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 ?

Op - could you raise this with the hospital board (get other colleagues involved too) and tell them your hospital needs more and better signs, better reception services and information leaflets etc, maybe some more volunteer "meeters and greeters". One of my local hospitals did this and they worked out various "pathways" involving different coloured and textured footprints and lines on the floors and walls for patients to follow.

That's awful about the criticism you receive on your breaks Dontbuyanewmumcashmere . I think it's really hard for the police as you just can't win, damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Why don’t you have staff room?
Where do you put your bags and coats
And surely they don’t expect you to arrive in uniform and leave in a dirty one??
( massive no no in dentistry- by law we have to have these facilities)

I can only speak for my own trust in that we technically have a staff room which is basically a locker room with a few chairs and a partition at one end to get changed behind. It's not the sort of place one would actually like to have a break in.
We used to have proper staff rooms on the wards but they got rid of them to create more patient space. Even when we had the proper rooms we'd still have family members knocking and asking questions since "we had a minute or two".

I work as a nurse in a unit in the hospital with 40+ staff on shift in the day. The staff room is small and only has 12 chairs. We do have a changing room with lockers for everyone, 2 toilets and a shower room, no seats though.

I pretty much have to leave the unit on my break, I put a zip up hoodie on, stare at my phone and sometimes put headphones in.

It is a bit annoying being asked directions, but I get the hospital can be overwhelming place and hope I never let the annoyance show. I'm more annoyed that we don't have a suitable place to have a break, and it is one of the reasons that I'm looking for a new job.

Why do so many people assume there is a staff room accessible to the OP?
Why are people doing the emotional blackmail thing and telling the OP she's BU as the people interrupting her break may be scared/ upset/ in pain etc? Don't you want your HCPs to have had an actual break so that they can go back to work ready to give the best care to you/ your loved ones?

My DH wears a suit to work, so whenever he wanders around shops during his lunch break etc. he risks being accosted by other users of the same shop to help them with something or other. Thankfully he tends to have longer for his lunch than you and, being willing to help, will do his best!

Sometimes people do realise he doesn't work there and they can get embarrassed and apologise, sometimes he can't help and does have to say he can't help as he doesn't work there. iirc when we lived near Newcastle Upon Tyne he was often in Fenwick's department store and looked like he could be a manager, he often helped a lady out there, even after she knew he didn't work there! She became someone who exchanged "Hello, how are you" conversations, even if she didn't need help with anything.

I can see how, especially if you only have a few minutes to spare\you are on the phone\reading etc. that it can be irritating to have to deal with hospital visitors. All you want to do is take a break for 5 minutes and relax without interruption. It might be that you have to 'disguise' your uniform whenever you leave your ward, a coat and bag might not be enough to deter people from approaching you, they can still tell you're in uniform. You shouldn't have to do this, but could you keep a wraparound skirt\culottes\loose trousers at work to cover your bottom half during breaks so your uniform isn't as obvious?

(I recently had to go to our local hospital for an x-ray. We found the right building but didn't know where we had to go in there. Thankfully we asked a volunteer behind a desk who was there to help for directions, but, if we hadn't seen him, we would have automatically asked someone in uniform as expect them to know the hospital better than other visitors. We nearly didn't see the volunteer though, it is easy to go past them without realising what they are there for, but it is much easier to identify uniformed staff, unfortunately for you. Also, it wouldn't occur to me that staff members might have been asked for directions a dozen times already and might be sick of it\on a break etc. I'd be wrapped up in my own problems\pain - which was considerable at the time - and not thinking like that. Except I would not ask people on the phone\reading etc. that is very rude.))

I think yes YABU but, I completely get where you're coming from and would feel the same on the inside!

Why don’t you have staff room?
Where do you put your bags and coats

Do you expect the staff to take their breaks and eat their food in the locker/scrubs room, Heather?

Emergencies, people dying, people in pain, confused, scared or just can't be arsed to read the sign or find someone on duty... these are all workaday occurrences for clinical staff in a hospital. That's what they do all day, every day, same as paramedics, police officers etc. Should they never get breaks to decompress and eat their lunch/drink their coffee in peace, then? Does the fact they work in a helping profession mean that they have to be available to help anyone, any time, in any circumstances, even when that person just can't be bothered to attempt to solve their own issue/is just plain rude?

