A little story about my hospital stay and fox idiots.

[abakan]

I was released from the hospital last night and while I was there I had a nurse who hated Obama. She hated Obama and Obamacare.

I have no idea why she chose me to complain to but she picked the wrong person. She came into my room and started telling me how awful Ocare is and how Obama is trying to destroy the middle class. When she started on Ocare I said to her, "I know it is just a horrible thing to provide ten million people with health insurance", that kind of set her back a little and then she said she felt Obama was trying to destroy the middle class. Being sick I wasn't up for a big fight so I told her, I didn't feel that was the case and we should leave it at that but she should try getting her talking points from something other than Faux. Her retort was yes ma'am and stormed out of my room.
Needless to say she was real frosty when she had to come in after that.

When I was being released the nurse manager came in to ask about my care, I told her my care was great for the most part but I did not appreciate this nurse bringing her politics into my room. I am not one to go out of my way to hurt someone and I was going to leave it but when asked I answered. Maybe she will leave it at the door in someone else's room.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

1. Tell her that her union endorsed President Obama./NT

[whathehell]

18. How do you know she is unionized?

Lots of hospital personnel, including nurses, maybe the majority, are not.

[TNNurse]

28. Not sure why you assume a nurse or any hospital worker is unionized

most are not. As a strong supporter on unions, I was never sure during my 36 year career as an RN that I could ever walk out on strike and abandon hospital patients. I do know that I would NEVER cross a picket line to work and never had that option.

Aside from that, this nurse was inappropriate to speak like that with a patient. When I got to be a supervisor I made sure that there were two topics not discussed out on the floor. I believe the phrase I used was "you are not being paid to argue politics or religion and if you continue you will not work here". Those topics are too emotional and divisive to be discussed while on duty.

I live and worked in a very conservative area. There were times when patients asked personal questions about religion and politics, I politely steered them away.

[dflprincess]

65. Maybe it's where the poster lives. I would make the assumption that a nurse working in a hospital

was a union member because so many of the hospitals in Minnesota (including larger systems like Mayo and Fairview) are union (not just nurses but CNAs and other workers as well). More common in the metro area but a respectable number in rural Minnesota as well.

[B2G]

2. Why don't I ever get into unwanted political discussions

with random strangers?

I must be doing something wrong...

[abakan]

3. Just lucky I guess...nt

[hunter]

7. I know why people leave me alone.

I'm of the Alastor Moody school of wizardry.



http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Alastor_Moody

[B2G]

8. Lolol. nt

[malaise]

20. They are usually very sorry after they start political conversations with me

I bombard them with statistics and facts

[BlancheSplanchnik]

24. I wish I could do that.

I'm great at catching poor logic, and I can remember the thrust of the facts, but I can NOT remember details.

[malaise]

30. Just focus on a few important details

Never try to remember too much - it never works.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

61. :)

Yeah...they catch you up when you need to explain Remedial Reality 101.

[Skittles]

43. THANK YOU

I mean, seriously, I take them on, from the most blatant racist bullshit to the most faintest of dog whistles - yes INDEED - some crap just should NOT go unchallenged

[malaise]

45. I never start it Skittles - but make the mistake and trouble me

and woe be unto you I agree with you 100% - hahahaha

[Skittles]

9. I think silence equals agreement

FUCK THAT - I tell off the racist, ignorant fuckwits and *THEN* I demand they do not talk politics with me

[abakan]

21. Ordinarily I would have taken her on but...

She caught me at a weak point. Middle of the night, I'm laying there with a tube down my throat, tubes in my arm and o2 in my nose, trying to sleep. Last thing I wanted to do was have a political argument with an idiot.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

26. aside from her being an idiot...

What a FRIKKIN IDIOT!!!!!!!
Dayum! Sorry that piece of space garbage fell in your lap, abakan!

[Skittles]

44. aw I was talking to B2G

you did fine and I hope you're feeling better

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

52. I have a rule I never rat on working people to their supervisor or whatever, i figure everybody

is under tremendous pressure and just trying to survive.

Nurses work their asses off and deserve every bit of our respect and leniency.

However, the ONE exception I make is when they spout ignorant propaganda that harms others.

For every patient who is like you, there are probably 2 or 3 who have no opinion and this person will influence them.

