Nurses are patient people. Mostly. But some things test even the calmest nurse on the ward. Here are 20 pet peeves nurses everywhere share. How many make you roll your eyes?
On the ward
- The empty glove box put back on the shelf as if it were full.
- The missing pen. You had three at the start of the shift. Now you have none.
- Equipment not plugged back in. Finding a dead monitor battery in an emergency is a special kind of stress.
- The drug cupboard key that disappears exactly when someone needs pain relief.
- Bad handovers. “Bed 3’s fine.” Bed 3 is not fine.
- Jobs left for the next shift that could easily have been done.
- The one working computer being used by someone checking their emails.
- Pumps alarming in empty rooms while everyone walks past.
- Being told to “just” do something. There is no “just” in nursing.
- “Can you quickly…” requests that take 40 minutes.
From patients and visitors
- The call bell for the TV remote, while someone else needs help to breathe.
- Visitors who sit on the patient’s bed, or the bed next door.
- “Are you the cleaner?” after you’ve introduced yourself as their nurse.
- “I googled it”, followed by a very confident wrong diagnosis.
- Relatives who call six times for the same update, each from a different family member.
The system
- Being short-staffed, again, and being told to “prioritise”.
- Mandatory training emails sent at 2am, with a deadline of yesterday.
- No time for a break, but plenty of time for another audit.
- Rotas published late, making it impossible to plan a life.
- “Nurses are heroes” posters, without the pay or staffing to match.
The good news
Most of these frustrations come from pressure, not bad people. Small things make a big difference: restock what you use, plug equipment back in, give a clear handover using SBAR, and help a colleague when you can. A good team makes a hard shift bearable.
If the pet peeves are piling up and you’re feeling drained, read our guide to nurse burnout. If your workplace has gone beyond annoying to hostile, see bullying in nursing.
What’s your biggest nurse pet peeve? Tell us in the comments, and tag the colleague who always restocks the gloves.
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