HELP Resident calling baby "stupid" What to do!!!??

I would agree with some of the more recent posters. It might not be appropriate to say in front of parents, but maybe this is her coping mechanism. Confront her first. Without doing so you are just going to create drama that is not necessary.

Before you run off to this woman's superior, why don't you take a step back and try to give her the benefit of the doubt first instead of jumping to conclusions (and I don't care if someone else told you that she does this sort of thing "all the time" - people have their own definition of what that means).

Have you tried talking with her about it face to face? Maybe she doesn't realize that she is offensive and acting unprofessionally. It's possible that she's just doing this to blow off steam and doesn't truly mean what she's saying.

If no one has ever brought it to her attention that they find what she's saying wrong, then their collective silence has validated her words, and she might think that she's speaking for EVERYONE'S thoughts when she says mean things.

I know that we all get stressed out, we all get impatient and frustrated. I'm quite sure that at some point in time, we ALL have thoughts along these same lines, maybe not towards an innocent child, but perhaps towards a combative drunk, a lazy coworker, or even just a plain old disgusting patient (you know the kind). The difference with the resident is that she is taking her thoughts one step further and saying them out loud. Maybe what she really means is that the treatments are f-ing stupid, the parents are frustrating, the diagnosis is heartbreaking, she is tired and hungry, she doesn't want to be saddled with this patient, she feels overwhelmed and stressed out. It could be anything, and it probably has nothing to do with the kid.

Before you go starting a bunch of needless drama, act like a grownup and politely confront the resident yourself. Talk WITH her. Ask her why she says things so harshly. Let her know that you don't approve of it. You might be surprised by what you find out. If not, or if the situation doesn't improve, THEN you can think about going over her head. But first, give her a chance to correct her own mistakes without getting a million other people involved in something that could be nipped in the bud right away.

Document, chart, and report it to the attending and or your manager. If they just shrug it off, then go up the chain of command. I have no tolerance for people who cannot act in a mature/professional manner. Worst of all having this kind of attitude around a sick infant!

Re: "It makes me sad that some of you take care of our most vulnerable patients"

In that case, let me urge you never to walk through a NICU in the middle of night when all the parents are gone, or you'll hear plenty of horrifying discussions of which babies are annoying, or ugly, or are probably going to die, or have funny-looking penises.

And while babies may be vulnerable to infection or hypothermia or dehydration, they're not vulnerable to being called stupid, because it doesn't mean anything to them.