physician abuse in PACU

Specialties PACU

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This is my first post, I came across your site while searching the net for inspiration. I feel somewhat better just reading the archives, But i could use some ideas on how to handle this situation.

I have been a nurse for 25 years the last 4 in PACU, I have endured verbal abuse through the years, most of which I ignore occasionally firing back if they push me far enough. Yesterday was the final straw, we have a very verbally abusive(some say crazy ortho guy) Most of the time if you ignore him he will go away, yesterday he crossed the line and slapped me on the shoulder, in anger, and then screamed at me for 10 min because a family had gone out to smoke and he wanted to talk to them.

Here's my "mistake", I reported him to my supervisor and the legal dept. Unfortunately I do not have a witness to the slap, but when he started screaming 2 other nurses did walk to the station and heard everything.

First he outright denied it, now he's saying he may have bumped me in passing(like I don't know the difference). Of course administration is leaning toward his version, he brings in big bucks for the hosp. Now I'm being hung out to dry and he's threating me with a slander suit that I certainly can't afford. He has been physically abusive to other nurses but most are too afraid of losing their jobs to say anything.

Do I quit and walk away or try to fight (he has a team of laywers he's been in trouble so often) when I know I can't win. The one thing I do refuse to do is withdraw the complaint I can find a new job, but I won't compromise my reputation I've earned over these long years.

Thanks for listening, I feel better getting it off my chest, But I have been a wreck since it happened.HELP

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This is my first post, I came across your site while searching the net for inspiration. I feel somewhat better just reading the archives, But i could use some ideas on how to handle this situation.

I have been a nurse for 25 years the last 4 in PACU, I have endured verbal abuse through the years, most of which I ignore occasionally firing back if they push me far enough. Yesterday was the final straw, we have a very verbally abusive(some say crazy ortho guy) Most of the time if you ignore him he will go away, yesterday he crossed the line and slapped me on the shoulder, in anger, and then screamed at me for 10 min because a family had gone out to smoke and he wanted to talk to them.

Here's my "mistake", I reported him to my supervisor and the legal dept. Unfortunately I do not have a witness to the slap, but when he started screaming 2 other nurses did walk to the station and heard everything.

First he outright denied it, now he's saying he may have bumped me in passing(like I don't know the difference). Of course administration is leaning toward his version, he brings in big bucks for the hosp. Now I'm being hung out to dry and he's threating me with a slander suit that I certainly can't afford. He has been physically abusive to other nurses but most are too afraid of losing their jobs to say anything.

Do I quit and walk away or try to fight (he has a team of laywers he's been in trouble so often) when I know I can't win. The one thing I do refuse to do is withdraw the complaint I can find a new job, but I won't compromise my reputation I've earned over these long years.

Thanks for listening, I feel better getting it off my chest, But I have been a wreck since it happened.HELP

Talk with hospital administration (not nursing administration), particularly the risk management department if you have one. You can also file criminal charges for battery.

Has anyone ever documented any other abusive actions by this surgeon? If so, and the hospital hasn't done anything about it, you can also sue the hospital for failing to act to protect it's employees. Talk to an attorney.

Also, do a search on this website. This is hardly a unique problem.

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Thanks for the ideas, They will help.

I also did a search, This is more common than I thought.

It's hard to believe in 2005 we can still be treated like this.

I guess the dollar still speaks pretty loud in healthcare

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And there is absolutely no reason that your hospital should permit this.

It can actually cost them more in lawsuits. In any facility that I have ever worked, the Director of Surgery would not put up with that behavior and would have the doctor out the door.

Hope that you get the help that you need with this. Please keep us posted.

And welcome to Allnurses.com.............. :Melody:

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Whew - this situation is untenable! I would file criminal charges. (I might need a new job, but at least I leave with my dignity).

