advice from nurses for a new physician

Listen to the nurse.

Interact with nurses as valued co-workers, and they will make your professional life much easier, and happier.

Don't jump down the nurse's throat when she calls you in the middle of the night. It's your job!

Money or a Littmann Cardiology III might serve him better:uhoh3:

Here's my words of wisdom.....

Don't tick your patients' nurses off...they TRULY have the ability to make your life miserable! :chuckle

Listen to the nurses, listen to the patients, and for heavens sake wash your hands.

Money or a Littmann Cardiology III might serve him better:uhoh3:

The question was asked of nurses. You are a student doc. I am an experienced nurse. Many nurses are leaving various areas of nursing, because of the way they are treated by docs. Nurse abuse and disruptive physician behavior are real issues in healthcare today. Google it, and read some atricles and studies. If docs don't want to end up caring for their pts all by themselves, they should be aware of these problems.

After years of working with verbally abusive docs, I now work for two great docs. They own the facility where I work. They know on which side their bread is buttered. They know that they could not have a clinic without us, and they show their appreciation.

I have made more money at jobs where physician behavior went unchecked, and it wasn't worth it.

Sarcastic comments won't help- they will only serve to alienate us even more.

Be yourself...even if you aren't all that happy with the self you are...nurses have enough stress to deal with..we don't want to have to guess which one of your many personalities we are working with today.

Maintain at all costs your sense of humour even if it is dark and morbid...if you watch Dead like me you may remember anything seen at a far enough distance can be funny as hell..it's when you get too close other peoples tragedy can eat you alive...your job is to stand close enough that you can see the tragedy and far enough away to laugh until you pee.

great example from trauma (TLC) illegal immigrant hired to do work on house and garden falls off the roof and has limb of tree enter the orifice and allll the way up....he survived with NO problems but it was horrible and hysterical at the same time....the man literally had a stick up his a**...what if he had died? How do you tell family what happened? How does family explain to anyone else?

Do you think he gets teased all the time?

Realize the value of good nurses...and please write legibly!

Advice for a new physician:

1. If the experienced ICU nurse asks you "Are you sure you really want to do that, DOCTOR?" you really DON'T want to do that. Trust me.

2. LISTEN to the nurses. The good ones will save your *** time and time again. The bad ones can suck you into more problems than you ever thought possible. Only by listening can you determine which is which and benefit from the wisdom.

3. The good nurse is not necessarily the tall, thin blonde 20-something who spends all of her free time chatting you up. The good nurse can just as easily be the tall, FAT blonde 40-something who's been a nurse since you were in diapers. The fact that she's not spending all of her time chatting with you may mean merely that she's doing her job instead of looking to marry a doctor.

4. Your first name is not "Doctor." I know you worked extremely hard to win the right to put the honorific before your name. But we see a lot of doctors around here, and we're not as impressed with you as you are with yourself. You have to earn respect.

5. See #1. If the experienced ICU nurse calls you, a new R-1 "doctor," you've probably either screwed up somehow or are about to do so. Stop and think before proceeding with whatever dumbass thing you were about to do. ("No, DOCTOR. We do not push KCl. We especially do not push it through a 22 gauge in the right hand. We especially do not push it if the creatnine is 2.2 and the K+ is 3.8 and the patient is not having any symptoms of hypokalemia. I don't care what the tall, thin, blonde 20-something nurse standing over there told you. She's a new grad and she's still on orientation. As her preceptor, I'm telling you that you really do NOT want to do this.")

6. If you're going to participate in each and every potluck the unit has, feel free to contribute something. I know you don't have much time to cook, but at least contribute a few bucks for a pizza from time to time. After all, you can afford that bright, shiney new PDA.