doctor/nurse relationship

[Shooting4RN]

Hi all. I am a mere pre-nursing student...lol but thought I would slip in and ask some of you experienced nurses a question. What is a doctor/nurse relationship like? I have a sister who works in the hospital ER and she says the doctors yell at the nurses quite a bit. Is this true? Even if true, I would still continue on my course, It's just a little scary. So, do the docs really have God complexes?

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

Im my dept. we all pretty much have a "we're here for the pt." bond, if that makes any sense. We communication ahead of time to find out for sure what we'll need for later cases, work together very well, etc.

And during the cases, as long as everything is going smoothly, we talk about our families, pets, vacations, latest hospital decisions, the latest bad baaaad jokes we've heard, how pt. so-and-so has been recovering, etc. And i ask questions about the pt.'s condition, recovery, why the surgeon likes this instrument or whatever. And the majority of our surgeons like to teach and explain things. And it's a constant learning experience for me, which is part of why i love what i do.

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

Ahhhhh well said!

We have one doc who's 6'6" and when he adjusts the lights, you'd think he's trying to rope a steer, so when he puts his hand on the light hndle, i say " Heads up, Dr. _____ swinging the lights." and i duck down slightly. He laughs everytime. He's whacked me three times with a spotlight, purely accidental of course, and he felt horrible about it, but like i told him "Hey i've learned to watch out" lol

[sharona97, BSN, RN]

I hear you Marie,:smilecoffeecup:

And the music? Every doc has it's own it seems, if there is music. One of our docs has his booties fitted over his cowboy boots, it's funny to see him tap his toe. His greatest learning lesson he gave me is " Sheri, time is of the essence". How true.

[sharona97, BSN, RN]

That's the way.

Have a great day!

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

Pretty much all of our docs have Ipods. One doc even told us to write down some of the songs we like and he'd download them for us "so that we have a wide mix". I thought that was pretty nice. Sometimes i bring my own CDs in, and pick one i know a particular doc will like.

Now sometimes we'll pick on each other for the choices in music. We'll make snoring sounds, say "Oh, who picked THAT, we can't have easy listening after LUNCH!", etc.

[sharona97, BSN, RN]

I learned the Cotten-Eyed Joe after I asked Doc Boots to borrow the "cassette". He was very nice. I do think there are alot of very compassionate docs out there. It was nice he asked about music. I could not work an I-Pod if I tried. I'm giving away my age, maybe. I'll stick with CD's. lol.

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

I learned the Cotten-Eyed Joe after I asked Doc Boots to borrow the "cassette". He was very nice. I do think there are alot of very compassionate docs out there. It was nice he asked about music. I could not work an I-Pod if I tried. I'm giving away my age, maybe. I'll stick with CD's. lol.

I've never laughed harder than the time than when one of our pro- nurses (who's been in the OR for decades) was trying to work and Ipod, and kept yelling over and over "Well how the h--- do you work this d--- contraption!!"

[sharona97, BSN, RN]

That would be me!

[GrnHonu99, RN]

We talk quite a bit about this at work. I work in a high acuity, high stress area and our residents can be snippy at times. Some of the nurses get really upset..IMO we all get flack from someone...MDs, RNs, support staff, we are all here for a common purpose and I wish we could all just work together. I feel at times we are working against eachother.

With that said, i feel like i have a good relationship with most of the docs...i have had time to build trust with them. We have a huge ICU. At rounding time I keep it short and sweet and to the point..i know they are busy. We are all busy. If I can i'll have supplies at the bedside. I try to anticpate what they are going to ask me and ill rattle off things that i know they always want to know,before they ask..it saves time and they respond to it...they appreciate it and it fosters a good working relationship.

[teenycar]

As a new grad. I interviewed at 6 different hospitals in the area and turned down 9 positions and in every instance it was due to how the staff worked or should I say didn't work together. I was suprised at how bad the relationships are between nurses, nurses and doctors, and nurses and the rest of the staff. My advice is that when you are in school and ready to graduate, interview everywhere you can, in as many different hospitals as you can. Find a place where nurses are respected, and expected to participate in rounds. When everyone appreciates the jobs that others have, life and patient care runs a lot more smoothly.