VIPs...Yes They Do Really Exist

This lesson will most likely haunt me and possibly all new nurses (of course when the have the privilege of seeing it first hand) for the rest of my career…haunt me as in make me very angry at the injustice of the whole ordeal kind of way.  I’ve always heard of VIPs (very important patients).  As naïve as I am, I always thought they didn’t really exist…I thought it was just nursing/medical lingo that was made up or used to describe very difficult, needy patients…once again…I learned that in the real world of nursing…sadly this is not the truthVIPs really do exist…and when they arrive in the hospital…they expect to be seen and treated as if they are the only person in the whole hospital…actually they expect to be treated as if they are the president of the United States…point in case.I had a pt that arrived at the hospital very sick.  It was not a happy time for this pt or family (which of course it usually isn’t when someone is admitted to the hospital).  I received report from the transferring nurse.  As the report was coming to an end…the nurse informed me… “Oh, by the way…this pt and the family are all VIPs…just a warning”.  I was like “What!!! What is a VIP?!!”  I turned to ask another nurse and she went on to inform me that “VIPs expect to be treated like royalty and are usually hard to please and difficult to care for”. “Great" is all I could think..."this is going to be a long night".When the pt and family arrived on the floor, I witnessed right away the behavior that gives away the VIP status.  Within 5 minutes of being in the room, I had already heard a million complaints. “This room is way too small…I don’t want to be across from the nurses’ station…It’s too loud in here…there is not enough channels on the TV…Why is it so quiet in here…I need a bigger room…and oh yeah…while you are at it…I need some food right now”  “Um….Okay then”.It doesn’t matter that by this time it is already 0100 and there is really nothing with any food…especially for the pt’s family and not the pt themselves.   When I explained this…the family was not happy and demanded I get them something to eat…I held my tongue and remained polite…although what I really wanted to say wouldn’t be considered that polite or customer service friendly.As I turned to exit the room, the pt yelled they were in pain and wanted medication.  Because the pt had a liver diagnosis, the drs were being cautious about the pain medication administered….when I said that I would see what was due…the pt demanded “Make sure you bring me 2 tablets instead of 1”. “Yep, this is going to be a long night…just shoot me now”.Needless to say…the rest of my night was spent keeping this one pt and the family happy…I spent four times the amount of time and energy on this pt then I did the my four other patients…because of course “if you don’t keep me happy, I’ll report you to Dr. X, who just so happens to be my friend”.  And so the anti-polite, unfriendly thoughts once again enter my head “How in the world do you have any friends at all if you act this way all the freaking time!!!!”After that night, I realized that I have a strong objection and opposition to VIPs…not only are they pain in the butts for nurses…the greater truth is that should I not be treating all my patients the same…no matter who they are, how much money they have, or who they may or may not know?