Health professionals in uniform being stopped by public

[stripedsocks105]

Hi! I've namechanged because I feel quite guilty.

I work as a uniformed HCP, when I'm at work I like to use the hospital shops/ canteen to buy lunch etc. Each time- I mean EVERY time I'm always stopped by hospital users to ask for directions to whatever ward/service they need to use. I'm polite and generally tell them where they can find out the information (there's usually volunteers nearby at each entrance to give out info) but this happens when I'm on the phone, reading etc.

I know this sounds incredibly selfish but I've only got a limited time to get food, eat it, return to ward. I've always got a coat/ cardigan on so looking as off duty as I possibly could. I know it's just friendly and helpful but WIBU to just want leaving alone to walk and eat food in peace ?

Well yes, a bit. A cardigan/coat isn’t an obvious enough clue to people who see someone in uniform and, rightly, expect that you’ll be able to help. I know you have limited time, but if you want to have lunch in peace then you either need to bring your own or get changed into civvies.

Use the staff room.

And your problem is??

Sorry. YABU. A professional attitude is required when wearing a uniform in public. I do get it, it is frustrating when you only have a few minutes for a break, but even so.

YANBU different circumstances but I used to work in a supermarket and would sometimes do a shop after a shift, id have a coat or jacket over my uniform and my hand bag whilst pushing a trolley round so it was obvious I was off shift, people would still stop me and ask me where x is or if I could take them to x. I would just say sorry I'm off shift but I can understand why you wouldn't want to do that in a hospital setting.

Not sure what you can do apart from lock yourself in the staff room during breaks.

Wear a hoody over your uniform. It’s a “perk” of the job I’d guess.

Staff room?? Hahaha hahaha

I totally get you it’s so annoying, hide your badge?

Staff room - they think we get a staff room hahaha

YANBU - why would anyone think that someone buying/eating their lunch or sitting in a cantten/cafe reading a book is available to help them with a query that can be answered by someone on duty for that purpose?

And your problem is?... well, entitled attitudes like this comment, probably, Life.

*canteen

I used to have a very plain denim dress, one night quite late I got a cab home from the station and the driver gushed about " you people are angels, absolute Angels" I didn't like to tell him I was a teacher, and he charged me full fare anyway........

Annoying I imagine. But for a lot of people coming into a hospital environment it can be a bit overwhelming: lots of people milling around, having no idea where the department you want is located, perhaps feeling worried about the actual appointment.

They see someone who clearly works in this large building and likely knows their way around, and I imagine think 'great this person will be able to solve my problem'.

Put your coat over your uniform when you go into the main part of the hospital and you'll sink into the background.

Yes. It would irritate me too. Say i no speak engleesh

What pigs said.

I think YAB a bit U. I work in a hospital, non-uniformed but obviously staff, and I get stopped a lot for directions. If you are in a hurry it's a bit annoying, but I find striding along very purposefully and not making eye contact helps put people off approaching me
To be honest though if I see someone looking lost and I am not in a tearing hurry I will stop and help them, being in hospital is scary and overwhelming for a lot of people and a bit of kindness costs nothing.

Most wards/departments don't have staff rooms anymore, you are expected to leave the ward if you get a break. However I do think if you are in uniform it's unreasonable not to be happy to answer queries etc. Personally, I wouldn't approach someone who was clearly eating/drinking etc however.

It is very human not to want to be bothered when it’s not your job.
But labrynthian hospitals with confusing labels can be quite intimidating, especially if you are elderly, ill or worried about being late. Last time, my elderly mother was helped by a surgeon who was going home, but turned round to help her because she asked him.
I suggest you bring your own lunch, or wear headphones so people don’t bother you.

I used to work in John Lewis in Oxford Street (about 100 years ago, it feels) - I had to wear a navy uniform dress. Sometimes I nipped out in my coffee/lunch break to other shops, having removed my badge but still got loads of people asking me about goods in other shops and asking directions to various departments. It was irritating but quite understandable and I hope I dealt kindly with them (sometimes I knew the answer to their questions and could tell them without them feeling silly though sometimes I had to explain I didn't work there).

Wear a hoody/jumper/coat/scarf/sun-glasses and carry on.

Nah, it would irritate me too, you deserve a break just as much as anyone else.

However people aren't to know that you're not there to help and are on your lunch, so it's a bit of a no-win situation really.

Completely natural for people to ask, the only way to stop this is to wear something over your uniform (hoodie/coat) or keep out of the public areas. Is there a staff room/canteen facility where the public cant go (ours has one)?

Life, did you post on the wrong thread?

OP, YANBU.

Of course Yanbu. It is annoying.

For those saying to bring your own lunch or not use the canteen, sometimes if you're actually able to take a break, you want to get away from your ward environment.

Maybe people should just have some respect and common sense and not interrupt someone obviously on a break to ask questions they could have asked at the Reception they passed on the way in? I get it's frustrating to feel lost, and every staff member on break or not does try to help. But OP isn't being unreasonable to expect some 'off' time.

They are not asking you per se, they are asking the uniform. Yes, even when you're reading. It is irksome, but at least some of those asking will just have had a call come because their loved one is seriously ill, so they won't really be equipped to be as considerate as is normal.

The only way to stop this is to change your top to something obviously not HCP - a band t-shirt, checked shirt or similar will work - and tuck your lanyard away beneath it.

Haha never be a copper! We are encouraged to buy food and drink in our communities, but get stick when we do. Seemingly being in a shop and wanting food and drink is a waste of police time and I have been threatened with complaints because of it!

We are also encouraged to park up (on the rare occasion when we're uncommitted - pahahaha) and eat our refs 'out and about' instead of going back to the nick. However we also get dirty looks for that too, and an extended family member criticised me parking in an area either drug use and other anti social behaviour, and implied I was lazy and shirking, because I was parked up and drinking a coffee.

So yeah I have full sympathy for you. I'd pop a top on so no one could see you were staff.

If I'm being honest I think YABU. I've had to rush to the hospital twice in the last year to be with relatives as they passed in the hospital. Prior to this another relative was in intensive care for weeks and were told she would die but thankfully didn't. Also, I've had constant pain for several months and have had to go to my own hospital appointments for scans etc. It's at these times that people find themselves in the hospital, when life is falling apart. If I ask you for directions its because I don't want a member of my family to slip away without getting a last goodbye or because I want an resolution to the pain that is destroying my life and my mental health.