Does anybody here feel like I do regarding calling nurses by their first names and doctors are called Dr. so-and-so?
I think this adds to the god-complex that physicians sometimes have which nurses and other hospital employees help perpetuate.
I don't like calling the physician by Dr. so-and-so while he or she calls me Peggy. I've discussed this with other nurses and they don't really seem to have any problem with it. Why is it acceptable for us to use formal address when talking with physicians and they use informal when addressing us? Why aren't we called Nurse so-and-so in order to receive the same level of formal address that physicians get?
I recently started a new job at a hospital that prides itself in not perpetuating the physician-god-complex, however, physicians are very much addressed using the formal while they don't extend the same respect to those with whom they work. When introducing myself to one of the physicians, I asked him how he wanted me to address him and he replied, "Dr. (blank)." I said is this only in front of patients or all the time. He looked at me with a bit of a question and responded with, "Well, really only in front of patients. My name is David and that is what you can call me." I smiled, shook his hand and told him my fist name. Would it have been rude for me to smile, shake his hand and ask him to call me Nurse (blank) had he requested that I always address him as Dr. (blank)?
I call all the doctors "Doc." I used to work home healthcare as a CNA. One of the clients I took care of for a long time was a retired surgeon (with a MAJOR EGO). He used to insist everyone call him "Doc" even his kids and grandkids. I guess it just kind of stuck in my head and it is faster than trying to say out the whole physician's name. The only time I've had any of the physicians say anything was one time one of them, "Geez, call me Ken..." Most of them where I work have no problem if you call them by their first name (most of my coworkers do), but I just call most of them "Doc"...especially the foreign guys with the names that are difficult for my tongue to pronounce.
I always refer to the MDs/DOs I work with as "Dr. So and so", unless invited to call them by a first name. I've only had a very select few ask for me to use their first name. I don't think most of them would take it as an affront if I did use their first name, but for me, it's a matter of respect. I would, however, feel weird if anyone referred to me as "Nurse So and so".
Appropriateness just depends on the setting and circumstances, I would imagine.
Oh yeah, I also call MD's by their professional title not just out of habit, but out of professional respect.
This is something that I've noticed and wondered about, whenever I hear of doctors being called by their professional titles, but nurses called by their first name. I have heard this myself, and the nurses use the "professional respect" answer. However, aren't nurses professionals, too? You all went to school, and worked very hard during school, and passed the state boards, so why is it that doctors get to use their titles, but nurses generally don't? (I have only heard of nurses referred to by their first names, not just in hospitals, but in doctor's offices, schools, and nursing homes.)
There is an interesting point that was raised... is it harder for those of us who have been successful in other fields to take the imbalance of power than it is for nurses who have only or mostly worked in this field? Are we more sensitive to it?
I think yes.
For me - physicians are a vital, important aspect of health care. And so is PT, OT, pharmacy, SW, etc. etc. etc. One doesn't trump the other in power - although it makes sense to defer to the 'expert' on whatever issues the patient is facing. Medically - that typically means a physician. But I wouldn't go to a physician for case management.
And yet - physicians in this country definitely hold most of the power. And nursing, in general, is seen as pretty powerless to administration, the media, public perception (those are generalizations - your milage may vary.)
So I think when someone is uncomfortable with being required to address physicians by their title, while we're stuck with "Nancy" or "Dave" - it's just a basic reflection of how minimalized the field of nursing is. And we hate that (don't we??)
Physicians probably don't see it that way - why would they? To them, it's their title - they earned it - and some expect to be called by their title for whatever reason. Most physicians that I know would be glad to call me by Nurse Last Name or whatever if I just asked.
Because they don't have the baggage that goes with being a nurse. Not to be negative, but nursing has some issues with power and respect, doesn't it?
And we would ALL benefit if nurses were empowered and seen as an equal and essential part of healthcare.
To say that all the doctoral degrees are equal and you have to call them all "Dr" is ridiculous. A physical therapist with a PhD has no business being addressed as "doctor" in a general ward unit, unless he goes to the patient and says "I'm Dr. X, your physical therapist."
My floor calls all docs by their first name and they call us by our first name as well. It seems to be like this throughout our hospital from what I've seen. We are all adults and all professionals who treat each other with respect.
Specializes in SICU, NICU, Telephone Triage, Management.
I have always addressed doctors as Doctor because that is what I was comfortable with. I preferred not to blur the lines between the familiar and the professional. In return I have been called "honey" as well as by my first name. And I'm sure some other choice words when I didn't kowtow. But the best example of interpersonal relationships was the hospital where everyone was known by last name only. No one used your first name. Our charge nurse was named Escobedo and she quickly became known affectionately as "Scooby-doo." The place had its drawbacks but one was not tension between staff.
We have an interesting way of naming our docs here. We call them "Dr." then their first name. It seems though that we only do this with the younger docs. Two of them are brothers, so we refer to them by first name to keep from everyone being confused. "Is this a patient of Dr. Smiths?" "No its Dr. Smiths." What??
And one we just call "J-Lo", that is an interesting story....
Another is a D.O., and his first and last initials are "DO". So we just call him "D.O."
There was one that taught psych at the CC I attended...The first day of classes, she made the comment..."call me Dr. so-and-so, I've earned it and I still have six yrs. left on my student loan and I am 54"...All I could do was stare, but....
Specializes in Cardiothoracic Transplant Telemetry.
There was one that taught psych at the CC I attended...The first day of classes, she made the comment..."call me Dr. so-and-so, I've earned it and I still have six yrs. left on my student loan and I am 54"...All I could do was stare, but....
I have to say that it is proper to call a Phd. doctor in the educational setting. Using non medical Phd titles in the healthcare setting can be confusing, and I think should be discouraged, but in the educational setting it should be expected that you address your professors as doctor.
I have no problem with calling any physician doctor, though I do think that we need to think more about the image that we portray to the public. We want professional respect, but we introduce ourselves by our first names. I am not sure what we should go by, but I think that we have to start by not being so afraid of using our last names.
There have been times when I have developed relationships with physicians that I have been comfortable using their first names. I know that one physician would like me to use his first name- but I refuse to do so until I stop seeing him as a patient. THAT would be crossing one too many lines for me. So doctor he remains until I no longer need his services!!!!!
BriBriRN
46 Posts
LMAO! That is too funny Triage....:)