Do you address the residents by title or first name?

[BridgetJones]

People at work seem to have varying views on this...one scrub tech was saying that she calls them by first name so they "know their place" in the OR, but my preceptor usually calls them "Dr.____" My feeling is that they've technically earned the professional title "Dr," and if their ego needs a little deflating it should be up to the attending. Then again, some of THEIR egos need a little deflating too.

Anyway, I appreciate professional courtesy as much as the next person and was just wondering what you guys thought. I haven't quite caught on to all the little nuances of the OR pecking order yet.

[Scrubby]

I call the old fashioned consultants that trained in the good old days Mr not Dr. If I'm on friendly terms with them I call them by their first name. Registrars get called by their first name.

[RickyRescueRN, BSN, RN]

I address all doctors as "Dr" until they tell me to address them otherwise or if they introduce themselves using their first name only. Many are senior to me and I do so as a sign of respect (just like I'd address a more senior man as Sir and female as Ma'am). Most times if one gets to know a physician well, he/she will ask that you call him/ her by their first name. Nurses tend to be less formal. We introduce ourselves by our first name, not as Nurse Jone etc. In other countries however ,it is still customary to address the RN (female) as Sister. (UK, Ireland & South Africa).I go by my first name at work and introduce myself as such to my patients , their families and to my colleagues.

[canesdukegirl, BSN, RN]

I agree with everyone else. In my facility, the residents are generally addressed by their first names. I generally address the attendings formally, and in front of patients, families and when returning pages, all of the doctors are addressed formally (which gets snickers from a lot of them). Your best bet is to address each doc formally until they ask you (and some of them downright INSIST) to do otherwise.

[NurseKitten, MSN, RN]

It depends. I always refer to them as "Dr. So-and-so" until told to do otherwise.

(It is difficult, however, when I know their wives from my Junior League commitments, and know far more about them than I would ever have wanted to know! LOL!)