Pediatric nurse is begging parents to never do this one thing when their kids are in the hospital

A pediatric nurse has a simple yet powerful piece of advice for parents when they bring their child to the hospital. Interestingly, the message isn't about medicine or procedures but about something parents often do without realizing it could make things harder. The nurse, Mikey, who goes by the username @thesaintmikey on TikTok, used the platform to urge parents not to turn nurses into villains during their child’s hospital stay.

In his TikTok video, Mikey said, “If you are bringing your kid to the hospital, especially if they are like, ‘stranger danger’ age... I am begging you not to make the nurse the villain.” As reported by Scary Mommy, he reasoned, “We are there to help your kid, and we are gonna be there all day, all night, coming and waking them up, getting their vitals. They're already scared of us, but if you make them more scared of us, we're all gonna have a bad time.” Mikey shared a story about how one of his young patients kept taking off his nose cannula, which was actually helping the child breathe, to argue his case.

The boy’s mom allegedly tried to help in the situation but made things worse. Mikey said, “You have to tell your kid it needs to stay, but she was saying, ‘You need to keep it in, or they're gonna come do pow-pow.’” The problem is that using an injection as a warning isn’t a good idea, as it is actually the care/medicine they need. Mikey stressed that if a child is already scared when in the hospital, there’s no need to scare them more. 

As the video went viral, netizens chimed in in agreement. On TikTok, a person @allisonunsicker commented, “Some parents do the same at the dentist. They make X-rays sound scary, threaten shots and needles if they don’t brush...like let’s have a fun visit with your 2-year-old. Let’s not freak them out.” Another (@.kasskassooo) added, “Low-key hot take, but this applies to cops with kids who are little too. Stop telling them the cops will take them away if they are bad. You don't want them scared of cops if they are lost.”

In a similar vein, @christa_peeler shared, “My 3-year-old was just in the hospital and she was scared, but every nurse that came in she would say, ‘Doctor, are you here to help me?’ We kept telling her nurses aren’t scary and want to help her go home.” Others opined that making kids scared of nurses could cause them to suffer from medical anxiety in the future and avoid timely check-ups as adults. Parents should instead ease their children's anxiety by talking to them beforehand, explaining clearly what to expect during the doctor's visit, and answering their questions. It’s crucial to recognize their emotions and remind them that feeling nervous is completely okay.