53 Times Patients Had No Filter With Their Nurses And Said The Most Unhinged Things

Nursing is often described as a "calling." Those brave enough to pursue it do so for the deep sense of fulfillment and positive change it brings to the world. It's not about the money or climbing the career ladder. The work itself is the reward. But sometimes, even a "calling" can become unbearable when things get too much...

Besides dealing with bizarre comments from patients, many nurses also have to endure long working hours, plenty of stress, their own mental health challenges, and more. According to the World Health Organization's 2025 edition of the State of the world’s nursing, there were 29.8 million nurses in 2023.

While that's up from 27.9 million in 2018, there's still a severe shortage of nurses around the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) notes that we need another 5.8 million nurses for things to run smoothly.

The problem, explains WHO, is the global distribution and density of nurses. "Around 78% of the world’s nurses are found in countries representing only 49% of the world’s population; high-income countries (HICs), which represent only 17% of the population, host 46% of the world’s nursing population," reads the report.

It adds that there are 5 times more nurses in the WHO European Region than there are in African and Eastern Mediterranean regions. This means that there's limited access to nurses for services like maternal and childcare, chronic disease management, and response to public health threats and emergencies in areas where it's really needed.

While the world needs more nurses at a time when many of those in the industry are considering leaving. 800,000 nurses took part in the 2024 National Nursing Workforce Study, conducted by The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN). 40% of them indicated an intent to leave the workforce by 2029. "That’s potentially 1.6 million total nurses," the report warns.

It would appear that following a "calling" is simply not enough. The survey found that the top reasons nurses are leaving the workforce (aside from retirement) are stress and burnout, workload, understaffing, inadequate salary, and workplace violence. 

In 2024, National Nurses United (NNU) warned that healthcare workers are experiencing a surge in workplace violence rates nationally. A shocking 8 in 10 nurses polled by NNU said they'd experienced at least one type of workplace violence in 2023. And nearly half of the nurses surveyed reported an increase in workplace violence on their unit in that year.

“Working on a psych unit with 20 patients and two nurses, while being [a] charge [nurse]. I have been verbally and physically threatened. I have been punched, slapped, spat on, hit, kicked, and bitten,” revealed one nurse from Illinois.

“Working in an intercity Emergency Room (Level 1 Trauma). I’ve been sprayed with OC spray from someone trying to flee the Emergency Room. I’ve been knocked over by a patient fighting against lifesaving care. I had another time a family member of a trauma victim lunge at me.... Spit on because a relative [passed away] and they took it out on me. I’ve had many episodes and they are getting worse,” said another nurse from Florida.

The NNU found that nurses across the United States experience multiple types of workplace violence on a daily basis, ranging from physical attacks to verbal threats.

"The three most common types of violence reported were being verbally threatened (67.8%), physically threatened (38.7%), and being pinched or scratched (37.3%)," reveals the report. Shockingly, Only 18.4% of nurses reported they had not experienced any workplace violence in the past year.

Some nurses have experiences multiple incidents of violence.

One nurse from Rochester, New York told the NNU that they'd nearly had their wrist broken by a patient who grabbed them and twisted their arm. The patient only backed off when someone else intervened. The same nurse also had another patient kick them in the chest. "Had a patient bite me and break skin," they added. "Had a patient throw their full urinal at me.”