Annoyed by what I saw in the dining room...vent

Nurses General Nursing

Published

About a week ago, I was waiting in line on my dinner break, and in front of me was a nursing instructor, a handful of nursing students, and a physician. The instructor shooed the physician ahead of her, saying 'You go ahead, Dr. XYZ.' :mad: For some reason, that annoyed me more than anything has lately around the hospital. I mean, really!?! - why is his time more important than anyone else's? Was she showing respect to a doctor, making a point (???) to her students, deferring to him without reason... I really don't know why, but it's still bothering me, and I thought I'd share. Of course, he went ahead, signed his slip for his free meal (:eek:) and went on... thanks for listening to my vent!

Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.

how was letting him/her go ahead any different than seating a single person in a restaurant first or letting someone with only a loaf of bread and a carton of milk or a huge bag of disposable diapers who should have stopped for a cart but didn't, go ahead of you?

i see the act as being common courtesy than one of being differential to a doctor-type person.

Specializes in Critical Care.
Of course doctors can be sued, even in Wisconsin. Where did you come up with that?!

I think that may have been some sarcasm?

Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.

I would have let the doc go ahead of me. I realize that they only have a few minutes to eat. Have you ever worked with a doc with low blood sugar? Not pleasant. I think the instructor was being kind.

When the maximum you can sue a doctor for here in Wisconsin is a 50k settlement, that is essentially being immune from lawsuits.

So basic common courtesy should be extended to other people but not to doctors? I've been in nursing for 32 years now and yes, I come from that generation that was taught to offer the physician your seat at the nurses' station. We've had so many threads on AN about rude doctors but we never seem to recognize that in ourselves. I am unfailingly polite to the physicians that I work with and guess what? They are unfailingly polite to me! It's not okay in my book to say doctors think they're gods so we don't have to be polite to them. If everybody got lunch in your scenario no harm was done.

Several have said, Life is too short . . .

An old t-shirt I had, or maybe saw, said:

Das Leben ist zu kurz

um schlecten Wein

zu trinken.

More colorful, perhaps; more memorable.

Specializes in Med/Surg, DSU, Ortho, Onc, Psych.

I wouldn't be outraged about her letting him go before her - I'd be outraged that he got a free meal and I didn't!

Specializes in LDRP.

maybe she was friends with him and was being nice? If you look for an ulterior motive in everything, you will find one.

When I was a nursing student, I may have been scared of the doctors, but I still wouldn't have interpreted my instructor letting a doctor go ahead of our group as a subtle implication that I should always defer to the almighty doctor.....

Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.
When the maximum you can sue a doctor for here in Wisconsin is a 50k settlement, that is essentially being immune from lawsuits.

A settlement is different from an award in a lawsuit. I think you're mistaken. Do you have any references to this?

I cannot find anything online that indicates there is a cap on medical malpractice in WI. In fact, one link I did find where they ATTEMPTED to put a cap on malpractice awards (to $350K, not $50K) was struck down by the state supreme court as unconstitutional. That was in 2005.

Specializes in Orthopaedic Nursing; Geriatrics.

I am an "older" nurse. I would not have given that incident a second thought! Good Lord! The doctors still deserve our respect, whether she had 10 students with her or one! I still stand up when a doctor comes into the nurses station so he can have my chair, make rounds with him, and ALWAYS address them as "doctor". They have earned that! And yes, I have even been known to offer to get them a coffee or cold drink when they are reviewing charts. Respect - it's mutual.

It's hard for me to understand where that amount of resentment comes from in a student.

The reality is this..... as a student, you are a guest. Your group is there at the invitation of the facility. Your job is to watch, listen, observe, absorb, seize opportunities, gain skills etc. The role of the facility is to provide those opportunities in collaboration with your instructor. The goal of both groups is to accomplish this with the least amount of obtrusiveness in day to day operations and delivery of patient care.

As others have said, it has nothing to do with being a physician and everything to do with being one staff member, "on the clock", behind a group of ten students. I will even go so far as to say this, yes, at that very moment ; his time probably was more valuable than yours. That will change and fluctuate dependent on circumstances and has absolutely nothing to do with one's value as a person.

I mean this in all sincerity, don't look for slights and don't buy into the stereotypes and you'll likely develop collegial, collaborative relationships with physicians. You'll be happier and your patients will definitely benefit.

Specializes in L&D.

You put way too much thought into that. Don't worry about it. (: If he weren't a doctor, but a fellow nurse or even somebody that didn't work there, would you still have gotten offended?

+ Add a Comment