75 Things Patients Do That Annoy People In The Medical Field

Physician here

We are less in control of the operational aspects of patient care and care delivery than patients understand. We’re often not in control of our own workload or schedules.

Blame insurance, blame government regulations, blame healthcare system administrators. But don’t blame doctors or nurses.

Your insurance is not your friend. It’s your enemy. It’s creating a divide between you and your provider.

I’m a psychologist, so not strictly medical, but adjacent. I wish people understood that PTSD can be cured! We have amazing treatments and you can have hope for your future. You’re not alone in this.

I work in physical therapy. Patients should know they won’t get better if they only perform the assigned activities when we see them.

Exercise, exercise, exercise. also, if you have diabetes, please take management seriously. you may lose limbs or have to deal with severe, chronic infections if you don’t. also for young people, sunscreen in your youth will make a big difference in how you look at 40-60.

If you want to birth without pain interventions (such as an epidural) please for the love of god, do some prep work other than watching TikTok! Labor is PAINFUL and you need to prepare your mind and body.

Know what medications you take, and why. So many people have little to no insight into what they are prescribed. And no, having a fairly normal blood pressure because you are taking 3 pills for hypertension does not mean you don’t have high blood pressure.

Physican Here
I wish we did a better job letting patients know how deeply we care for them and are amazed and honored that they trust us with their well being and their life.We often appear to distance ourselves from the emotional relationship by focusing on procedures, medical language etc but believe me that deep caring is there. If it ever leaves than it is time to leave the profession.

I don’t get more money by prescribing more meds or ordering more tests or convincing you to do your vaccinations. In fact, I could probably make more money by NOT doing those things because my appointments would be super quick so I could see more patients. and I would have less to do in my personal time (following up on results, refilling prescriptions, etc).

I wish people whose loved ones have dementia would stop talking to them as if they remember everything, as if they are the exact same people they used to be. I wish they would not get upset when their mom doesn’t remember that their dad already died 10 years ago or blame their loved one for “knowing better“ when they neglect their own health or medication and end up hospitalized.

As someone who works in neurology- it frustrates me to no end if I can’t give you a diagnosis, but new diseases are being discovered every year. Some things we don’t have a name for.

There are people who go to the emergency rooms for REAL emergencies..you may have to wait a while to be seen by your provider bc they are actually prioritizing their patients by critical needs.

Most of our diagnostics are to rule out really bad things, not necessarily figured out definitely what is happening. For example can figure out your chest pain isn’t a heart attack or big clot or cancer, etc but we may not figure out the exact cause of some symptoms.

The healthcare system is crumbling and we’re being asked to do more and more with fewer and fewer resources. We don’t have the tools to properly do our jobs, yet somehow we’re the ones expected to absorb all the anger, verbal a***e, and even physical violence from frustrated patients.

Pharmacist. If you're sick, you're going to feel sick (and thats OK). No combination of OTC meds is going to miraculously cure you, it may just help make the day more tolerable.

Too many people want the instant fix and won't slow down to let their body heal.

I do home care visits for the home/bed bound. I'm there as your primary care provider, not as a paid companion. I really do understand that you are lonely and want company, but I have 18 other patients that I have to see. While I actually do want to hear all about your grandchild's best friend's new puppy, I just don't have the time.

Being an organ donor does NOT mean I will try less hard to save your life.

I have no idea who is an organ donor. An entirely separate entity from anyone associated with the hospital puts those wheels into motion when someone is already braindead.

We are not trying to scam you when we said "diet and exercise" as a part of your treatment, we say it because it's proven to help.

As a primary care doc I have thousands of patients to take care of, and 20+ are in-person on any given day. The patients in front of me get 100% of my attention while there. Your paperwork emergency that needs turned in tomorrow that you forgot until today and don’t have an appointment for is unpaid work for me and the last priority on my to-do list after seeing patients, verifying lab results, reviewing notes from specialists or hospital admissions, and answering other patient messages. I feel for people and I do absolutely make exceptions but your lack of planning is not my emergency when I may be dealing with people actively trying to d*e on me in my clinic.
I’m also much less likely to do you a favor and fill it out asap if you’re rude to me or especially my front desk staff.

If you had the flu last week don’t come to emergency, you are wasting everyone’s time.