Do you work with any that ask you to do this? Does it weird you out at all?
I'm a pretty laid back person...like sometimes "check-a-pulse" laidback. :wink2: I'm also pretty self confident and I'm not scared of doctors. But I guess I had it ingrained into my head at some impressionable stage in my life that they're addressed as "Dr So and So". I didn't realize how deeply this penetrated my fragile psyche until a few years ago when my Sis started dating a vet. I called him Dr H, even when we were all out in a social setting and taught my Kiddo to do the same. (I quit when I found out he was a Red Wings fan...came up with a different name that I won't post here! LOL! But I made the Kiddo continue to call him Doc for the longest time. It eventually evolved into Uncle Dr H. )
Anyway, so now I'm working in an ER, and even though I'm a probie RN, I've worked there for over a year. We have a bunch of great docs...talented, respectful, the whole shibang. I'm very lucky and I know it. Some of our doctors have started asking us to call them by their first names, and I kinda feel uncomfortable doing it. I mean, they went to school for a loooong time to earn that title. At first, I just thought that it was because they were younger docs and less formal...but then I realized they weren't that young, I was just older. I don't think it's a big formailty thing, and it's not like I'm adressing them as my superior. It's just a title for an impressive feat that they accomplished, and I think they earned it, and my respect.
I do it, or at least try to remember. I refuse to do it in front of patients though. Gets my lots of eye rolls, but hey...I have my standards. Not many, but the ones I do have, I stick to. But it just feels weird. So I was wondering if this was common in other areas, or if my docs are even more laid back than I am? :chuckle
I call docs by their title. I think they deserve it. I do know a doctor socially who comes to the unit and I refer to him (in front of whomever is present) as Dr. Firstname. We also had a dear friend who was a doc and always referred to him (and had our kids refer to him) as Dr. Firstname. I'm not old, but am oldschool....everyone deserves to be treated with respect. The other point I'd like to make is: It doesn't matter how we, as nurses are treated by docs, we are each still individually accountable (to ourselves...to a higher power...?) for how we treat them. IF you are being treated in a disrespectful manner, you will have much more power to stop that (either by direct, respectful confrontation, or through proper channels) if you are known as one who is always respectful.
I have become good friends with some of the physicians I work with, and some have asked me to call them by their first name. I just can't though, I feel like I am being disrespectful. It has nothing to do with feeling inferior or less intelligent though. It would be like calling my mother by her first name...I just don't, and I can't, it seems wrong...I call her mom or mommy.
I think the amount of time and work it takes them to complete their education makes them worthy of their title...well most of them.
With respect, I just don't see it that way. Like I said - I will certainly call someone by the title or name that they prefer. But I don't think it shows a lack of respect by calling a physician by their first name - probably because I have a ton of respect for the docs I work with and certainly for the ones in my family and circle of friends. Those people rock. And maybe my environment is different where most of the docs expect to be called by their first names.
Here's an analogy. I also know an astronaut. He is very educated- and it took him a lot of time and work to become an astronaut for NASA. But I don't acknowledge him impressive credentials every time I speak to him. That doesn't detract from the fact that he's much more educated, arguably smarter, certainly braver and definitely has a stronger stomach. I personally can say the same about the intensivists that I work with.
But I don't have to compare myself to them - because we're not in a competitive, boss-employee relationship. They do their thing. I do mine. Nursing is an autonomous, distinct disclipline to me - not an extension of medicine.
It depends on the doc. Some feel the need to hear a title; some are comfortable in the skin. I usually ask "What do you prefer to be called?' And we call docs by title to clients, with clients,etc
Glad u r so respectful, however u must realize it's a job they r doing and u r equally intelligent and capable. After all u do interpret their orders so it must mean u r aware of the processes involved re. their diagnoses and how they arrived at their decisions. U must also be aware that if u are given orders that may be detrimental to the pt's well being u r likely 2 b responsible. It's all well and good to be respectful but be aware of your own capabilities trust me on this they r simply part of a team that together achieves results.
