Are physicians that thick?

Nurses Relations

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  • Specializes in Med/Surg/ICU/Stepdown.

You are reading page 4 of Are physicians that thick?

Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
:dead: I always think of these things after the fact! I really wanted to put an IV kit in her hand and point her in the direction of the patient's room.

:laugh: it takes sometimes Several experiences to hone that part of our business; but once you mastered that part, the physicians know how to approach you. :yes:

nynursey_

642 Posts

Specializes in Med/Surg/ICU/Stepdown.
:laugh: it takes sometimes Several experiences to hone that part of our business; but once you mastered that part, the physicians know how to approach you. :yes:

:sneaky: I just passed my 1-year mark as an RN. They must smell the scent on me still.

Crazynut

160 Posts

Hahaha go ahead and call rapid for a q6hr h&h on a stable pt. Lol maybe some nurses are that thick! And all of this because it was 30 min late. Seriously! Wow.

psu_213, BSN, RN

3,878 Posts

Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
a floor nurse cannot drop everything to tend to their individual patient

Umm, is this really how you want to represent floor nurses?

psu_213, BSN, RN

3,878 Posts

Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
Geeeezzzz so many judgemental people here!

Juries can be judgmental too, especially when a lab result could have prevented harm to a patient. Sure, the Dr. may be a jerk, but that does not excuse the nurse from doing what is necessary to get the labs.

psu_213, BSN, RN

3,878 Posts

Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
Seriously! So your tell me that if your other pt going into vtach or has a BP of 70/30 that RN should have done everything she could to get that q6hr h&h on a stable post op pt???

Yes! In the first post, he/she mentioned how there was a pt in VT....oh wait... Of course no one is suggesting that one draws blood instead of coding another patient! We are saying that a nurse is putting his/herself at risk he/she says "well, we all tried and can't it...too bad."

sjalv

897 Posts

Specializes in CVICU.

I was honestly dumbfounded. The conversation literally went like this:

Uro Attending: Can you tell me a bit about Patient X?

Me: Well, he's just returned from [insert procedure here] on [insert fluids/medication here] and his vital signs are stable. The patient has family at the bedside. Presently, he's on [insert number of liters of O2 here] and appears comfortable. We're waiting on his H&H draw right now ..

Uro Attending: (cutting me off) When was it due?

Me: 1400 (it's now 1430) but ...

Uro Attending: (cutting me off again) Well, what's the hold up? It's kind of important we know his H&H at this juncture.

Me: The attending has been notified and I've paged out for the phlebotomy supervisor. He's a difficult stick and I've tried and clinical support ...

Uro Attending: (cutting me off YET again) So what now?

Uro Resident: Well, honestly, if phlebotomy can't get here then it's the NURSES' job to make sure it's drawn. You know that, right?

... all of this transpiring AT the nurses' station.

Come on, now.

Honestly, my number one pet peeve is being cut off while answering a question that person has asked me. I'm not even a nurse yet but I can't imagine being able to hold my tongue in a situation like that. I hate it when people say "I would have done *blank* if I were you!" because it's meaningless,but I feel like a sharp but professional response to the attending constantly cutting you off, and to the resident who felt the need to cosign, would have resolved the situation rather quickly.

Specializes in SICU.

Thank goodness for art lines and the ICU! OP the situation you described was my daily battle on the floor. MD's would place an order for labs and 2 minutes later ask why it had not been drawn. Serial H/H on a stable patient is not something I would personally drop what i'm doing to rush and complete. I have been known to hand the MD some tubes and a butterfly if they are so darn impatient! ( ..the one MD who stuck a vein, missed, and proceeded to try again through the same "hole" :no:)

Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN

1 Article; 2,816 Posts

No, physicians aren't that thick. Some of them, however, don't see things from where you stand and will place impossible standards upon you.

I deal with a hospitalist that frequently storms into our ER, the first thing out of her mouth demanding to know why we haven't done this or that without even having looked at the chart or spoken with the ER doc.

At first, I just thought she was a mean person. But after a while, I realized that she just really cares about her patients and has a very low tolerance for substandard care, which I wouldn't say we deliver, but I would say that in the ER, we are frequently flying by the seat of our pants and things that might seem important to a hospitalist get overlooked because they're not important in the ER. It has certainly prodded me to be a little more thorough with my admitted patients.

Recently, I had an admitted patient that couldn't go to the floor until the lab results were back. Lab tried unsuccessfully. The previous nurse tried unsuccessfully. I tried unsuccessfully and was starting to look at neck veins to do an EJ, when the hospitalist arrived and did the EJ herself. She was a total witch with a "B" the whole time, barking orders while I had five other patients I was caring for (the other nurse was one on one with a patient).

In the end, I said "Thank you, Doctor ______" as she left the department, refusing to allow her behavior to make me react in a less than professional way or to lower myself to behaving in a way that does not fit my with personal sense of integrity.

The next time she showed up, I greeted her like a long lost friend, and she was so much nicer!

I am determined to charm her and win her over.

jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B

9 Articles; 4,800 Posts

Is there a nurse educator on your staff, OP? How about advocating for ancillary staff to be trained in how to draw labs? By straight sticks as opposed to drawing off lines.

ER techs, paramedics that you may have on staff, other resources to get labs when you are unable to.

Even CNA's have different levels of education. To have those that are into drawing blood be able to advance would not be a bad thing.

Then on the assignment sheet, a CNA/Tech whomever can be assigned for blood draws.

Just a thought on how to make the process smoother to the patient's advantage. The last thing anyone wants is for a post op H&H to be in the toilet on a late draw, and having to react as opposed to being proactive.

RNperdiem, RN

4,592 Posts

If the order is put in with phlebotomy as a lab draw, then they should be feeling the heat.

Sadly, the nurse is there on the front lines. If the support staff is not doing their jobs, often the nurse gets blamed.

morte, LPN, LVN

7,015 Posts

The OP absolutely had control over the situation. If she didn't get the stick she needed to get her charge or another nurse, or call the head of phlebotomy. There were way more options than passing the buck, being dismissive about the orders and taking it out on the ordering doc. Nursing is all about prioritizing and post op serial H&Hs are pretty high up there.

the OP has already stated there was no one else to try....

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