[webbiedebbie]

Even though I told her when I entered the room that I was her nurse for the night.

I did my assessment and then she asked me if I could tell her nurse to get her some pain medication. I explained that I was her nurse for the night (again). She thought I was the doctor because I did an assessment!

Unfortunately, some nurses don't do assessments on their patients!

[SnowieRN]

Try being a guy nurse. I was just a highschool student and when I wore my scrubs they still called me doctor.

[Marie_LPN]

We only have one nurse that doesn't do her assessments on night shift, everyone else does, so we never have the doctor/nurse confusion. Most pts. will expect the nurse to come in after their vitals are taken to do their assessment (which they do, since the pt is already awake).

[nialloh]

Originally posted by SnowieRN
Try being a guy nurse. I was just a highschool student and when I wore my scrubs they still called me doctor.

Ditto. All I can do is remind them that I'm the nurse.

[imenid37]

When I had my kids many years back (10,13,15), several of the nurses assessed my fundus on postpartum. Good thing 'cause after delivery, my doctors never did!

[santhony44]

I am a FNP with a Master's, currently working in industry. We have five other nurses, all LVN's. We wear nametags, etc. One of the LVN's is male. Guess who gets called "Doc?"

He's a very good nurse, BTW, and does absolutely nothing to encourage people to call him Doc, or think of him as a doctor.

I think that this kind of thing will persist another generation or two and then won't be an issue at all. A lot of people still have the mindset that men are doctors, women are nurses, and that's not something that is going to be overcome by much besides time. Just a year or so ago I just managed to stop my own mother from asking a female doctor, in street clothes and labcoat, to assist my dad to the bathroom (he'll let another female nurse assist him but not his daughter). They'd used the call light but of course the floor was short-staffed.

[acuteobrn]

I just recently had a patient who was laboring and the family recognized all the care and assessments I was doing, and asked if I was going to be the one to deliver the baby too, she was getting close. I said, ah no that's when the doctor come in. The husband pipes up and says well you are doing everything else I am sure you could handle it, you don't need to call them especially if all they do is come in and catch the kid. That simple statement alone made me smile all week, still makes me smile, and of course, I wasn't assumed to be the OB, and I am female, but it was so nice to hear that coming from the family. They asked me to have my picture taken w/ the baby, not the OB was was there to just catch and repair, and out of the room in less than 15 minutes. Ahh such a nice family, this is why I don't mind not getting paid "the big bucks" I was however a few weeks ago thought to be the midwife by one patients family, guess it fits into the "female" role.

[Dayray]

I have had allot of first time parents that constantly ask when the doctor is coming. No matter how often I tell them that the doctor only comes when the baby is about to come out, they are always asking.

I had a couple like this a few weeks ago and after the delivery they looked at me in astonishment and said "all the doctor did was catch, I had no idea nurses could do so much" made me smile. made me laugh too, allot of people still have the impression that all we do is schlep around bedpans and run around after the doc's

As far as being called doc, I think allot of people are aren't sure what to call me. Even though I introduce my self as a nurse they feel funny calling a guy "nurse" so they call me doctor.

I always gently but firmly remind them that I am a nurse. It doesn't make me angry but, I believe the reason they do this is they are afraid to insult me and I want to make sure they realize that being called nurse is far from insulting to me.

[SmilingBluEyes]

wow they don't do assessments?

something wrong on that unit.

no one gets confused where I work.

but then we are expected to do shift assessments, period. and far as I know, they get done.

[LadyBugRN]

what happened to the nurse's cap? it used to distinguish nurses from doctors, dietitians, housekeepers, etc...