 MD 1d ago
Heparin was given intraop most likely due to vascular surgery intervention. Clamping an artery you need to give heparin.
Hope she did okay. Hope the gyne was eventually honest about their complication.
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u/deferredmomentum RN - ER/SANE 🍕 22h ago
When I was in nursing school I had a dementia patient who told me she was an Olympic gold medalist. I called bullshit but then I googled her and yup sure enough!
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u/Osiris8869 1d ago
Ill take care of anyone if they truly need it. I've been chosen for VIP assignments, I don't like being chosen for them. Their "team" usually is more demanding than the patient. Never comes with any perks, just extra stress, and scrutiny. I'm more concerned with how many of my teachers from elementary through high school, I've seen naked and been in their charts. Obviously keep it to myself but it seems too weird when I think about it.
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u/MissionVermicelli439 BSN - Float MS ☁️ 1d ago
I wonder if this is how those nurses felt after seeing Mitch McConnell
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u/TheNightHaunter LPN-Hospice 1d ago
or be like me and have the CFOs mom as a hospice patient AND HAVE NO GODANM IDEA WHO HE WAS. We were on a first name fucking basis, and i had ZERO IDEA until after his mom passed my director in a meeting mentions that "Robert CFO wanted to compliment you again ANON for doing a great job with his mom" she claps and others but my clinical manager notices my confusion and says out loud "O shit i never told him" Lol
i was like "you mean bob is the CFO!!!?" side note Family gave the patient edibles based on a recommendation from a oncologist and asked me would i know where to get some? and my dumb, people pleasing ass just told him. Next visit he told me HE TOOK some and thanked me for the suggestion.
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u/DankSmellingNipples BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
I’ve only had one patient whose father was/is very famous and he came into the PACU after his child was beginning to wake up. Really nice guy, his kid went through a relatively routine surgical procedure and was discharged home same day. I went home immediately told my wife all about it. Aside from her though, I wouldn’t trust another soul.
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u/aad0italian Ex ICU, now WFH. 1d ago
Gotta keep that stuff to yourself….not the stuff about telling your wife but about telling us you told your wife 😂.
I also tell my wife everything.
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u/Senior-Cost1070 RN - ER 🍕 1d ago
So I’m TERRIBLE at recognizing celebrities. Especially the sports ones.
I worked in a hospital that used to have all manner of sports humans. I’d always get thanked for treating them like regular people….bro I don’t know or care who you are, an ESI 4 is an ESI 4
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u/Simi_Dee 1d ago
sports humans.
😅😅
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u/Senior-Cost1070 RN - ER 🍕 1d ago
I get SO MUCH SHIT for never knowing what’s going on with sportsball.
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u/AVALANCHE-VII RN - ER 🍕 1d ago
I was trying to take a patient to CT once, we have to take them in either a wheelchair or bed. The pt saw the wheelchair and kept saying nope they can walk and I tried to explain it to them. Then they told me they are a major professional athlete and were worried someone would spot them and spread rumor of a severe injury. I didn’t know who they were but I could understand their POV.
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u/Senior-Cost1070 RN - ER 🍕 1d ago
“Pt refused wheelchair. Ambulates steadily to radiology. Faceplants after contrast.”
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u/krandrn11 1d ago
Dude! Or when the news reports don’t match the situation AT ALL! There are secrets I know I have to juts take to my grave. Or give my journals to my grandkids when I die.
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u/throwawaylandscape23 1d ago
Not a celebrity but someone whose job was so specific that I can’t mention it without it violating privacy. Which sucks because this patient was so cool and they talked to me for hours about their profession over the several days I had them (and I can’t tell anyone 😭)
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u/Mrs_Jellybean BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
Similar situation!! Cared for family of [specific job, only 1 in town] and they were so, so lovely!!!
They were all so kind, and down to earth. I was expecting [specific job] to be super stern and stoic. Nope. Big ol' kid when we started chatting about the pneumatic tube system, of all things. If I remember, they had a physics background and knew more about pneumatic tubes than I ever thought possible.
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u/nutellawithicecream 1d ago
I've seen Nicole Kidman and the Wiggles visiting my unit not as patients, does it count lol
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u/airboRN_82 BSN, RN, CCRN, Necrotic Tit-Flail of Doom 1d ago
"oh a celebrity. Theyre going to be a pretentious entitled prick"
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u/CollieKollie 1d ago
Saw a YouTuber with 5 million subs whole naked body because he had a weird rash EVERYWHERE.