That is a problem for me.

You did good

[The Wizard]

60. Repubics like to ambush

I just tell them it's impolite.

[Mr.Bill]

64. I understand totally.

While it may be simple enough and even fun to shoot down conservative talking points with some one at the coffee shop, one should never be put in the position of having to have an adversarial relationship with the person providing their health care. Out of consideration for future patients of the nurse encountered in the op, I would write a very strongly worded complaint to the top echelons of that hospital's administration and to the corporation that owned the hospital, if applicable. This was a serious breach of health care ethics that no patient should be subjected to. As for the nurse's career, there are plenty of ways a nurse can make a living without having patient contact, if they can't avoid creating conflicts with them while they are in a weakened state.

[malaise]

31. Hehehehhe - love that

[blm]

68. The owls aren't always what they seem.

This poster is using mockery to question the veracity of posts like this.

[awoke_in_2003]

63. If you want unwanted political "discussions"

move to Texas. When people at work start discussing politics I walk out of the room. I have attempted the use of facts, but right wing talking points seem to be what is important to these people. If Obama said the sky was blue they would say "no- it's purple".

[Dont call me Shirley]

4. Excellent rebuttal abakan! Short, quick, to the point.

[GoCubsGo]

5. That was very unprofessional of her.

My mom was a director of nursing, and that would have been grounds for strong discipline, if not firing from her.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

11. You have no idea the state of nursing this day and age. Your mother would probably have

apoplexy. Used to take pride now, I am daily ashamed and embarrassed at what I see take place where I work.

[malaise]

47. And that's across the planet

Trust me on tjat

[GoCubsGo]

49. They're overworked and underpaid everywhere, I guess.

[jillan]

6. You have to feel sorry for her because the majority of nurses love Obamacare.

Sorry you had to deal with this in the hospital

[Staph]

10. I was in the waiting room of my oncologist last summer,

when a total stranger started up about how terrible Obamacare was. I told her that she should get down on her knees and thank God for Obamacare, because without it she could be easily dropped from her current health insurance with no questions asked and no way to get it back.

The rest of the room turned on her, en masse. It was a beautiful thing!

[valerief]

12. Good for you. Feel better. nt

[Grey]

13. I do hope you are feeling better,

Sorry you have been sick. Cheers

[ismnotwasm]

14. I am a nurse and that is stunningly innapproriate

I do a lot of things, one of them is to provide dialysis care, I'm often stuck in a room with Obama hating faux news watchers--I stay non-committal in my comments, or change the topic if I have to hear RW crap. I'm there to provide excellent nursing care, not argue politics.

Any nurse in my unit caught doing that would be in some trouble. I'm sorry you had to go through that during a frightening time. So not cool. Not cool at all.

(Of course I have fun discussions with my liberal patients, it's good to find political commonality, still one must be discreet)

[uppityperson]

42. You don't discuss politics, religion, a lot of other things that people have strong opinions about

Check it at the door, that's not what you are there for.

[raven mad]

50. And on top of all that -

I'll bet you're an extremely professional and top-line nurse! (I nurses!!)

I have been fortunate in that 99% of all the nurses I've dealt with since Ocare came in are strong supporters, know my politics (yeah!) and the one's who aren't or don't, keep it totally pro.

You're appreciated!

[lpbk2713]

15. Hospitals and clinics usually have Faux Snooze tuned in on their lobby TVs.

Maybe she's suffered collateral damage from the nonstop RW propaganda barage.

It's good that patients can change channels in their rooms. Did you have yours
tuned to MSNBC? Maybe that's what set her off?

[abakan]

17. I was trying to sleep, it was the middle of the night.nt

[SheilaT]

16. It is NEVER appropriate for someone such as a nurse to bring up politics. Period.

I'm glad you let them know on discharge about the lack of professionalism.

I am driven quite nuts by the perceived need to have televisions on in almost every waiting room everywhere. No matter what show is on.

[dolphinsandtuna]

25. television everywhere

and always set to something designed for idiots.

I am delighted when I am the last person in the room and can find the remote and turn the darn thing off.

[SheilaT]

53. I do that all the time. In some places, when there's only

one other person who doesn't seem to be particularly interested, I ask if they'd mind if I turned it off. No one ever minds.