VERY well put! I totally agree with this. :heartbeat
I am from a small town in the midwest & we are the only "real" hospital around, We are pretty close with our Docs. But we don't call them by their 1st name at work. In the OR if the pt is alert we call them Dr. So & So, But other than that it is Dr S or a "nickname" they have been given. They do the same with us. Our name or Nure So& So in front of the pt & then what ever nickname we have when no pt is around or they are asleep.
At the last facility that I worked out, Heaven forbid you call any of the MD's by their first name! But at my current facility, the MD's encourage us to call them by their first names. It has definitely been a challenge for me. Some of the MD's like to poke fun at me for my formality, but like someone else said, it was kind of ingrained in me to call them Dr. so and so.
This topic is so interesting to me. Maybe it's because I wonder about the assumptions and customs that underlie the common usage of titles for doctors only. At my facility we all have our first name only on our badges... everyone, that is, except for the physicians. Their badges say Dr.Lastname! And I, like all the other nurses on my Med-Surg floor call them Dr.___, even though I'm addressed by my first name or simply as so and so's nurse. Like a previous poster said, using a first name does NOT automatically convey lack of respect. At least not coming from me. But conversely, using Dr.___ when I'm called Molly in return does seem to suggest deference on my part. I guess that's what bothers me a little bit. Not that it's something I lose sleep over, but it is interesting since we're all human beings. Any other thoughts?
If I call one of them Doctor I'm either infront of a patient or dont know there name; which I think they realise so I think they like to be called by there first names.
Our clinical fellows are first names as are our consultants... a lot of the time the consultant surgeons are referred to as 'Paul Smith' or whatever their name is... I have a bit of a problem calling them Mr So and So to there face.
One consultant actually called me 'babe' the other day, dont know if this was on purpose but I'm guessing I can call him by his first name!!! this wasn't around any patients I may add and another called me 'love' so we're quite laid back behind the scenes at work...
I work in a community clinic. We have one PA, 3 FNPs and 5 MDs that are our staff. We also have an FNP and 3 MDs from another clinic that are specialists that come in to work 1/2 days on a rotating basis. The mid-level providers and the younger MDs that our part of our regular staff are all called by their first names. The MDs from the other clinic and the older MDs from our clinic are all called Dr.
I always address all of the doctors by "Dr." in front of patients and when taking messages on the phone -- my coworkers are not as good about that and it drives me INSANE. We also have a lot of hispanic patients that do not understand the mid-level providers, to them they are all doctors and when talking with a patient and they call their FNP "Dr. FirstName" I do not argue I just do the same to keep confusion to a minimum. I just wish there were titles that were easy to say that everyone understood for FNPs and PAs.
I do have to say though that as a patient/mother of a patient I really appreciate it when the nursing staff calls the doctor by the name the doctor uses with patients. When my daughter was in the NICU her neonatologist went out of town for a conference and he told me that he was leaving but that Dr. B would be taking care of her in her absence. I came in and the nurses were talking about "Val said this" and "Val ordered that", etc. I had no clue who Val was. Turns out she was Dr. B.
Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
it is ingrained in me to call them "dr so and so", even on a casual basis (because i didn't know any as friends). i would definitely call them doctor in front of the patients or the general clinical setting. however, in my brain, there are a few other names i would love to call some them that can't be printed here out of my respect for brian's wonderful site and the names would not show up here, anyhow... (evil grin).
) 
pinkeyICU
21 Posts
I call docs by their title. I think they deserve it. I do know a doctor socially who comes to the unit and I refer to him (in front of whomever is present) as Dr. Firstname. We also had a dear friend who was a doc and always referred to him (and had our kids refer to him) as Dr. Firstname. I'm not old, but am oldschool....everyone deserves to be treated with respect. The other point I'd like to make is: It doesn't matter how we, as nurses are treated by docs, we are each still individually accountable (to ourselves...to a higher power...?) for how we treat them. IF you are being treated in a disrespectful manner, you will have much more power to stop that (either by direct, respectful confrontation, or through proper channels) if you are known as one who is always respectful.
...now I step off of soapbox....