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u/MurseMan1964 RN 🍕 1d ago
Met Dolly Parton when she was visiting her friend at the LTC/Rehab facility in Brentwood, TN I worked for. Her friend had a room at that end of the hallway by the door so that Dolly could come and go without having to walk through the facility. She was just as sweet as everyone says and very tiny. I walked in the room the first time and she was curled up in a chair with her shoes off. She was very down to earth. We’d get a lot of “famous” musicians and/or their family members there for physical therapy rehab, Dolly was obviously the most famous.
I would hand out my business cards which had my cell number on it and I would tell my friends and family that Dolly had my number. My business card was probably in the trash can as soon as I closed the door lol.
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u/MamaMoXO MSN, RN 1d ago
They’re just another patient AFIAC. 🤷🏻♀️
I did have one newborn that was released to an adoption attorney, and the attorney said the parents (one of whom was a well-known celebrity) had requested the personal contact info of the discharge nurse. I explained to the attorney that I would have to at least let my husband know that if someone called for me claiming to be said celebrity that it was a legit call. Husband would have likely told the celebrity off and hung up if I hadn’t given him warning. Attorney agreed. Husband is still irritated that I complied with the request and gave my number to a celebrity family😆
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u/StevynTheHero RN - Telemetry 🍕 1d ago
People with celebrity worship mystify me.
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u/Old-Bowler4150 RN - PICU 🍕 1d ago
Had a patient w a celebrity dad who acted like he was so above speaking to me but his peak fame was in the 80s and I was born in the 90s. Sir idek you, I just want to make sure your child doesn’t have any allergies
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u/LeadLung 1d ago
I used to be kind of embarassed about how few celbrities I recognize. People act like you're not cool or something.
When I worked in retail I spent half an hour helping a customer pick out a variety of watercolor painting supplies. He had his hoodie up and he seemed a little antsy, but my shop was in Seattle's Capitol Hill so I met (and delighted in) plenty of weirdos, so I thought nothing of it. Polite, quiet. Kinda short.
After checking him out my coworker explained it was Macklemore, and I realized he was anxious about being recognized. Being even just slightly famous would be my personal hell. Seems like I made it a little easier for him. Haven't been embarassed about being ignorant about celebrities since.
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u/Old-Bowler4150 RN - PICU 🍕 1d ago
Yea I think they genuinely prefer to be treated as a regular person. The ones that don’t act like entitled assholes lol
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u/a_lovely_mess BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago edited 1d ago
You don't have to engage in celebrity worship to still find it unusual, interesting, or nerve wracking to care for a celebrity, especially if that person is someone whose work you deeply enjoy.
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u/Old-Bowler4150 RN - PICU 🍕 1d ago
I just see them as regular people tbh
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u/a_lovely_mess BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
That's fine, but it's not unusual for someone to not feel that way
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u/Enough-One4975 RN 🍕 1d ago
Sure, but that doesn’t mean that phenomenon isn’t completely mystifying to those of us who don’t have it.
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u/cyanraichu RN - L&D 1d ago
Right but like they're saying you can feel that way without being a celebrity worshiper.
Like I spend very, very little time thinking about famous people to the point where I'm really bad at even recognizing actors in movies who "everyone" knows. I'd still think it was cool and interesting if I took care of a celeb who I did happen to recognize. Even if it's just in a small world kinda way.
Of course that doesn't mean they're not ordinary people, and as a patient I would not treat them any differently, not least because I'd assume they'd want to be treated like any other patient, including with dignity and respect for privacy.
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u/James___Workshop 1d ago
Yeah you kinda do… otherwise they’re no different than any other pt with any other career/life.
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u/a_lovely_mess BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
I'm not saying treat them differently, just that your inner thoughts might be different from taking care of someone you didn't watch on a show for years or sing along to their albums in the car. I don't really understand what's hard to get about that. You can be professional and still have private thoughts of "oh wow this person is really famous"
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u/mari815 RN - ICU 🍕 1d ago
I’ve never been tempted to share info about famous people who came to my hospital. Nope.
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u/cyanraichu RN - L&D 1d ago
I mean I'd think about it for sure. But I know the reality of the consequences would outweigh any temptation. Like you'd be out of the field forever.
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u/trektovienna40 RN - Telemetry 🍕 1d ago
We moved to a large metro not too long ago and this is my wife at least once a month
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u/keekspeaks 1d ago
Your spouse is talking.
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u/cyanraichu RN - L&D 1d ago
Because she told her spouse she encountered someone famous at work? Just saying "I took care of a celeb today" isn't violating anything. It's not the same as saying exactly who it was
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u/Confusedhippo1 RN - ER 🍕 1d ago
Common occurrence working at one of the big hospitals in Nashville.
