Pros or cons?

allnurses Guide · May 18, 2012

Before becoming an RN I worked in medical offices. I have a firm rule to never work for a physician whose wife also works in the office. Never. For me this has become a rule for which there is no bending and no compromise. It almost never works well. You may hear anecdotally from a person or two for whom it worked but most of the time the two of them are very focused on growing their practice and their wealth and very often do not include the rest of the staff in their vision. On top of this the wife often has a power trip due to the fact that her husband has to live with her and isn't going to stand up to her in the workplace.

My personal advice is to keep looking unless you have no other options.

noyesno, MSN, APRN, NP · May 18, 2012

Step up from the other scenario where the doc's wife was the manager.

How many nurses are there in the office? If it's just you and the wife it could be wierd. If there are a few nurses it wouldn't be too bad.

netglow, ASN, RN · May 20, 2012

This specific doc has more than one RN. We'll see what I find out. It is a long established independent group and has one or two well known accomplished docs in it. One good thing is that I keep a constant eye out and don't recall this place having advertised for an RN prior. Lots of revolving door practices I've seen every month or so the same ad goes right back up and all that.

BTW, met a real creepy doc the other week. OMG I need to write a book. I actually didn't leave references - never thought to because I was trying to talk my way out the door and make a bee line to the elevator and outta there! I laugh because I've never had the hebe jebes so bad in an interview!

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · May 21, 2012

Before becoming an RN I worked in medical offices. I have a firm rule to never work for a physician whose wife also works in the office. Never. For me this has become a rule for which there is no bending and no compromise. It almost never works well. You may hear anecdotally from a person or two for whom it worked but most of the time the two of them are very focused on growing their practice and their wealth and very often do not include the rest of the staff in their vision. On top of this the wife often has a power trip due to the fact that her husband has to live with her and isn't going to stand up to her in the workplace.
My personal advice is to keep looking unless you have no other options.

I agree. If there's ever any conflict or issue where you and her are on opposite sides, guess which side the doctor will support almost all of the time...hint: not yours :) Also, if she's on a power trip due to her status, you could end up with the short end of the stick while she takes it easy or plays Queen Bee/dictator.

On the other hand, if you end up getting on good terms with her--and she doesn't see you as a threat to her career and/or marriage--she could become a powerful ally. Just remember that you're always going to rank behind her, even if you are technically in charge of her.

All that being said, if you're willing and able to deal with the drama that comes from working with the boss' spouse, it may not be a bad opportunity. Honestly, I agree with not.done yet: it's not my first choice for all the reasons given and then some...but then again in this job market, one can't afford to be too choosy.

Best of luck whatever you decide!

netglow, ASN, RN · May 31, 2012

Update: Wait, maybe this should go in the Humor forum???????

Doc was late, so, I had to sit and listen to the office management person tell me about every medical condition/treatment that she, and her family have ever had, FOR AN ENTIRE HOUR (and I tried to be nice).

Also, When people try to warn you about someone, but also want you desperately to take the job at the same time just because they cannot stand having to help this person because he is without a "handler", things get wierd... The doc apparently is a problem child.

He finally gets in and basically tells me... he suspects his last RN was a drinker (makes the hand holding glass drinking gesture), and she always was ******* people off... (Gee, Doc, you are such a bad liar, so easy for me to see). Also that "people" walk into his practice and think they can make a lot of money, but they won't... that he wants to see patients in another area because he hates how people in this present locaton don't respect him... never talked about the wife.

Someone came in and offered me a coke - I, by that time had pulled out my gun and blown my head off so, I was happy to get that cold coke (but since I had blown my head off already I couldn't enjoy it.

RN_Sarah · Jun 3, 2012

I worked as a Medical Assistant in an office where the office manager was the physician's wife. It worked pretty good for our small office. They both treated us like family. Also, she was usually able to make him see things from the rest of the staff's perspective and get him to change things he might not have otherwise changed (ex: being able to give flu shots to current patients without an appointment with him or one of the PA's). But from people that I've known that have worked in other offices, this positive atmosphere isn't always the case....