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At the time I did my stent in the OR I had more than 19 years of experience in nursing. I thought I had stepped into the dark ages. As a nurse aide I remember being yanked from out of a doorway by the head nurse because Dr. ****** would be coming out of the room "any minute" and "nothing is to be in his path".

I saw more hugging and kissing among my peers and some doctors than I had ever seen in a bar. Some surgeons and male scrub nurses would talk derogatory about women. Foul language was the norm. There were surgeons who got whatever they wanted and could treat you any way they wanted. Least I forget, answering an orthopedic surgeon's cell phone any time I was in his case because he "didn't want to miss any calls". I could understand if he had a patient that was going bad but that would be handled by medical.

In addition, like you I had a physician, an anesthesiologist, slap me on my right scapula so hard it was stinging for 15 minutes. I deliberated as to what to do but by the end of the shift I did speak with the Head Nurse. She asked me what I wanted done. I said for it to never happen again! I never spoke with Risk Management.

I didn't want to bring charges because I already felt uncomfortable with all these people, their behaviors and felt this would stir up more problems for me. Little did I realize, it would be shared with the other doctors and eventually down to my peers through the grapevine. Needless to say, I even had a surgeon say I don't want you to accuse me of hitting you.

In contrast, I always saw the surgeons treat the PACU nurses professionally.

My impression for what it is worth regarding some Surgeons/Anthesiologist:

1) tend to be narcasistic

2) boarder on hyper or mania

Decide for you what you want!

I can tell you from experience, grievance is just something on paper to be compliant with regulations. Even when you are right, the system, peers, and physicians can make your going to work extremely difficult and miserable.

I wish you the best!

This is my first post, I came across your site while searching the net for inspiration. I feel somewhat better just reading the archives, But i could use some ideas on how to handle this situation.

I have been a nurse for 25 years the last 4 in PACU, I have endured verbal abuse through the years, most of which I ignore occasionally firing back if they push me far enough. Yesterday was the final straw, we have a very verbally abusive(some say crazy ortho guy) Most of the time if you ignore him he will go away, yesterday he crossed the line and slapped me on the shoulder, in anger, and then screamed at me for 10 min because a family had gone out to smoke and he wanted to talk to them.

Here's my "mistake", I reported him to my supervisor and the legal dept. Unfortunately I do not have a witness to the slap, but when he started screaming 2 other nurses did walk to the station and heard everything.

First he outright denied it, now he's saying he may have bumped me in passing(like I don't know the difference). Of course administration is leaning toward his version, he brings in big bucks for the hosp. Now I'm being hung out to dry and he's threating me with a slander suit that I certainly can't afford. He has been physically abusive to other nurses but most are too afraid of losing their jobs to say anything.

Do I quit and walk away or try to fight (he has a team of laywers he's been in trouble so often) when I know I can't win. The one thing I do refuse to do is withdraw the complaint I can find a new job, but I won't compromise my reputation I've earned over these long years.

Thanks for listening, I feel better getting it off my chest, But I have been a wreck since it happened.HELP

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lulu220, you poor thing how awful for you. However heres a few thoughts. I would bet that this idiot has had a similar problem before. Can you go see a lawyer and put your case to him and see what the lawyer says?. I would say this idiots threat of slander shows how scared he is of such a thing, and lets face it if it came to that the two nurses who heard the whole thing have to back you up if asked to. Also can you contact the medical board to see if complaints have been made by other personnel. I think his threat of slander has you running scared and lets face it hes in the wrong so make him run scared. You have my full support in this , let us know how it goes

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This is my first post, I came across your site while searching the net for inspiration. I feel somewhat better just reading the archives, But i could use some ideas on how to handle this situation.

I have been a nurse for 25 years the last 4 in PACU, I have endured verbal abuse through the years, most of which I ignore occasionally firing back if they push me far enough. Yesterday was the final straw, we have a very verbally abusive(some say crazy ortho guy) Most of the time if you ignore him he will go away, yesterday he crossed the line and slapped me on the shoulder, in anger, and then screamed at me for 10 min because a family had gone out to smoke and he wanted to talk to them.