[The Wizard]

59. That Orwell guy

knew his shit in 1948.

[Lars39]

46. Used to be the big three were off limits...religion, politics, and sex.

[kairos12]

19. After you stated your views she probably thought you should just learn to pull yourself

by your own IV lines.

[maindawg]

22. I have Obama care but

When I hear that from some RWNJ I always agree and say 'your right, we need single payer' High five em and walk away while they try to figure out what just happened.
Obama care is a give away to the INS> corps. who have our nation in a stranglehold.No other place on earth, has this fucked up system. That nurse is right , but not for the reasons she thinks.
Here in Ohio , where I currently am stuck, they laid off all the nurses and the local hospitals are packed because of the terrible winter we had. When the weather is that bad, people get sick in many different ways.

Greed is the order of the day, abakan.

[riversedge]

37. one ;plus

[AtomicKitten]

23. Glad you took the opportunity to complain to someone in authority.

That nurse had no business broaching politics with a patient in such a manner.

You did the right thing and I'm glad you did. Cheers.

[drm604]

27. Shortly after the last presidential election, I had to spend a few days in the hospital.

One nurse, seemingly out of the blue, asked me who I had voted for. We weren't discussing politics. As I recall, we weren't discussing anything. I think she had just taken my vitals and then asked.

I said "Obama" (I assumed she was referring to the presidential race). She said "interesting", and that was the end of the conversation. I have no idea if she was pleasantly surprised that this Republican-looking middle aged white guy had voted for Obama, or if she was upset that this Republican-looking middle aged white guy had voted for Obama.

[Warpy]

29. Thank goodness for that nurse manager

Your nurse was an idiot and will be written up for that shit. One of the first things we learned in nursing school was to check religion, politics, our sex lives, and any bigotry at the door before we came in to work.

If a patient wanted to talk about that stuff, I'd listen, but it was very rare that I'd comment one way or the other.

Anybody who hammers unwilling sick people with that stuff needs to be written up pronto and out the door if s/he doesn't knock it the fuck off. People in the hospital are generally there fighting for their lives. They don't need to fight their caregivers.

[Diclotican]

32. abakan

abakan

That poor nurse would be destroyed if she had meet me, as I represent everything she might hate - and even live in a country with universal health care for everyone... Who I have shared a few times here on DU, even with my, sorry to say, not the perfect english... And I am not afraid of argument against what I see as idiotic attitudes either...

It is good you blasted her....

[safeinOhio]

33. When a clueless repub starts with me

me on Obama, here is how I make them drop their head and walk away.

First I tell them they are right, he sure has screwed it up. Then I drop the bomb that seals the deal. I say, "don't worry, HRC is going to fix everything."

I'm not the biggest fan of her, but I love to watch them walk away with nothing to say. Has worked every time with the same results.

[Catherine Vincent]

39. Bwahaha!!!

[DawgHouse]

62. LOL, I am totally stealing this idea!

[Leith]

34. Thank You for Taking Care of Her

and the way you did it. It's amazing that people (well, conservatives) are so clueless that they think that it is an appropriate topic of conversation.

[iscooterliberally]

35. I was in the hospital for a week in '08.

They asked me the same sort of questions. My beef was the cable TV. Oh you could get all the Faux crap you wanted, but no Comedy Central. The right wingers are giving money to hospitals and then controlling what is shown on TV there. That might explain why your nurse was brainwashed. Anyway, I asked the administrator why the cable TV selection was so awful and she said that the group that donated large sums of money to the hospital was the ones who decided the cable selection. I told her the hospital should give that money back. The patients should decide what they wanted to watch. Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity make me sick when I'm feeling good. I'd rather watch Comedy Central. Fox is a waste of bandwidth let alone time and money.

[riversedge]

36. I am actually shoched that a nurse

would just up and start talking politics--hate politics to be sure--in that manner. Not much shocks me nowadays but this does

[7962]

38. +1. EVERYONE should "leave it at the door" when dealing with the public

I dont want anyone preaching to me about anything unless i bring it up

[Catherine Vincent]

40. I agree with everyone here

It was very unprofessional of that nurse. Good job in telling the manager, that is what you are supposed to do then next time the nurse will keep her trap shut.

