A doctor asking you to give him a cup of coffee!!

[Shantas]

Hi Everyone:

I have a silly question to ask....

We have a doc who is handicap and walks with crutches. I dont have a clue what happened to him. He is always rude and mean with his patients and nursing staff....anyhow yesterday I was working and I was taking care of one of his patients. He asked me if we made any coffee and I told him, we may have some old coffee. Then I got busy with my patients and when I came back to the nurses station he asked me where was his coffee??

I did not know how to respond....I did not feel comfortable with giving him coffee because he has this "thing" about taking nurses out!! He thinks all female nurses are after him...!! Then again I felt bad becuase he is a handicap and perhaps I should have helped him:(....what would you have done in my situation??

Thanks

[UM Review RN, ASN, RN]

As I read this, I'm really and truly surprised that no one thought to say, "Sorry, doc, you know the rules -- no food or drink in the patient care areas. JCAHO, you know. ;)"

[Indy, LPN, LVN]

JC is gonna have to bite me on this one. There are nights I can't leave to eat/drink and I'm not going to go 13 hours without food and/or water. Period.

[ebear, BSN, RN]

Hopefull, there is still no reason to be a jerk about it! Whatever happened to "please" and "thank you"?

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

would i get coffee for someone who was rude to me? probably not. i'd point out where the pot was and leave him to it. if he got the message and asked me to please help him out because he was on crutches, i'd help him out. but if it were my coffee that my co-workers and i were paying for? i'd direct him to the 24 hour restaurant off the hospital lobby.

that said, i have gotten coffee for folks i like whether they be nurses, physicians, rts, or whatever. if i'm going down to the espresso bar, i'll ask everyone around me if they want coffee (and will they keep an ear open for my patient.) one surgeon used to just automatically bring me coffee when she went to the espresso bar, and i'd do the same for her. she surprised the heck out of me, because one day when i'd floated to another icu and was having a miserable shift, she showed up with a latte for me!

[showbizrn]

PHYSICALLY: HANDICAPPED

BEHAVIORALLY: RUDE

HMMMMMMM---NOPE. NO COFFEE.

THAT'S MY ATTITUDE!

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

I'd have figured that Greg House showed up on my floor and handed him the coffee and a bottle of Vicodin.

I thought the same thing, LOL. I think with this particular doc, I would not have gotten the coffee, because he's rude typically, from what the OP said. I've worked with docs that will buy us pizza when their cases run over, or who will write you a prescription for medication if you need it or who are just decent polite people. For the docs with manners, I might not begrudge them a cup of coffee, because I know they have my back if I or a family member needs them.

[nghtfltguy, BSN, RN]

If he had said "Could you please get me a cup of coffee?" I would have gotten it for him. But then he would have to say "Thank you " other wise I would have said no. Please and thank you are the magic words. My Granny told me that 50 yrs ago. It is still very true for today.

exactly!!!

well... imma male nurse.. so it is a bit different...

for some reason.. doctors treat me different than female nurses...

it pisses me off.....even the female doctors....

even the ones that don't know im going to med school...

the OR is the worst!!!

when i float there and scrub in...

im not a freakin surgeon!!

why treat the female nurses like they are slaves and treat me like im a nobel prize winning surgeon???

makes no sense!!!

i went to nursing school w/ them..... we are the same!.. well for the most part.....

they are terrified to call the doc to get new orders..

i will call the doc on his cell in the middle of the night and make fun of him cause its the carreer he chose.....i don't have to ask for orders...

i just say.. hey.... im starting *so and so* on this.. imma write it up ok?

i usually get a .. sure.. whatever...

or.. why

then i gotta explain why im putting someone on vancomycin because of c diff.... blah.. blahhhhh

it urks me that i can do that kind of stuff.. and there are way more competent nurses than me... that are female. that are intimidated by male doctors....

i feel for you all.. i truly do....

but...

there are many of my female pts that wont let me deal w/ them cause imma guy...

oh well....

[MQ Edna]

Same. If I was asked politely, I would get coffee for anyone if I wasn't busy with something else. But I'm no ones door-mat, if you want your coffee that badly, better just get it yourself. It's an unfortunate thing that he's disabled, but that is no excuse to expect people to bow down to your every wish... and it's definately no reason to be nasty. There will always be someone out there that has it worse off than you.

[zuzi]

Depend how he will ask me for a coffe? The sound make the music!

If he is rude or agressive or pushing manner, NO! If he is just normal with me probably I will!

[RNtoJD]

This happened to me once. A (female, btw) ER doc asked if there was coffee in the back. One of the nurses said yes. She said "I will take mine with cream and sugar." She was ignored. She tried the same thing with me "I will take mine with cream and sugar." I simply said, "Really? Well all the fixins are in the back along with the coffee. Better hurry while there is still some left."

I later found out that this doc was driving 4 hours each way to work marathon shifts. Subsequently, I made a point to offer her a cup when I went back there. Not to be nice, but so she would know that when it is MY intent to do something not in my job description for her I will offer to do so. Worked like a charm.

On the other hand, in a subsequent job in MRI, I frequently worked with a core group of anesthesiologists (pediatric/claustrophobic patients needed sedation). They could not leave the monitor while a patient was under sedation/anesthesia. I had no hesitation about offering and even making a cup for them. Most were great to work with and one even brought me a bowl of chicken soup when I was sick as a dog at work (he was a sweetheart). Bottom line: we took care of each other and it made the job very enjoyable, but NO ONE made demands.

[herecomestrouble]

Yes he does use both hands to use the crutches.....but I still dont feel comfortable because of his behavior, attitude and past history....none of the other docs ever made any request to me like that.

I'm willing to bet none of the other docs have to use both hands to walk using crutches.I would have made a comment to the effect that he could say please and thank you though

[TiredMD]

the OR is the worst!!!

when i float there and scrub in...

im not a freakin surgeon!!

why treat the female nurses like they are slaves and treat me like im a nobel prize winning surgeon???

makes no sense!!!

Professions protect their own. If you're in med school, it's not suprising that you are treated better than the nurses, since you are now "in the club". It's the same as how nurses treat CNAs who are in nursing school vs those who aren't, and how my treatment as a CNA immediately went in the toilet when the nurses found out I got into med school . . .

Of course, all that niceness disappears once you start your third year.