As nurses are we just Trained well behavedMonkeys

[madwife2002, BSN, RN]

Ok I know the title to this thread could be concieved as a little argumentative but I hope it opens a good discussion.

Where I work the doctors are treated like demi gods, without exception. They can make mistakes, be rude to the patient, treat the nursing staff like something the cat dragged in and they never seem to get into any trouble. They go through the hospital complaining about nursing staff.

As a nurse who has been trained to question practice, apply evidence based practice and believe nursing is a seperate profession to doctors, I find myself in a position of being a handmaiden to the Doctors, now I know my hospital cannot be unique-but Doctors write orders and Nurses carry out the orders period. If orders aren't clear because why should the doctors speak to the nurses, then nurses spend hours of each day searching out doctors to clarify order. then spend 10mins on the phone being spoken to like a child in the nastiest tone possible-the kind of tone you would reserve for a mass murderer.

I have spoken to the powers that be and I have firmly told offending doctors that I dont understand why I should be spoken to in such a manner to no avail After all doctors are demi-gods and nurses are trained monkeys carrying out orders- meaning Doctors bring in the 'business' nurses seem to be dispensable. In my hospital nurses are writen up for everything, if I have a problem with a different department then I told write them up- What happened to dealing with said problem and try tyo ensure it doesnt happen again through education and training. If we cant support each other as nurses then we have no chance against the establishment.

[TazziRN, RN]

I agree. I was fired from my last job because I made mistakes with a pt, which I freely admitted, but the doctor whose mistakes mine were based on is still working. Go figure.

[Diary/Dairy, RN]

AMEN!!! Doctors are only human too - I would like to see them be held accountable for being polite as well!!

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Wow, is it 1950? That's when if feels like your post is written.

I agree part of the problem is administration and their lack of support. The other problem is the nurses themselves. The nurses can change the environment, but it's going to take some cohesive, cooperation and agreement (like that is ever going to happen).

Good luck.

[FireStarterRN, BSN, RN]

It's not like this where I work. Our doctors are personable and nice, with a few exceptions. We work as a team, know about one another, complain about management and regulatory B.S. together. That's one thing I'm thankful for, the doctors I work with.

[Quickbeam, BSN, RN]

I did not experience professional respect and autonomy as an RN until I left the hospital environment. It was like night and day.

I'm in a community health role now where MDs in my state need my input to accomplish certain things for their patients. The MDs who contact me are unfailingly polite. It should be that way for every nurse in every setting.

[Dixiecup]

I bet you're expected to give up your seat for them too!

[RNperdiem, RN]

Status. Doctors have a lot of status; nurses have less. The support staff has the least and are invisible in a way. I wonder if they just expect less and just don't put their hearts and identities into their jobs. Nursing is more than "just a job" for a lot of us. The lack of status stings.

[ZootRN]

I cut off once a very rude doctor. After that, management told me I should treat doctors as my "customers". Means take any BS they hand you with a happy smile.

[leslie :-D]

i can't even go there.

ugh.

leslie

[UM Review RN, ASN, RN]

Ever hear of a Code Pink?

http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/178764/nurses_and_staff_stand_up_against_uncivil_doctors/index.html

Occasionally, if the doc's behavior was truly awful, nurses took it upon themselves to deal with it. Anne Streeter of Baptist Health South Florida recalls that at least as far back as the 1980s, nurses at Baptist had an informal Code Pink. If a doctor got out of hand with a nurse, a call over the loudspeakers caused nurses to rush to the colleague's assistance, surrounding the doctor until he calmed down.

[Dixielee, BSN, RN]

i can't even go there.

ugh.

leslie

LOL, I agree with you! I have been accused of a lot of things, but being well behaved was never one of them!

I was told once by an administrator that doctors were considered "revenue producers" and nurses were "non revenue producers". I think that is the bottom line in many situations.

I am fortunate to work in an area (ER) where there is a lot of mutual respect and reliance on each others judgement. We do still run across jerks, and you just deal with them as little as possible and be happy you aren't married to them.