The healing power of laughter is well documented. For nurses, building trust and communication with coworkers and patients is critical. Here are some do’s and don’ts for joking with patients.

Have you heard of gallows humor? Well, nurses have their unique brand of it. It’s dark, raunchy, and often peppered with a vocabulary worthy of longshoremen. But it’s not surprising, is it?

Books have even been written on the subject. Here are a few titles from Amazon (We make no reviews or recommendations, but you can check them out for yourself).

• Bedlam Among the Bedpans: Humor in Nursing by Amy Y. Young.

• Oh Sh*t, I Almost Killed You! A Little Book of Big Things Nursing School Forgot to Teach You by Sonja M. Schwartzbach, BSN, RN, CCRN.

• Nurse Coloring Book: Sweary Midnight Edition – A Totally Relatable Swear Word Adult Coloring Book Filled with Nurse Problems by Adult Coloring World.

Any job involving intense stress produces a dark stream of work-related humor. Nurses often experience things beyond the normal human ability to cope, and they have to work through even the worst crises to provide the best care they can. Later, when the trauma subsides, they process these events as the “new normal” to wake up and face it again tomorrow.

But there are also other functions for humor, as a bonding mechanism with other health care providers, especially with patients. In addition, humor is an incredibly effective tool against fear. A 2014 study of patient perceptions of nursing humor in the palliative care setting found they welcomed the opportunity to laugh with their nurse, and a series of other studies found it universally beneficial. The one caveat seemed to be determining what was and wasn’t appropriate humor.

Between Nurse and Patient

The line between funny and insensitive is a muted shade of gray that not everyone can see, and once you go too far, the consequences can be awkward and undermine the patient’s attitude toward you and the care you give. Of course, you want to be yourself, but how do you know when a joke is acceptable?

Here are some do’s and don’ts for joking with patients.

Don’t:

• Get too personal. Avoid talking about their weight, family members, personal history, etc.

• Be nasty or critical.

• Judge patients or anyone else

• Confuse them by pretending they got the wrong med, etc.

Do:

• Be gentle.

• Be a little personal (Hey, it looks like you did your hair in your sleep today!).

• Keep jokes general with topics like the weather, what’s on TV, etc.

• Tell funny stories meant to distract.

• Joke about yourself, but again, nothing too personal.

The one unbreakable rule is to never joke with patients about other staff or the institution; you never know what will get back to your superiors!