First, see http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/14053.htm

From a pastor-friend:

I have a friend who is a very experienced nurse and she occasionally shares with me some of the nasty things that nurses are wont to do to recalcitrant patients.

Such things include;

- being "too busy" to get a bed pan when needed - providing a bed pan fresh from the steriliser - hot! - or straight from the fridge - cold! - giving hypodermic needles a little tap on the end before use (injections with blunt needles - ouch!)

- injecting medicines straight from the fridge without waiting for them to warm up to room temperature. - being "too busy" to give pain killers when needed.

At times shes gotten even worse than this. For instance...

Back in the days when she worked on an orthopaedic ward she would occasionally get an injured outlaw biker under her care. This was fine by her - her husband knew quite a few guys in that scene so she struck up an instant rapport. And as outlaw bikers are generally too macho to complain about their medical problems they make really good patients.

But given that they weren't happy about being stuck in hospital in the first place, the bikers were pretty intolerant of anybody who disturbed the peace and quiet on the ward. Nor were they particularly reticent to voice their views on anybody who complained too much.

All this gave rise to the simple expedient of always placing outlaw bikers in the bed next to the worst behaved patient on the ward.

Apparently the threats of physical violence never failed to preserve the peace.

I asked her how the medical profession's beloved white clad angels of mercy could act in such dastardly ways.

She just laughed derisively.

She says she saves the compassion for people who really have a problem. And after more than twenty years in nursing, she has a pretty good feel for what really constitutes a problem.

The moral? Be nice to nurses or pay the price!