I can see why you wouldn’t like that, it is unprofessional to be saying it to the patients. I could see telling them to be careful because they don’t want to end up staying in the hospital longer but the paperwork thing should really only be said to employees.

Is it said in a serious sense or in an attempt to be lighthearted about warning them of the dangers of falling without seeming depressing or patronizing?

I used to hear it a lot in nursing homes and in home health.

But it was a serious thing attempted to get the patient to use safety precautions. You’d be surprised how often an otherwise stubborn person would agree to do so to prevent inconveniences to someone else.

I don’t agree that it’s a good idea for anyone doing it like that, but a family member genuinely trying to get someone to be safer? I can’t object to that.

The problem with professionals doing it is that it violates ethics regarding patient choices. We’re supposed to give good information, allow informed choice, and accept what the patient chooses, so long as they’re capable of doing so. We aren’t there the manipulate patients into what we want them to do. We aren’t there to make our jobs easier, either, though I can get how facility workers could get burnt out watching stupid, preventable injuries to patients making dumb-ass choices.

In nursing homes, I really only did skilled units, so my patients were mostly severe dementia or non-ambulatory to begin with. Home health, it was mostly end of life care, so the only thing I’d ever insist on is them letting me do my job and be with them. Be crazy, do stuff you shouldn’t do, but let me keep it from being an injury, or find another caregiver. Someone at end of life, idgaf what they do to make the most of it, I just wanted them safe and intact at end of shift.