Why do NPs call associate MD their "Boss"

[IcySageNurse]

Hello all,

Just curious to all you NPs out there - why do you call your MD colleague your "boss"? I understand in most instances, you are an employee of a medical practice owned by this MD, but wouldn't colleague or something similar be a better term?

I come from a medical family - I have MDs in my family who work in clinics "owned" by another MD. They call this MD their colleague, their chief, etc. I have never one heard anyone call their practice manager/owner their "boss."

It's another minor belittling term that helps MDs keep their power over NPs. No one is your "boss" whether they own the practice or not.

I'll step off my soap box now.

[NPAlby]

Whoever writes the paycheck is my boss. I'm a contractor and barely see the MD I contract through. I would call him my boss only because of where I work there is a supervisor who thinks he is everybodys boss (despite having NO clinical background). I do love being able to say I dont have a boss because I really dont. I pretty much make my own hours, work when i want to, leave early if I need to etc. Of course I always "inform" the staff of my hours and work my butt off when Im there. It is nice to be able to say I have no boss when patients demand to see the "Boss" to complain that I didnt rx them xanax, adderall etc.

[BlueDevil,DNP, DNP, RN]

My paycheck is signed/stamped by the CEO, whom I see once a year at the Christmas party. He is my "boss" I suppose, but we aren't well acquainted. He has >300 providers working for him. He might recognize my name, but probably would not know me on sight. For all practical purposes, the person I am accountable to on a day to day basis is the practice manager. If I fail to show up for work without calling, don't complete my charting, let my CPR card expire, lol -she is the one who will be after me. The CEO has a MD degree, but I don't know if he has a medical license, as he didn't complete a residency himself and I am told never practiced medicine at all, but went straight into the business end. He certainly doesn't have any collaborative input on my practice. However, he certainly does have the power to fire me. The practice manager does also, but she would have to go through HR hoops. The CEO would just have to say "make it so," and I'd be gone. None of my colleagues in the office have the power to fire me, or vice versa. The only person I could fire is my MA. She works directly for me, I pay her. The nurses and front desk staff work for all of us, so I assume if we wanted to fire one of them, we would all have to agree on it. The practice manager is their boss too. The PM is top dog around my office-she holds the purse strings so what she says goes!

[apocatastasis]

I moonlight inpatient with a psychiatrist (who owns the group) and a NP friend of mine on occasion, I call them both colleagues because I don't consider either one of them to be my supervisor.

In my full-time job, I have a chief medical officer and assistant chief medical officer-- I call them my bosses because that's what they are in my organizational structure. And, even though they're my supervisors, they leave me alone and let me do my job, which is really the important thing.