So, rather than going into great detail and creating a nice little HIPAA violation, I'm going to be general about this.

Sometimes, I hate people.

I'm really nice to patients and their families. Too nice. I'm very patient with patients and their families. I know what it means to be empathetic, I recognize my job is to work closely with people who are likely to be under stress, and I bend over backwards to be right there with them. It's my job. It's something I like about my job. There's something really satisfying about ending a shift having ridden out a roller-coaster of a day with a patient - celebrating the highs, pushing through the lows, and working to improve at least one part of that person's day. Recognition doesn't necessarily need to be verbalized in order to be understood - though sometimes it is mentioned, and that's another special part of this line of work.

But that's not what this is about. This is about hating people.

On this end of the spectrum, "liaison" becomes "messenger." As in, "kill the messenger." No no, I guess as in "don't kill the messenger," but we can't always have what we want now can we? Now I'm not as tough as that nurse who's been around the block for 20 years, but I'm not complete mush either. I get your frustrations. I get it when I'm telling you something that you're not going to like. I'm right there with you. You might not like it, but I work to make sure you know why we're doing it or why it's happening. I'm on your side, people. I'm sorry the doctor did not discuss this unpleasant piece of information with you and left me in the trenches taking your bullets.

But I can't deal with unwarranted disrespect. There is a difference between frustration and disrespect - primarily that I'm game for the former and hating you for the latter. In this particular non-specific, non-HIPAA-violating case, I rode out approximately 3 hours of this behavior hanging on to the last shred of empathy in my body, but they lost me in that last hour. And when I left my shift 25 minutes late fully and 100% because of these people, I saw the CA taking them towards my elevator to be discharged, and you better believe I hit the "close" button without a second thought.

Don't expect me to take the high road past 7:30p when I'm pissed off and starving.