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Discussion

Bullies

Recently, I was treated very poorly by a physician. I had to take a minute to myself and fight back tears. Then, anger set in. How do I handle this? One employee said,"Do not let that one unfortunate scenario jade you." This isn't the first time I've been mistreated though. I've been working in healthcare settings since I was 18 and I've had nurses and doctors belittle me on more than one occasion. What is the appropriate response for these situations and how to do I keep my feelings from being hurt when spoken to so harshly? I am a first year nursing student and now I'm terrified to go into clinical in fear of these type of personalities.

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    • Expert

    So I think it depends on the situation. Are you comfortable posting more info for feedback? If you do please keep in mind that not everyone will write what you might want to hear. While I have no interest in getting into the "bullying debate" I think feedback can be helpful because when we are in the middle of a situation that is embarrassing or negative it can be difficult if not impossible to be objective.

    There are plenty of times in both my personal and professional life when I've had my feelings hurt or been snapped at. There have also been a few times I have been unfairly talked down to by physicians or nurses but overall I don't feel as if I have been bullied. Something I try to keep in mind is that we are in a very stressful line of work and I'm not always privy to what else a coworker might have on their plate not saying it is ok to be rude but sometimes things happen. Although it would not be my intention I'm sure there have been times when I have been more sharp than I needed to be. There is also the few people in our lives who are just nasty to everyone and unless they are really out of line I just ignore them. Overall I feel I have been treated really well by physicians and nurses.

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    • Author

    I work in a diagnostic center where I register patients and draw their lab work. On this particular Saturday, a patient came in and handed me an order without a dx code. In order for me to print out specimen labels, I have to register a patient first. However, with our system, we cannot go any further with the registration process if our dx code column isn't filled in. I assumed the facility where the patient obtained his order from was not open on a Saturday but it's my job to properly register patients for insurance purposes so I called the number on the order and I was directed to follow the prompts on the recording in order to reach the ordering physician. About 5 minutes later I received a phone call and the physician asked me if I was the woman who called and left a message. I answered, ''Yes.'' I stated what the issue was and his response was, "Are you stupid? In all of the years that I've been on call I have never had to respond to such a question. Why are you calling me? This is NOT an emergency! Use whatever dx code you want! This is NOT my patient!" After about a minute when I couldn't get but two words in, I finally gave up, apologized, and said, "I'll call back another time." I followed the prompts on the answering service correctly, but I did not anticipate that another doctor other than the ordering doctor, might be on call. I did let my supervisor know and I also told the patient to disregard any bill he might receive due to a registration error on my part after the conversation I had with the on call physician.

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    • Expert

    That's lousy and while it sounds like you were going above and beyond to provide excellent patient care and he was a jerk I also wonder if your employer couldn't have alternatives in place for when something like this happens on off hours. Truthfully it will be difficult to find an on call provider who is going be happy about fielding a call like this when they are carrying the beeper. There are a couple of general diagnostic codes that could probably be used in the instance it was left blank and the ordering physician can't be reached. Perhaps ask about a policy for either filling in a diagnostic code or paging providers because while I do think he absolutely was unprofessional and downright nasty it is extremely disruptive to get a call like this when on call especially if it isn't your patient.

    While I try to never be rude to someone who is calling me I have to say when you are on call, and likely either had to work all night or was disturbed all night with calls to get one that isn't pertinent is awful. Now I'm sure there will be plenty of people who feel that when a provider is being paid to be on call they should pleasantly take whatever annoying calls anyone wants to make but that just isn't realistic nor is it really the way on-call duties should work.

    Personally I don't think this is bullying. I think it wasn't a great situation and unfortunately rather than being gracious he acted like a total jerk but I'd put it in the column of "oh well live and learn" and move on without spending too much worrying that this is how nursing will be.

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    • Author

    We have a suggestion box in our break room so I will definitely add the idea of implementing a policy to guide our actions for off hours. I got caught up in my emotions and didn't even consider this idea so thank you for your insight and for being honest :up:

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    • Expert

    You seem thoughtful which will be a major asset as you continue in your journey to be a nurse. Best wishes and hopefully others will answer your post so you have other opinions and ideas.

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