Years ago, my doctor was belly aching about universal healthcare during one of my checkups. She had just gotten back from Europe and apparently she was talking to local folks about universal healthcare and magically the ones she spoke to gave negative feedback on it. I didn't like the fact that she brought that up.

[TheManInTheMac]

41. Cool story, bro.

[raven mad]

51. Great karma to you for healing!

And what a great response from a very patient.......patient!

[kydo]

54. While most nurses that I know support ObamaCare, I know a few that don't.

My daughter is a nurse. Actually she just got a new job in the post op at Florida Hospital (South) in Orlando. Most of her fellow classmates (she went to the FL Hospital Nursing program that is run by the 7th Day Activist) as well as most of her co-workers are pro ObamaCare.

However, I know a few nurses that basically hate anything Obama. They hide behind the abortion and contraceptive (which is really a religious objection) argument to base their point of few. It is their right to do that, but they really have no right to share their opinions with you in the work place.

You went to a hospital not a church for treatment.

It is a sad state we live in when people get all their news from one entertainment company rather then from a news and information outlet.

[Hoyt]

55. Even though hospitals profit from ACA, I'm sure they blame every crass action on Obama.

[Nay]

56. I had a gynecologist act like this -- she even had a ragey anti-Obama poster in her exam

room! I didn't say anything directly to her. I did something worse.

I dimed her out to ANOTHER DOCTOR. If you don't know, doctors gossip worse than anyone about each other, and you can bet that shit got around about how unprofessional she was.

[android fan]

70. The moment you saw that poster

You should have immediately made noises and leave the office, demanding your refund and everyone else's refund because the Dr is putting politics before practice.

It is not right, and that Dr should have been called up before the Board and have their license yanked.

Dr. Ben Carson should have his license to practice yanked already.

[VA_Jill]

57. I would have done the same thing you did

Being a nurse myself, albeit retired, I am very aware of the stuff you *don't* talk about with patients. There were occasions, of course, but those were patients I knew well from outside, which is a different sort of thing. Unprofessional behavior needs to be dealt with, and good for you for telling the manager. I did something similar once, although it wasn't over a nurse discussing politics, it was about something else I felt was unprofessional.

I was actually quite surprised when I moved from Tennessee to Virginia, because this was the first place I'd run into many nurses who were *not* in favor of universal healthcare!

[KatyaR]

58. You should call the hospital administration and report her.

That is totally inappropriate behavior for a medical professional. I can bet you you're not the only one she's sounded off to. The only thing that would be worse is if she had tried to get you to accept Jesus.

When I worked in a hospital, the administration would have kicked her to the door so fast she would have been a blur.

[GTurck]

66. In this century....

it seems to be the thing to "share" one's politics with total strangers. It is not enough to say I vote Democrat or Republican but to go farther and unload vitriol about those we oppose. One of the things I miss about the era before Reagan is not knowing what the person on the bus, in the store, or at the doctor's office politics was. simply a moot point for comity in public. Now we let it all hang out and find that we cannot interact with half of the people in our society. I truly miss that self-censorship.

[Maraya1969]

67. What if you told the head nurse that you don't trust someone to take care of you when you know

that they easily believe all sorts of falsehoods. If she is that incompetent at interpreting politics she must be incompetent in other areas.

[Cha]

69. Hope you're healing well from your hospital stay, abakan~ and, fyi, it's 16.4 people who have Ocare

now!

The White House ✔ @WhiteHouse
Follow
FACT: The uninsured rate has dropped by 35% since October 2013 ? http://bit.ly/1Eqt2MO #ACAWorks
9:53 AM - 16 Mar 2015 228 Retweets 155 favorites

http://theobamadiary.com/2015/03/16/a-tweet-or-two-262/

Bet that would really chap her hide.. all those people getting health insurance and they can't be denied.. how horrific!

It's especially egregious that it's a nurse talking her politics to a person she's caring for in a hospital.. who is there to get well and stronger.. not be stressed out from rwinger brainwashed politics.

[abakan]

72. Thanks Cha...

I knew it was more than 10 but that was what came to mind at the time.

[Cha]

73. Yes, you poor thing..you were in a hospital.. not a fox "news" regurgitation ward!

[spanone]

71. k&r...