No wonder so many healthcare professionals burn out.

Would it help if you got an over sized floaty top that covered everything and wore that? I presume your trousers aren't causing any probs, it's the top? Or a checked shirt thats over sized and knee length.

Wear a hoodie with OFF DUTY in huge white letters on the back. Seriously, I should patent that!

Take lunch to work with you and then you wont have to run the gauntlet of poor lost members of the public trying to find their way to haematology or x-ray,

I was lost in a hospital once and TWO members of staff saw my confusion and stopped to help me find the department I was looking for.

I was very grateful to them and sent a compliment to their PALS department the next day.

Take lunch to work with you and then you wont have to run the gauntlet of poor lost members of the public trying to find their way to haematology or x-ray,

And if you actually want to eat said lunch away from your ward area what Then?

I don’t mind doing it. It’s rare that I get a break so I’m too excited to be off of the ward.
I help, I care. It’s what I do.

If you are walking around the hospital and someone asks for directions then YABU. Part of working somewhere means you get questions (i wouldn't begrudge directing a visitor back to reception because it's my lunch break).

If you are being interrupted in a cafe, whikst eating lunch etc then YANBU.

YANBU.

Can’t believe people are trying to guilt trip you.

I work in uniform in a hospital and I was walking through another ward to get to a specific area not on that ward, a member of a large family stopped dead in front of me and said whilst your here a word and pointed into the side room, I said sorry unfortunately I don't work in this ward I'm just passing through but if you press the call bell then a member of staff will come to answer it, but apparently this wasn't good enough and because I clearly work in the hospital I should be able to answer questions about their relative that I didn't know or look after and they got quite pissed off with me trying to explain I didn't know any information I was just passing through and I couldn't help

Sorry but YABU. When my DH was a police officer and was in uniform he was stopped constantly. He was once on his way home and had stopped at a petrol station when someone knocked on his window and asked him to follow a car which had just left as the driver was on her phone.

When we used to live in a police house I often had people knocking on the door when DH wasn't in asking me questions. Once I had an elderly woman yelling at me saying I had to go and tell two young lads to stop riding their bikes on the pavement. When I explained it was my DH who was the police officer and not me she said it was still my "duty" to do something 😀

YANBU. I am possibly guilty of this. You need to wear a longer coat to hide your uniform - or walk really quickly so people think you are on your way to an emergency. or carry a Halloween style plastic sawn off leg/arm and look busy

I get asked for directions a lot in hospitals - I'm not a HCP but a social worker, but have to wear an ID badge when working there so I suppose I look like a plain-clothed HCP to the uninitiated. It doesn't bother me but I suppose if I was interrupted on my lunch every single day it might get tiresome. I understand where you're coming from and don't think you're BU.

Can you eat in your car? That's what I do to escape the office/getting collared to take calls when I'm off the clock. Or as PP suggested, a baggy hoodie over your uniform?

What annoys me is when I am in my office clearly having an appointment with a patient. Another patient barges in and says ‘just a quick question’ Err, bugger off!

And OP, YANBU!

Thank you so much for such varied and kind comments. I think you guys have summed it up- I'm ok to help for the most part but as stated when it's every single time it gets a bit waring. I like to think that I've never let on those feelings and always been professional and kind but it is tough not to let out a big grrr in your head when you've managed to escape for such a short period of time to collect your own thoughts.

It's lovely to know others perspectives and as always in the health service, learning and keeping an open mind about what it's like to be a service user goes a long way ! Thank you also for understanding my frustrations as well.

Ps.. we don't have a staff room and I like hot food

I work in a hospital that has a staff room on our ward, and all staff arrive and leave in their uniform.
We also always get to take our breaks.
And the parking is plentiful and free.
I can imagine it becoming a PITA if it is all the time at every break OP.

Yanbu. You need that down time to recharge and return to being on duty ready for action. You're only human, it's natural to get annoyed about these things.

When picking up DS1 at after school club tonight, a grandma asked me where her child was as she thought I was staff.

I work in a prison, and was in uniform - full keychain, etc. Grandma clearly has a great perception of the school...

I used to dress smartly for work, in a black suit. One day I was in M&S ladies wear dept. making my way out when a man asked me where he could find something. (The staff wore navy suits).

I directed him to the section he was looking for, and he thanked me and off he went.