How do you deal with Doctors that insult nurses?

Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN · Jul 23, 2016

I have since found out that most of the MD's that are attached to the facility where I work get upset whenever you contact them about their patients, leading them to be rude in the way they address nurses.

Can you define "rude"?

kat7464 · Jul 23, 2016

Be a professional. Treat the physician the way you want to be treated. Feeling put out? Not understood? I so get those feelings... But taylor your (loving) speech in such a way as to be a blessing and not a curse. The goal is your patient....not your ego. Whether the doc gets it or not...remember who you serve...your patient!

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jul 23, 2016

Be professional. Have all of your "ducks in a row" before calling. Start the call with "I'm sorry to wake you, but . . . " No, you're not really sorry to wake them. It's just a bit of social grease that gives them half a second to wake up before you launch into the reason for your call. But don't be excessive in your social grease before you get to the point. Be concise. Have the chart open so you can answer any questions they might have.

In general, you teach people how to treat you. I've been known to say to a doctor who was screaming at me "I'll call you back in five minutes, after you've had a chance to calm down," or "Please don't scream at me. Call me back when you're ready to address the patient's potassium (or whatever)." When you interact with them in person, be friendly and professional. If they know you, they're less liable to be rude at 3am. So get to know them.

BeenThere2012, ASN, RN · Jul 23, 2016

Be professional. Have all of your "ducks in a row" before calling. Start the call with "I'm sorry to wake you, but . . . " No, you're not really sorry to wake them. It's just a bit of social grease that gives them half a second to wake up before you launch into the reason for your call. But don't be excessive in your social grease before you get to the point. Be concise. Have the chart open so you can answer any questions they might have.
In general, you teach people how to treat you. I've been known to say to a doctor who was screaming at me "I'll call you back in five minutes, after you've had a chance to calm down," or "Please don't scream at me. Call me back when you're ready to address the patient's potassium (or whatever)." When you interact with them in person, be friendly and professional. If they know you, they're less liable to be rude at 3am. So get to know them.

I agree with everything you said here. When I have to call and wake a physician, I actually am sorry I am waking them. Most can tell that you actually do care about them. It's a two-way street. I worked with a doc who used to say..."Nurses do all the work. I just come up with the ideas.". Over simplified, to be sure, but she showed her respect for us and was considerate of how orders were written, for example, in order to be most efficient and still provide the best care for the patients etc....She was wonderful to work with.

RN-Doula · Jul 24, 2016

We had a new doctor who would forever walk onto the floor and say to the nearest nurse "Give me your pen so I can work on my charts", all the other nurses just handed over their pen and bad mouthed him in the break room. One day I was the nurse, I looked him in the eye and said "When you have my pen and Dr (blank) calls to give me a verbal order, shall I tell him I can't help him because you, Dr Smith took my pen?" I think I also made a comment about his mother approving his behavior and bad manners. To this day, he always has a pen in his pocket. Even when I run into other nurses who work with him at a sister hospital, they made a comment on this particular behavior change. Of course I am old enough to be his mother, if not grandmother, maybe that helped me.

But I find addressing the doctor to their face, calling them on their behavior, making them aware of their bad manners, usually helps to stop the behavior. It is more common with established conservative (older) doctors. The newer ones are given classes at times on appropriate behavior, so I have been told.

Nursetk4 · Jul 24, 2016

And don't hesitate to look that provider square in the eye and quietly say, "Don't. EVER. Speak. To. Me. Like. That. Again."

Best advice.

WKShadowNP, DNP, APRN · Jul 24, 2016

And don't hesitate to look that provider square in the eye and quietly say, "Don't. EVER. Speak. To. Me. Like. That. Again."

I got written up for doing that. But he no longer has a contract with the organization and I don't have to deal with his bologna anymore.

pnayak86 · Jul 24, 2016

All the responses are great. I would like to add that, when we nurses are up-to-date in our knowledge and skills and exhibit the same in front of doctors, I promise that no doctor dare to insult any Nurses in the unit.

If your doctor has defamed you, firstly personally tell him that what he has done is not correct. Make him realise his mistake. In case, if he repeats the same mistake, better to write in words to Nurses Union and take their help. I did the same once and achieved the result!!.

Angelicpurl · Jul 24, 2016

I had one particular Doctor hang up on any of us a lot. He even said before he hung up once, I saw that patient yesterday around 3 and she can't be coding now....I gave him a minute and called him back. He told a colleague a patient's potassium couldn't be 6.2, despite it being 5.6 the evening before and treatment ordered (& given).

But he came in a room screaming at me once when I paged him overhead 3x, had a patient develop sudden pulmonary edema. Calcium was 15, had been put on meds and fluids that were running together at 300 mL/hour. Sounded like they were drowning from the doorway! We didn't have rapid response team back then, and ICU wouldn't come to help, house supervisor was helping with a literal train wreck survivor in the ER, and I was the charge nurse. I just shut everything off, grabbed Foley, O2, called ER....because I had no response. We applied O2, got Foley in, and I was pushing some Lasix (per ER doc recommendation) when the screaming doc came in.

I looked up at him and said, Now can they go to the unit? (Day shift had fought not wanting the patient on the floor). His response was, how much Lasix did you give? And, who told you to do all this?

I responded very sweetly, don't you remember talking to us on your way upstairs? I've given 40 mg so far....and he said I want them to have 100 mg, why haven't you given that yet? I just smiled and said, we don't push Lasix that fast on the floor, so 40 mg is all they've gotten so far. See, they're diuresing so well now. I'm glad we put in the Foley. He walked out of the room and asked the unit clerk why hadn't she called for a unit bed yet? She looked at him and said, I have them on hold for you.

I did have to call a neurosurgeon once because the drain he sloppily put in came out when the ICU Doctor had to re-intubate the patient. It was a rapid reintubation, and the drain had been in a while. He started screaming profanities at me and the ICU doc grabbed the phone from me. He listened & when a break came to the ranting, he said, this is Fred, the attending ICU Doctor. I will NOT tolerate your behavior or screaming at my nurses for anything, but ESPECIALLY for something I did.

He hung up, asked if he could give me a hug, and bought us all pizza that night. He asked for the house supervisor & helped write the surgeon up. That surgeon doesn't work there anymore.

rachel100639 · Jul 24, 2016

Who ever thought for a minute they were Gods?

Wake88, BSN, RN · Jul 24, 2016

Should you have thicker skin? Sure.

But... if it's deemed appropriate for a doctor to be disrespectful to nurses, what's to keep nurses from trolling said doctors in the most subtle and effective ways possible? Turnabout is fair play. You don't just have thicker skin: you parry their bad behavior with calmness and cleverness.

Oh'Ello, BSN, RN · Jul 25, 2016

I literally walk away from them mid sentence. Nothing aggravates, arrogant people more than not giving them attention.