Doctors! Rudeness does it go hand and hand?

Nurses Relations

Published

I just want to ask the rest of the country if they have ever been yelled at, or hung up on by a doctor who is on call and suppose to care for his pts? I work @ a small community hospital, where everone in the whole hospital knows everyone else.(And all of their dirty laundry, but that is besides the point.) We have some doctors who are wonderful, no matter what time or day if the year you call them they are genuinally concerned for the well being of their pts, but others, are mad cuz you interupted them sleeping, eating ....or worse yet it is x-mas eve, or Sat nite. Well I don't really jump for joy when I have to work on a holiday or weekend either, but I do it, and more importantly I am not rude about it. When I was 1st graduated I worked niteshift, and when pts would have a complaint nausea, pain etc. I would actually look to see who was covering before I called, not to get the right phone #, but to assess whether or not I could wait until morning if a certain DRs were on call. Well i have been an RN for five years now and it didn't take me long to realize that my pts come 1st and it is too bad if I interrupted someones sleep to bring my pts they comfort they deserve! Does anone feel the same way?

Dinirn............

..............it's THEIR problem, next time politely suggest they leave adequate orders to cover all contingencies, and maybe they won't get called at inopportune times! The patient comes first, take comfort from that, and to h--l with their attitudes!

------------------

Many is the time when Doctors have been rude or impolite. I took it for a while, but now if I find a Doctor's behaviour or attitude objectionable, I simply inform them that it is not acceptable. If they continue with the same, I write a formal complaint to the medical superintemdent of the hospital. Doctors are professionals and as such are accountable for their behaviour and must accept responsibility for same.

I once went to a seminar about Nursing documentation ect... The speaker also talked about How most Nurses hated calling Docs, especially at night. The one thing that she said that sticks in my mind about Docs on call is "When a Doctor is on Call, that is our invitation as Nurses to call them any time day or night." Every night I work and come into a situation where I have to call the doctor on call I always think of that saying especially if its a Doc I dread calling.

Dinirn,

I too work in a small rural hospital with "everybody knows everybody and more" and I too am a nightshift worker. I've been there for 8yrs and the rude one's never change. I look at it this way, I know more about their patients than they do. I live with them for 12 straight hours, a few days a week. I have to hear about all their complaint regarding their physical and emotional problems. I am their only advocate for some and I refuse to compromise their care because I would interrupt their sleep. Besides, they get paid a h*** of alot more than I, and I am doing all the work. So why not?

I agree with you. I used to wait till morning to call some doctors, but now I don't care who it is and how mad I make them. The pt is first, and there is no reason they shouldn't have pain medicine or whatever else they need just because a very well paid doctor wants his/her beauty sleep. After all that is why they make the big bucks. Right?

Hi! Yes, I too cannot stand to call Doc's especially in the middle of the night. Just last week, I had to call a Doc at 0500 for a temp on a fresh post-op of 103.5 He was angry about the call and said "well what do you want me to do about it?" I told him I didn't care what he did but I was covering my a** by making the call and whether he chose to leave orders was up to him and that our conversation would be well documented. I think he was shocked by my response but I was in just the right mood to speak up. My feeling is that I know what is going on with THEIR patient and if the patient needs something, I'm going to call. I used to shy away from Doc's when I was just starting out but I have gotten gutsy in my 10 years of med-surg nursing. Personally, i think they should thank us for taking such good care of their patients for 8,12,16 hour shifts. And, many Doc's do, but there will always be a few bad apples, everyone knows who they are. Does anyone know of a web site similar to this for physicians? It would be nice to get some dialog going with them about some of these issues. And, maybe they have some issues they would like to bring up to nursing. Happy Valentines Day!

Yes, it has happened to me too. However, in our hospital we have a zero tolerance for it now. If any Physician, nurse, or other employee treats one with rudeness they are reported and dealt with. Doctors need to understand that they are colleagues with us, and that there is a reason why we don't wear hats anymore.

Specializes in ICU of all kinds, CVICU, Cath Lab, ER..

This weekend it happened to me.. he said "who are you, I don't even know you." I reminded him of how many times we had worked together, he finally gave me orders......his partner came in behind him and dc'd every one of his orders.

Here is another story: I work in a unit that is both south and north... I had a patient on the north side who ran a temp of 103 and I wanted to give him a tylenol suppository before lab arrived for cultures.... I only had a po order so I looked over on the south side and saw my patient's doctor doing rounds (tied up with family) so I wrote for pr and placed the suppository.

When HIS HIGHNESS arrived at my patient's side, I informed him of the temp and that I had written an order for the PR..... he told me: I will not sign that order.. you are never to write an order for me.

I looked at him and asked him if he really meant that if I needed an aspirin or a laxative for my patient (nightshift), he really wanted me to call him. He just shook his head and walked away.

Hello again!

I guess perhaps with premiums being at an all time high he isn't taking any chances. It's too bad though, especially as you are doing your best to keep his people safe. Just a friendly note though: Most physicians don't want Tylenol given before cultures are drawn even with a high temp as the med can mask the results of the cultures. This could be one reason he shook his head....?

Specializes in ICU of all kinds, CVICU, Cath Lab, ER..

You have to know this little man's meanness to understand his comments. Most pulmonologists develop a working relationship with the ICU nurses and respiratory therapists; he limits his interaction to the males (cultural differences - but he's lived and earned his living in this country for over 30 years).

Thanks for the note about treating the temp after cultures were drawn; I have a habit of calling for the lab to either pickup the cultures if already drawn or draw the cultures while I can help them....the "less than 2 minutes that the supository is placed either before or immediately after," are "insignificant to influence the bloodstream" per the county and hospital infection medical officer and facility policy.

I bring this up because we so often have no tech to help turn the patient; I have a good relationship with all the staff including the phlebotomist (and believe me, they are all willing to help turn for placement if there are no other nurses handy). The best part of this unit is that we are all part of the team - something you don't always see!

We sometimes see the relationship of rudeness from the doctor is in direct proportion to the lack of common sense of the nurse calling. I have seen nurses call doctors for things that very legitimately (sp?) could wait until the next rounds are made. For example, pt. wanted to know about going to cardiac rehab after discharge, and a nurse actually called the md at home during the night to ask.

+ Add a Comment