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u/atxRNm4a 1d ago
On social media yesterday a bunch of people were saying one of my former (famous) patients was horrible to work with and really mean. I wanted to defend them but couldn’t because they were extremely polite and kind to me.
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u/packoffudge BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
One of my nursing school professors used to live in Santa Barbara and talked about how she’d have patients who were famous, but also patients who were basically “beach bums” who were just in Santa Barbara because they liked the weather. She said it could be hard to make sure you were treating everyone with the same level of care and regard regardless of their status in society. I’ve only worked in SNFs and FQHCs where most of the patients are on, so I’ve definitely never had to provide care to anyone rich or famous. I’m perfectly fine with that though.
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u/EmeticPomegranate 1d ago
Uninteresting personally since I live under a rock, but I’ve been put off by celebrities in general since I was a kid. Witnessing a baseball player flirt with my mom in front of my dad and his fiancée was extremely off putting.
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u/AllSxsAndSvns 1d ago
We don’t get celebrities at our hospital, but we did get a former (retired) local elected official who helped get some laws passed that are life changing. I was fangirling. They passed away not too long after that, outside of the hospital. I still think about that and wonder if I should have said thank you.
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u/StockProfessional919 1d ago
Nothing funny about wanting to leak patient privacy. Every patient deserves respect
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u/StardewAllyy BSN, RN 🍕 18h ago
Oh man, i’ve taken care of a few famous people, but I took care of one celebrity in particular who I was so tempted to squeal about because and only because they were SO incredibly lovely. Seems unfair that the world should know who they are, but not know how wonderful they really truly are, which I believe is well reflected off of how they treat those around them during some of the hardest days of their lives
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u/Secure-Pain-9735 LPN 🍕 1d ago
Think the closest was more local VIP - one of the people a lot of buildings in town are named after. “Important” family with a history in state and local government. Also, whispered reputation of mob ties.
His daughter was married to the biggest Orthodontist in the area: huge clinic and always only employed attractive young women that he took on trips once a year. Also from a family with reputed mob ties.
He was just a sick old man that came into the SNF, went comfort care, and died.
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u/rainshowers_5_peace 1d ago
According to Billie Joe Armstrong when he was recovering from his colonoscopy the staff said they knew who he was and played his music while they did the procedure.
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u/DoItRightOnce1st 2h ago
While working in Burbank, I took care of a Grays Anatomy star's daughter. She was there at her daughtes side...but I kept it totally professional. They are just people with different jobs...
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u/Excellent_Math2052 1d ago
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
who who who who. I never get to know anything cool. Create a burner and dm me hints and details of the the genitalia.
At least somebody else but op do it for the plot lol.
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u/coldnoou 1d ago
This is so weird
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1d ago
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u/nursing-ModTeam 1d ago
Your post has been removed for violating our rule against personal insults. We don't require that you agree with everyone else, but we insist that everyone remain civil and refrain from personal attacks.
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u/NinthTentacle BSN, RN 🍕 1d ago
not a famous person, but I did take care of someone who's infamous in my local community. never told my friends, but definitely explained the situation to my mom 😫😫😫
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u/IANARN RN - ER 🍕 1d ago
It just makes me sad. Taking care of people that seem impenetrable, only to see them frail and like the rest of us. It’s weird to watch old shows and movies to see them in their prime and know they were living in a way (candle burning at both ends) that put them in the painful downfall that took their lives.
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u/John-Fucking-Kirby 1d ago
NGL This whole comments section makes me kinda feel weird about nurses now.
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u/Weekendsapper RN - ICU 🍕 1d ago
Yeah man we are just normal people. Weird/unexpected situations make us act weird too.
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u/John-Fucking-Kirby 1d ago
Yea... but you're not. Don't you take an oath to specifically not do that? Like, that's incredibly unethical?
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u/Weekendsapper RN - ICU 🍕 1d ago
What, to not react to abnormal situations? No.
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u/John-Fucking-Kirby 1d ago
If seeing a penis or a vagina is an abnormal situation to you, then maybe you're in the wrong field? These are people who need help, that SHOULD be the end of it.
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u/Educational-Cake-944 1d ago
Notice not a single (living) person was mentioned by name. Get over yourself.
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u/StockProfessional919 1d ago
You’re right. Don’t let Redditers act like it’s normal. There is nothing ethical or appropriate about any healthcare professional behaving this way.
Most people take their job seriously
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u/trixiepixie1921 RN - Telemetry 🍕 1d ago
His little smile in the bed has me crying