‘The sign says reception not daycare’: Nurse calls out parents who expect front-desk workers to watch their children while they consult with the doctor
If you have kids, and especially if you can’t afford childcare, finding ways to manage your personal and private lives around your children can be difficult. This can often involve bringing them to places you’d likely rather not bring them, such as the doctor’s office.
However, this can lead to issues, as TikTok user and nurse Samantha (@samanthaclarke29) explains in a video with over 498,000 views as of Sunday.
Stitching with a recent video from TikTok user Matthew Bunker, Samantha says that people bringing their kids is a major issue in her workplace.
“One of my biggest pet peeves about working in a doctor’s office are people who come in with their children — not one child, not two, multiple children, and they think that the people who sit at the front desk are responsible for watching their children when they go back and see the doctor,” Samantha explains. “Absolutely the fuck not.”
@samanthaclarke29 #stitch with @bunkerlicious ♬ original sound - Samantha Clarke
In the rest of the video, Samantha details an incident in which a patient brought four children into the waiting room. When it came time for her appointment, she started to head back to the office — leaving her four children behind.
“I stopped her, and I said, ‘Ma’am, you need to take your children with you,’” Samantha recalls. The patient argued this, saying the oldest child, who was 11, could take care of the others.
Samantha says she insisted that the parent could not leave the children there, leading to an argument between the two. Eventually, Samantha says she told the patient that, if she did not want to bring her kids with her, she could reschedule her appointment to a time when the patient could find adequate childcare.
“That lady got so mad,” Samantha remembers. “She snatches up her children. She’s mumbling under her breath, ‘I just don’t understand what the big deal is. It’s not like you’re not sitting here — it’s not like you’re doing anything.’”
“Bitch, I am working,” Samantha concludes. “And I don’t work for you.”
In the comments section, users stated that this was an issue in their workplaces as well.
“Working in retail, a lady walk up to me with her 3y old. ‘stay here with the nice lady’ and just walks out the store,” a user claimed. “we had to call the cops.”
“Pediatrics here…It’s mind blowing to me,” another added. “Then they let them completely destroy the exam room! Shred table paper, empty cabinets then walk out.”
“Patients have tried to bring kids to their over night sleep study,” alleged a third. “Reschedule.”
We’ve reached out to Samantha via email.
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