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Discussion

Anyone experienced this in the workplace?

I'm just a student working as an extern. I respond to a call light and when i get to the room the patient who is acting like he regrets something he did gets me to stand there for who knows how long to tell me about something that happened during the day.

Long story short, he said a "lady" came in to do his wound and "i didn't know she was a doctor i was talking to her like she was a nurse. I know i didn't act well towards her and i'm sorry and i want to apologize to her. She's gone and i just want to tell her i'm sorry, i didnt' know she was a doctor."

Here's my problem. Are patients supposed to scream at nurses and talk nicely to the docs? i heard he'd been asking for that female doc since she left but whoever she was, she didn't come back to the floor again.

I got a little angry when he said "i was talking to her like a nurse" but i said nothing because i was trying to get out of the room. I thought he needed something and since his light had been going off earlier, i thought there was something seriously wrong but apparently, he'd been calling and asking about the doc.

I'm sure some of you nurses here have worked in this profession for twice as many years as i've been alive so you've probably seen it all and heard it all. Is this something that is common? I'm in an setting and usually patients here are polite and say thank you and stuff and that is my only experience. I've realized i'm starting to get very angry of late when i hear people put nurses down, and say things like "mere nurses" and stuff. I have a problem with people thinking nurses know nothing and the truth is they do. i had an anesthesia resident who said stuff like nurses are dumb and know nothing and when an ICU nurse asked him to be honest about having a nurse save his ass one or more time in the ICU, he did admit "oh, i've had a nurse save my ass more than once but that was because she'd had the whole day to rest while i'd been working since the previous day." Like that's supposed to mean if the nurse had been working all day they wouldn't have had the same knowledge or capability to do what they did to save his @ss.

I'm just a student who's almost done and i don't know a lot about the work place so i wouldn't want to argue all the time with people whose minds are already made up about what they think nurses are.

if you guys have experienced issues along this line, how do you deal with them? I'm sorry but I find them annoying especially when it comes to residents saying crazy stuff or patients talking to nurses like they're trash. I once had a patient call the nurse i was working with an idiot when the nurse told him he had to be put on fall precautions. All through the night, he only wanted to speak to speak to his doctor. It's crazy to encounter such things, especially as a student.

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If a pt insists on speaking with the doc and refuses to speak with me, I tell him/her: "I will let the dr know you want to speak with him/her but I can't gaurantee when he/she will come speak with you. If you tell me what it is you need/want/have a question about, I can probably help you or at least get the answer faster for you. Otherwise who knows when you'll get your answer?"

If I were in your shoes I would have asked him flat out, "Why would the doctor deserve to be spoken to differently than me?"

I haven't actually had a patient say he was apologetic for speaking to a doctor as opposed to a nurse in a way he wasn't proud of, and it must have been really hard to bite your tongue. I bet it was bleeding (your tongue I mean) by the time you walked out. I have had experiences (all too common) where patients have verbally abused and thrown things at nurses (and worse) yet when they see a doctor they are sweet as pie. I remember one particular case where it was policy for two nurses to attend to this one patient at all times because of the way we were treated...yet the doctors refused to believe us because of this Jekyll and Hyde behaviour.

Of course this happens, but it doesn't bother me because I have earned the respect of my peers and I always try to do a good job. People who treat other people like this do so because they have low self esteem and try to raise themselves up by putting others down.

Try to find your own self worth and think about all the good you do and can do and stop letting other people run your emotions.

We work with the sick public and they can be hard to deal with and you need to be able to shake the bad vibes off and move on to the next patient.

Good luck with your studies and your journey through the wonderful world of nursing.

  • Expert

Here's the hard and fast truth. . . an incredible amount of consideration is bestowed upon one's occupational prestige. In other words, the more prestigious the job, the more respect one earns.

Doctors rank the highest in terms of occupational prestige and, therefore, shallow people will always treat them with the utmost respect, regardless of whether the physician is acting in an acrimonious manner. Nurses rank in the upper half of occupational prestige polls, so some people will treat us respectfully, and others will behave badly toward us. Housekeepers rank in the bottom fourth of occupational prestige, so people tend to treat them as if they are nameless, faceless, and invisible.

The more an individual uses his hands during work, the less respect society will bestow upon him. The shoe shiners, janitors, farm workers, and house cleaners of society are treated as nameless and faceless, because it is assumed that they lack education.

The more an individual uses his mind during work, society will bestow even greater respect upon him. Physicians, lawyers, college professors, engineers, and nuclear physicists are expected to utilize plenty of abstract thought and mental work, so everyone is ready to put a face on these people.

What you say is very true Commuter.

Years and years ago I worked on a surgical ward (I had been qualified about 2 years). Anyway, consultant did his ward round and said "patients drain needs to come out".

Off I set and do my trolley. When I reached the patient I got -

Oh, you're not taking my drain out, you're only a nurse. I want a doctor to take my drain out.

Despite my assurances I had taken plenty of drains out, he refused for me to do it, so I bleeped our house officer and told him the situation.

House officer arrived on the ward. He asked me to stay with him and guide him though the procedure as he had never taken a drain out before in his life. Of course, he said this in front of the patient.

Patient did a very quick U turn, and said he would let the nurse (me) take his drain out. House officer said no, he fancied a challange, but made me guide every little move he made.

The patients face was a picture. I do not think I ever heard him say "just a nurse" for the rest of his hospital stay!!

Years and years ago I worked on a surgical ward (I had been qualified about 2 years). Anyway, consultant did his ward round and said "patients drain needs to come out".

Off I set and do my trolley. When I reached the patient I got -

Oh, you're not taking my drain out, you're only a nurse. I want a doctor to take my drain out.

Despite my assurances I had taken plenty of drains out, he refused for me to do it, so I bleeped our house officer and told him the situation.

House officer arrived on the ward. He asked me to stay with him and guide him though the procedure as he had never taken a drain out before in his life. Of course, he said this in front of the patient.

Patient did a very quick U turn, and said he would let the nurse (me) take his drain out. House officer said no, he fancied a challange, but made me guide every little move he made.

The patients face was a picture. I do not think I ever heard him say "just a nurse" for the rest of his hospital stay!!

Thats a good one!! I will have to remember that one!

This reminds me of a t-shirt I recently ordered from a friend also in NS for a fundraiser, it reads in big white letters on a black t-shirt, "Would you like to talk to the doctor in charge, or the nurse who knows whats going on?"

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