Yelling Doctors, How do you handle them?????

Nurses Relations

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The other night at work (I work 7PM shift), I admitted a new patient. She was seen at her doctors office a couple days before and was started on PO antibiotics TID. She did not take her antibiotic all day. At my hospital we are to clarify meds upon admission and she could not remember the dose perscribed. So I had to page her doctor, which has a reputation of being mean at 11PM (not that late). He interrupted my question by yelling/screaming at me, asking me how he would know the dose (he prescribed it), demanding I answer why it couldn't wait till morning while huffing and puffing on the phone!!! I know if I didn't address it, the charge nurse or someone would of had my neck due to policy...Can't win!!

I've only been a nurse for 8 months and I haven't had much experience with this.

My question is... How do you respond to a doctor who talks to you this way- I mean screams at you this way?

I think it would be better for the site to be just for nurses. It doesn't say

allhealthcaregivers.com. Unless we're inviting doctors from the beginning of the

discussion, it's kind of unfair to have a discussion about doctor abuse toward

nurses and have doctors chiming in as they please.

Hmmm. Cubby has a point I think. If there was a place where nurses should be comfortable "letting it out" so to speak, it should be on Allnurses don't you all think? I've always thought about those lurking, that they probably do know that they lurk at their own peril, right? And, if they enter a thread that happens to point a finger in their particular direction, they post at their own emotional risk. I notice some that lurk like to throw gasoline on the fire, and then get offended when it gets too hot. :angryfire

Specializes in Telemetry & Obs.

Anybody else dizzy from all the turns this thread has taken?!?

I would have waited until morning to call the doctor because:

*we have a time frame in which to complete medication reconciliations

*I would have called the pharmacy first to verify dosage

*a lot of pharmacies have online prescription refill services

so I would have checked online for dosage of an important medication

Just because a doctor is on call and "makes the big bucks" is no reason to call willy nilly.

No wonder some of them get irate.

That said, if I have good reason to call any doctor and he YELLS at me I wouldn't stand for it.

As a healthcare professional caring for HIS patient I have every right and responsibility to call.

No reason for him to yell. He could have taken it up with the nurse's manager if necessary. Most doctors are not absuive to me in any way, but when they are, I say, "I called you professionally as a nurse to address an issue. When you are ready to address it, call me back and we can talk sensibly. I have fulfilled my obligation and can document that". Then I quietly hang up. I've actually only done that three times in my career. All three times I was called back within five minutes and the doctor apologized.

Oooooooohhhhhhh. This is Goooooooooooooodddddd! I like!

:yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah:

First off....don't EVER apologize to a dr. regarding their patients. Just remember to prioritize what needs to be dealt with now and what can wait. But always remember that it is always inappropriate to yell at anyone!!

Specializes in pediatrics, geriatrics, med-surg, ccu,.

I totally agree with truern. This thread has become very "dizzy in the discussion".

While I, like everyone else, do not think it is appropriate for anyone to yell at someone else, doctors are not the only ones that yell at the nurses. Sometimes you have to look at the situation at hand and do was is best for all involved.

This new nurse was actually looking for someway to effectively handle being yelled at by a physcian at her work place. I also believe that there are channels that are followed to report such issues. I have used a number of attempts to let what ever doc know that it is not appropriate when I have gotten yelled at. Some work, some don't but what does work is if it is reported to the appropriate person, a head nurse, supervisor, nurse administrator etc and a report is filed. Sometimes the behaviors that we ourselves use to get our message across can backfire. I have seen it happen to a few good nurses. If anything that this new nurse takes out of the whole thread, is that it is not appropriate and that she should not tolerate it, but we as older and more experienced nurses should also guide her in what is the appropriate way to handle it. Tom was right in his post, there are channels that we should be advising her to use to solve this issue. While I am as guilty as the next nurse is sometimes saying and doing things in a different manner, I am wrong to also give her ideas that may ultimately get her fired if the doctor decided to file a greivance. After all, it is a one on one discussion via the phone. Kinda like he said, she said, type conversation and both sides can view it as a inappropriate conversation and file a greivance. When you look at it this way, would it be appropriate in either situation? No.

I have loved alot of the answers that people have given (and wish that I would have thought about some of those through the years..) but I also realized by reading the thread how ugly this has also gotten to be. We should all be trying to help one another not tearing each other down.

Specializes in ER, ICU, Education.

For me, it depends on the situation.

Most complaints can be handled through official channels with persistance. Persistance, and sticking together as nurses is key. I think (hope) we will see things change now that JCAHO has decided to join the party on this issue. It really does compromise patient care if people are reluctant to contact a physician who is abusive.

I have hung up on those who yell if on the phone, and walked away if in person, after giving warning that I will not be spoken to in such a manner. I then report them.

Speaking of not handling things the best way:

I was a brand new nurse, and impetuous.The thing I hate most is docs with "grabby hands." One in particular was a butt grabber. I thought it was an accident the first time as we were working together in a small room. I then found out he is known for this. The next time I was ready. As I knelt down to check the chest tube drainage, he grabbed and I elbowed. Hard. Then turned about to sweetly say "Oops! Did I do that?" At the time, I thought of it as providing continuing education, only without the credits. I would now do things differently. I never heard of him doing that again on our floor, but what if he did that to patients? To other nurses at another unit or hospital? I definitely stopped him from doing that to me, but what about the next new nurse?

Anybody else dizzy from all the turns this thread has taken?!?

...

That said, if I have good reason to call any doctor and he YELLS at me I wouldn't stand for it.

As a healthcare professional caring for HIS patient I have every right and responsibility to call.

Yes!! And the sad part is that we all jumped on the OP telling her that she shouldn't have called for that instead of giving her positive ways to deal with being yelled at, which was her question in the first place. Well, that's not entirely true, there has been some good advice on ways to handle it, and a few good stories. But I do feel bad for her - this thread got kind of judgemental. Bottom line, nobody should yell at you for doing your job, even if they don't like the way you are doing it, unless there is an immediate safety issue.

Thanks to Tom123:

Thanks for your input as to why doctors yelling at nurses shouldn't be tolerated. Obviously, you have the experience in the real world of nursing to

see what's really happening. Thanks for your support.

Hang up! You do not have to put up with this verbal abuse. Just tell him that you are unable to carry on a conversation with him while he is so upset. Then hang up. I have seen it done and it worked very well.

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