Expectations when addressing physicians across the country

[labordude]

TL;DR: Have experienced huge differences in organizational and regional cultural expectations as I've traveled across the country. What's been your experience?

For those of you who've worked in different locations around the US, how has your interaction with the physicians changed? Are there different unwritten (or written) rules on how to communicate with them?

I've worked in 7 different states in several regions of the country and have seen a huge difference in cultural expectations of RN interaction with physicians. Back in the northeast, it was very common to be on a first name basis with the providers. Having moved down south and ended up in TX, it's a night and day difference with a very demonstrated expectation that it will always be Dr X regardless of the situation. Even had the chief of service verbally correct a first year resident who was talking with a colleague of mine on a first-name basis. They were told to make sure they were always called Dr Y.

What are your experiences? How do you choose to interact/are encouraged to interact with the providers?

If you choose to call someone Dr X out of respect, do you not ask the same from them for your given title?

[Tegridy]

To prevent confusion as the only reason. Everyone dresses so similar now adays.
lots of np and pa running around it’s hard for patients to know who the dr is or isnt

[Swellz]

2 minutes ago, Tegridy said:

To prevent confusion as the only reason. Everyone dresses so similar now adays.
lots of np and pa running around it’s hard for patients to know who the dr is or isnt

I was just going to say this. Forget NPs and PAs - all of our nursing AODs, the case managers, and the social workers wear white coats now. I think its important for a patient to know who is who.

[Tegridy]

3 minutes ago, Swellz said:

I was just going to say this. Forget NPs and PAs - all of our nursing AODs, the case managers, and the social workers wear white coats now. I think its important for a patient to know who is who.

Yeah lol everyone has one which is fine just can make things confusing. I think people more wear then for pockets and warmth than for style

[labordude, BSN, RN]

1 minute ago, Swellz said:

I was just going to say this. Forget NPs and PAs - all of our nursing AODs, the case managers, and the social workers wear white coats now. I think its important for a patient to know who is who.

4 minutes ago, Tegridy said:

To prevent confusion as the only reason. Everyone dresses so similar now adays.
lots of np and pa running around it’s hard for patients to know who the dr is or isnt

This is sort of moving away from my original line of questioning but I do understand that patients need to know what role each person plays. That being said, this information can be conveyed in multiple ways. "This is Dr. Jane Smith" and "This is Jane Smith, your Doctor" are equally as effective, but multiple factors influence what language we use particularly with patients.

I was focusing more on a 1:1 discussion with a provider and how your local environment impacts what you may call them.

[Tegridy]

2 minutes ago, labordude said:

This is sort of moving away from my original line of questioning but I do understand that patients need to know what role each person plays. That being said, this information can be conveyed in multiple ways. "This is Dr. Jane Smith" and "This is Jane Smith, your Doctor" are equally as effective, but multiple factors influence what language we use particularly with patients.

I was focusing more on a 1:1 discussion with a provider and how your local environment impacts what you may call them.

I never thought it mattered that much as long as they know who is who in how it is said. For staff to staff communication I don’t think it matters as long as everyone is respectful and information is properly conveyed. Healthcare has a million problems and who gets called doctor among staff isn’t one

[labordude, BSN, RN]

8 minutes ago, Tegridy said:

I never thought it mattered that much as long as they know who is who in how it is said. For staff to staff communication I don’t think it matters as long as everyone is respectful and information is properly conveyed. Healthcare has a million problems and who gets called doctor among staff isn’t one

You must not have worked somewhere where if you don't address a provider as "Doctor" you get a talking to from the leadership. Though in my experience, it's been very regional, particularly the south.

I agree that in and of itself, it's not an issue, it's a symptom of a larger problem within the system.

[Tegridy]

16 minutes ago, labordude said:

You must not have worked somewhere where if you don't address a provider as "Doctor" you get a talking to from the leadership. Though in my experience, it's been very regional, particularly the south.

I agree that in and of itself, it's not an issue, it's a symptom of a larger problem within the system.

I usually just called them doctor never got to know most of them enough to call them first name basis. And usually I didn’t even know their first name lol!

[Sour Lemon]

I've worked in South Texas and Southern California and have always a addressed doctors as "Doctor". If I'm very friendly with them, I might call them "Doc", but that's about as informal as I get. They typically call me by first name.

I've never worked with student doctors.

[JKL33]

I haven't noticed doctors having jack to do with any of the problems I care about.

I call them doctor because I want to for my own reasons. ??‍♀️

[CommunityRNBSN, BSN, RN]

I am in New England and the doctors are “Dr Lastname” and everyone else is Firstname. However I think it has to do more with age than location. For whatever reason, every one of our doctors is approaching retirement age. I think that impacts their expectations— one of them even refers to me as “Nurse (firstname)” which I find adorable.

[CommunityRNBSN, BSN, RN]

Oh, and when I first started I called the APRNs “Miss LastName” but now that we have a friendly relationship I call them Firstname.

[Serhilda, ADN, RN]

I agree, it's cultural. I just moved from Texas to the Northeast and noticed the exact same thing. It's very strange to use a physician's first name but alright. When in Rome.