Here's my "mistake", I reported him to my supervisor and the legal dept. Unfortunately I do not have a witness to the slap, but when he started screaming 2 other nurses did walk to the station and heard everything.

First he outright denied it, now he's saying he may have bumped me in passing(like I don't know the difference). Of course administration is leaning toward his version, he brings in big bucks for the hosp. Now I'm being hung out to dry and he's threating me with a slander suit that I certainly can't afford. He has been physically abusive to other nurses but most are too afraid of losing their jobs to say anything.

Do I quit and walk away or try to fight (he has a team of laywers he's been in trouble so often) when I know I can't win. The one thing I do refuse to do is withdraw the complaint I can find a new job, but I won't compromise my reputation I've earned over these long years.

Thanks for listening, I feel better getting it off my chest, But I have been a wreck since it happened.HELP

Oh no! No he didn't! All I can say is that mean has to sleep some time and he better hope that I don't know where he makes his bed! :devil: If someone EVER did that to me, they'd be picking their jaw up off the floor! Get out of there fast!

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Thanks for the ideas, They will help.

I also did a search, This is more common than I thought.

It's hard to believe in 2005 we can still be treated like this.

I guess the dollar still speaks pretty loud in healthcare

I wish I could recall the name of the physician who lost his hospital privilges for doing what your physician did. :angryfire He appealed and lost. :chuckle It happen in the past two years.

Grannynurse :balloons:

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It's a shame that after all these years that there are still some neanderthals left in the world!! Keep your head high, you did the right thing. You were not hired to take verbal or physical abuse from anyone especially a Dr that seems to have an anger issue. He physically assaulted you and it does not matter if it is his word against yours, you were the abused and it is up to him to prove his innocence!!! Change the cart on him!!! Tell him that the only reason why you did not file a police report was not because you were afraid of him or the hospital but because you felt sorry for his family. Then I would get a restraining order against him. The hospital administration cannot retaliate against you without fear of you getting a lawyer and going to the press. It seems that bullies will back down when they think the newspaper may print an article about them!!! Are you unionized? Have you sought legal advice on this matter? I would. Don't let them run you off. If it gets to the point where you have to get a lawyer and go to court over this you may be helping a lot of other nurses that suffered the same abuse from this Dr. Your lawyer will be able to investigate and if the hospital has known about this Dr's anger problem then the hospital can get into hot water too. We had one orthopedic surgeon that grabbed a tech and shoved him in the OR room. The hospital administration wanted the tech to back down but he didn't and the hospital was forced to discipline the surgeon. So when push comes to shove the hospital will look out for themselves first!! Good luck!!

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Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.

hello, welcome to the family of allnurses. good luck in everything you do. :)

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Thanks for all the good ideas and support. The surgeon in question received a letter of basically telling him" to be nicer to the nurses etc". I doubt it will change much, but so far he has been on his best behavior. Legal dept at the hospital has advised I drop it since I don't have a witness and he denies it. The good news is the hospital is adopting a Zero tolerance policy for employee abuse and making it easier for nurses to report abuse without backlash (their names will be confidential???) and the reports will be reviewed monthly, by a "commttee" so we'll see what happens.

The fallout for me has been mixed, 2 of the docs have been supportive, one even sorry for behavior like that from someone in his profession. Some have been nasty and alot just ignored it completely. I was really shocked by the reaction of some of my co workers, most were supportive, but some were angry thinking I'm making things worse for everyone. One long time OR nurse had the nerve to defend the surgeons saying "they're under alot of stress that's why they need to blow off steam" well they're not going to use me as a sounding board.

Anyway, although it's been stressful, I'm personally glad I did it, at least I made my stand and they know " I " won't tolerate abuse. I think if nurses would stick together we would have so much more power to change how we are treated, but I learned the hard way it won't happen here. But that's another thread

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