Doctors who act childish!

[RADONC-RN]

Hello everyone. I work with a MD who is so self-centered and childish it drives me nuts but not only that it is starting to affect the care I give my pts. I have spoke to the manager about this and she just laughs saying "Oh there's nothing I can do about that". What gets me the most about this MD is that he will only see the "best " pts in the clinic and expects those pts get treated before others do. Now, we do have the standard policy to treat all pts fairly but he doesn't seem to care.He also has a bad habit of sticking papers in your face while you are trying to do orders and things ( literally, he puts his papers in your face so you can't see the computer screen and waits for you to take them). I find this behavior unacceptable myself. I am asking you if there are any little tricks of the trade to get my point across to him not to act like this or things that will help the situation. And yes! I have talked with him and get no where. He also expects you to drop everything when he needs assistance too. Example. While I was doing an IV on a pt he expected me to stop and help him NOW!. I actually was just inserting the needle into the pts arm. I guess he wanted me to run at that time. By the way, he does this to all the nurses.Any help appeciated.:angryfire

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

as i read your post i was actually thinking that the doctor was mostly not acting childish at all, but assertive. and, that is something that you need to learn how to do right back at him. what's good for the goose is good for the gander. it might take a little creative thinking to come up with the specific responses to him, but the way you go about being assertive about it doesn't change. one thing i learned over my many years of practice is that some of the hardest skills to master are the ones involving interpersonal communication and behavior. guess your time has come to delve more deeply into this subject. here's some webpages on assertiveness to get you started. you're gonna love the last link!

• http://changingminds.org/techniques/assertiveness/assertiveness.htm - assertiveness
  
• http://www.dlsweb.rmit.edu.au/toolbox/fmi/content/tutorial/assert/assert00.htm - this is a really nice online assertiveness tutorial from australia. click on the links to proceed through the tutorial. includes sound clips of examples.
  
• http://www.gp-training.net/training/leadership/assertiveness/index.htm - assertiveness for doctors. an interesting site that links you into information about being assertive. includes a list of books with information on assertiveness.

don't expect to become an expert at being assertive yourself after one reading of this information. in fact, i'd print some of the information on these webpages out, so you don't lose it as web pages tend to disappear off the internet occasionally. one successfully executed assertive encounter leads to another, then another and another. over time, you get better at it.

i was chuckling about how i'd walk up to this doc while he was in the middle of something and stick a piece of paper in his face and demand an instant reply. if he gave me flak about it, i'd say, "you do it to me all the time." ha! ha! as i said, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. want a childish response to him when you give him back what he gives to you? "if you can do it to me, how come i can't do it to you?" now, that would pop right out of a kid's mouth without hesitation.

[RADONC-RN]

Thanks Daytonite, but unfortunately it's not an assertiveness issue. I am also know for my assertiveness (not aggressiveness) and this is one of the things that tick him off when I said no to something he wants done yesterday. We have nicknamed him "Rooster" for a reason.LOL. This guy moves around so fast all the time barking orders and not watching were he is going. He snatches charts out of our hands when we are talking and assessing pts.He also has a bad habit of if the nurses are busy he'll get the secretary or therapist to do the order and they end up doing it wrong because they don't know how to do it. Then the nurses get accused when the manager finds out.It makes it difficult because there are also two other MDs that we work for and they are the nicest MDs to be around. They put up with his behaviour too.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

Well, I guess I'd just start playing games with him and be like a donkey or a mule and deliberately go slow or act dumb around him. At least I'd get the satisfaction of ticking him off. Has anybody called him "Rooster" to his face yet? I'd like to be around to see that! I'd get a death grip on a chart he tried to pull it out of my hands. The manager is wrong to accuse the nurses for something the doctor and secretary have cooked up between them. The manager needs to tell the secretary what she is and isn't supposed to do. Is there a behavioral psychologist you can talk to for advice on how to handle this guy? Who is this doctor's immediate supervisor? He must have one. That person needs to be told about this doctor's bad behavior. I don't know how things work in Canada, but depending on who signs the doctor's paycheck or gives them admission privileges here in the U.S. has a lot to do with who gets to address his behavior with the nurses.

[Natkat, BSN, MSN, RN]

This isn't much, but it might help.

If I was doing something on the computer and he put the papers in my face, I'd turn the opposite direction, get out of the chair and walk away to do something else. Or take them from his hand, lay them down on the desk and continue doing what I'm doing. Then in my nicest voice I'd say "thank you. I'll take care of those in a minute." Repeat as necessary. If he sputters and fumes, let him.

He probably isn't going to change, and if your manager won't back you up there's nothing you can do.