'Your wish is my command, nurse lady': Triage nurse gets dissed in front of her peers when an ambulance driver calls out her arrogantly incorrect diagnosis

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Jan 27, 2024 8:00 PM EST

The emergency room can be a messy, chaotic place. While nurses are trained to work closely with the ambulance drivers coming through the door carting mortally wounded cargo, valuable time can be wasted in all the 'he said, she said'. Although everyone's just here to help save the lives of innocent strangers, there's an unseen hierarchy within the ranks of any hospital that would make patients sick to their stomachs. 

In an environment where doctors are comparing their knowledge and intellect, the patient's real needs can get lost in the kerfuffle. Just like in our next story…

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  • Nurses are certainly not drawn to their work by the amazing work hours, financial freedom, or endless praises, so it's save to say that most professionals join the force because of their desire to help people. But that doesn't mean that they're not desperate to show off their intellectual prowess. 

  • In our next story, one nurse took things too far with an incorrect, and frankly arrogant diagnosis. Without a second thought, a triage nurse wrongly diagnoses an emergency room patient, belittling the ambulance driver's original judgement. Scroll for the full story of how this ambulance driver puts a hot-headed nurse in her place, dissing her in front of her peers to prove a point.

  • 01
    "She assumed she knew better"
    via canva
  • 02
    r/r/MaliciousCompliance u/JasontheFuzz 14 hours ago Posted by "Please divert to the nearest hospital." "Okay!" MOC This story is not high stakes, but it amused me at the time. I used to work on an ambulance. My partner and I had been called to pick
    via JasontheFuzz
  • 03
    up an older guy with severe dementia (he was non-responsive at baseline) because his labs were low or something. Since he was a vet, he needed to go to the veteran's hospital. No big deal. We go get him and head off towards the hospital.
    via JasontheFuzz
  • 04
    This was definitely not an emergency, but I was doing my due diligence. Is he Alert? Nope. Are his vitals normal? Not really, but he's old and this is his normal according to the paperwork. Any new issues? None. And then the kicker- is he having a stroke? (Spoiler alert, no.) To check this, we use the FAST acronym. Face- is his face drooping on one side? Arms- is he noticeably weaker on one side? Speech- is his speech slurred? Time- if these answers are yes, then get to the hospital ASAP.
    via JasontheFuzz
  • 05
    This dude had zero symptoms of a stroke. He also couldn't understand what I was saying to him due to the dementia. At worst, one hand twitched when I asked him to squeeze, but it was a random muscle twitch. So I call up the hospital and give my report to the triage nurse. When I mention the twitch, she suddenly cuts me off and tells me I have to divert to the nearest hospital, then she hangs up on me. I check my GPS. They are the nearest hospital. Your wish is my command, nurse lady.
    via JasontheFuzz
  • 06
    When we pull in, the ER staff was a little confused. We took the patient into a room and as the doctors and nurses ran around looking like fools, a different nurse came in and asked what was going on. I explained it was a simple, non emergency visit because the patient's lab results were low. I heard a snide voice in
    via JasontheFuzz
  • 07
    the background saying "that's the stroke patient I diverted." I clarify to the nurse that the patient was definitely not having a stroke. I explained my reasoning. I showed her the paperwork that proved this was his baseline, and she even redid the FAST test to confirm. She agreed with me completely, giving a look towards a seat that was suddenly and mysteriously empty.
    via JasontheFuzz
  • 08
    The patient was able to get the appropriate care at the appropriate facility, and hopefully the nurse would be more likely to listen longer in the future. TL;DR A nurse arrogantly assumed she knew my patient better than I did. She was wrong and I called her out in front of her peers.
    via JasontheFuzz
  • 09
    Uncanny_Valkyrie 1 hr. ago Professional. Well & Nicely Done. PWND. Vote Reply Share Flappy_beef_curtains. 30 min. ago Oh I like that even more. And changes the original.from what I've experienced over last 20 years PWND, was just a typo of OWND.
    via Uncanny_Valkyrie
  • 10
    DonTreadOnMeIMADuck 14 hr. ago Nice job. I've come across my fair share of nurses like this. You would almost think they became nurses to have some kind of power trip. I'm just waiting for the day when a nurse says, "We'll see what the doctor says," and I'm able to respond with, "I am the doctor."
    via DonTreadOnMeIMADuck
  • 11
    Fianna9 12 hr. ago I had a nasty charge nurse refuse to take my patient seriously. Pretty sure it was a kidney infection and the nurse wanted us to dump her in the waiting room. I refused so to punish us we were stuck in a back hallway.
    via Fianna9
  • 12
    Eventually some one came to do some assessments, got the doc who asked the Charge if she knew this patient. sniff "who? the abdo pain?" "NO THE SPEPTIC KIDNEY STONES! Get her a room NOW!" Man that nurse flew.
    via Fianna9
  • 13
    theVelvetJackalope 14 hr. ago Beautiful. Advocating for your patient and put her in her place
    via theVelvetJackalope
  • 14
    Fianna9 12 hr. ago Nah, she didn't think she knew better than you- she thought she could play the system so that you would go to a different hospital. Guessing she got some grief from the rest of the staff after
    via Fianna9
  • 15
    200 womanitou 12 hr. ago Did she think she was saving herself some work? I'm appalled. Vote Reply Share Fianna9 10 hr. ago Sadly- probably. I've seen a lot of sketchy stuff by bad nurses/doctors/medics who are just lazy and get angry at any extra work
    via womanitou
  • 16
    Vacuous_hole 11 hr. ago This is why nurses don't answer the BAT phone in the ED I work in. Great work ;)
    via Vacuous_hole
  • 17
    BlueberryKind 11 hr. ago. edited 10 hr. ago I have astma since before I can remember. And I can get a bronchitis flare-up real fast. So when i was a teenager my GP got mad at me once cause I waited to long and I was bordering pneumonia. He said I had to get in sooner if I started to get sick. So another time I knew it was going the very sick way again.
    via BlueberryKind
  • 18
    And I called the GP office and got an doctor assistant on the line and she told me there was no space for me today. And I said I really can't wait until tomorow. So she made a sneer like "il go ask the doctor" couple min she came back sounding very meek and friendly "there is an slot at x in the afternoon."
    via BlueberryKind
  • 19
    I never abused it but I know when it's going bad fast or that I can wait or even just up my daily meds and don't have to go in. I have had these lungs for 31Y and I know how it feels when they are unhappy.
    via BlueberryKind
  • 20
    Cleverusername531 10 hr. ago Way to connect to and trust your body! This is so encouraging to read. So many people never learn how to listen, are prevented from listening, or are too traumatized to listen (in cases where the body brings triggers too that are being avoided for a good reason).
    via Cleverusername531

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arrogant emergency malicious compliance nurse emt emergency room hospital dissed ambulance reddit thread Reddit
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