Pt had new dx paralytic ileus. Attending doc says NG low intermittent suction. Then he decides hmmm pt has a peg I wonder if you can suction from there instead of inserting NG. He asks me to find out - call GI unit - find out if allowed or possible.
So I call GI and General systems ICU, they say - neat idea never heard of it, never done it.
So I'm told to page the surgeon who inserted the peg.
WELL BIG MISTAKE
Surgeon calls back, he's calling from the hospital. I tell him very POLITELY about the pt para ileus, the peg he put in and i ask NICELY "the attending is wondering if we can use the peg for low inter. suction?"
wellllllll
he says in a very RUDE and CONDESCENDING MANNER
"first of all, I am not on call, I was just being nice answering this page"
"i would only answer this question if the attending doc is on the other line, you are JUST A NURSE"
I WAS BEAT RED I can't even remember the rest of it. All I could remember was YOU ARE JUST A NURSE. What the heck! I was calling for clinical expertise information as I could not find it elsewhere! I did not know what to say, the only words that came out of my mouth were "I'm sorry".
I feel so humiliated! I wanted to stand up for myself but I was in such awe.
What do you do/say in these situations where a doctor berrates you? Or are you just supposed to swallow it all and apologize? What would you do?
I, personally, have never had a doc speak to me in such a manner in person, but it has happened via phone a few times. I don't take it personally, and I don't see the point in making a big fuss over it. Just document everything and move on.
In the case where you ended up making the call to the surgeon....if that were me in your shoes, I would have told the attending to do it. I have actually had attending try to pull that "hey, will you find out if...." stuff on me, and I nicely tell them to do it themselves. Re-Delegating! I have given them the phone directory in-house, and tell them to have at it. It saves me time, and all of us nurses know how time is of the essence when we are on the clock.
When it all comes down to the bottom line....Physicians are just people. Their personalities are a combination of nature/nuture. Maybe they come from a long line of social ineptness or maybe Mommy didn't pay enough attention. Education level has nothing to do with manners, social grace, or self worth. When there is little or no self respect, there is not much for others, either. **see my quote**
Just understanding why people are the way they are makes things easier for me.
When you react to someone's poison, you are giving them control.
I just mentally give them a big ole "whatever" and go about my merry way.
First off it's too bad you hade to do "the run around " to find out about this peg tube suction set -up only to get the surgons line of B.S. I like the above responses about just letting it off at the curb and the passive-agressive bit about the consults too:rotfl: :chuckle :rotfl: This whole thing could have been solved w/ just putting in the NGT in the first place, I meen the MD didn't know if the ped could be used for suction in the first place so why try to experiment on the pt w/ a new proceedure ?
BUT i got to know...could you use the peg tube for suction and what was the outcome ( w/ the pt and the surgon)? Thanks:p
Specializes in Psychiatric, Home Health, Geriatrics.
AS soon as he started getting rude I would have cut right in & kept talking til he either shut up or hung up; some thing like "I am not here to take yours or anybody else's attitude; I, too was just trying to be nice, but more successfully than you, by making this call for ANOTHER PHYSICIAN, but obviously you either don't know the answer or refuse to give him the info,so apparently you have no respect for either of us or more importantly for the pt. - we'll just have to find the info elsewhere". If by that time he was still talking, I would then hang up & then report it and document it.
Well, as the saying goes, "I like my surgeons and airline pilots to be a little arrogant." But, this takes the cake! As several others have advised, try and accept the fact that this doc is the one with the problem.
This takes me back to MY pet peeve..... When you call a doc in the middle of the night, and get the response, "Why are you calling me? That pt is a DNR!" This has happened to me more than once. My typical reply is something like, "I fully realize that, doctor, and when the pt ceases to breathe her DNR will be a factor. Right now she is in distress and suffering. What can we do?" I'd never let a loved one of mine be made a DNR under the care of most of the docs in this facility. This one really lights me up!
thx again for all the supportive responses! argghhh i just ooozee of anger when i'm looking through a chart and see his signature...:angryfire but again i'll definately be VERY prepared thanks to you all - when this happens again! i repeat: I will not be a floor mat!
When I spoke to a GI nurse - on another unit.. she put me on hold and asked one of her wonderful GI residents.. and apparently you shouldn't hook up the peg to suction - but you can hook on a foley bag and let it straight drain.
Either way we just ended up putting in a NG! So of course calling the peg master and getting yelled at was TOTALLY USELESS! :angryfire
thx again for all the supportive responses! argghhh i just ooozee of anger when i'm looking through a chart and see his signature...:angryfire but again i'll definately be VERY prepared thanks to you all - when this happens again! i repeat: I will not be a floor mat!
When I spoke to a GI nurse - on another unit.. she put me on hold and asked one of her wonderful GI residents.. and apparently you shouldn't hook up the peg to suction - but you can hook on a foley bag and let it straight drain.
Either way we just ended up putting in a NG! So of course calling the peg master and getting yelled at was TOTALLY USELESS! :angryfire
Geez, I hate when that happens. :angryfire
I might be "just" a nurse, but here's a doc who doesn't know which side his bread's buttered on. And he's "just" rude.
My reply would have been "In the time you have taken to yell at me and such, you could have used that energy to answer the question or to at least direct me to someone who can. To preferably a HUMAN."
ILOVEBUSTER, i absolutely agree with you. As a nurse of 18 years and a frequent charge nurse of a 38 bed unit, I have been used and abused by docs so many times, i cannot begin to count. I now have taken the stand that it is their problem, and don't let it become mine to obscess and take home with me. I now leave it at the door and forget about it. It can eat you up until you are sick. These doctors will never change and there are more just like them on the way. Allow it to be their problem and don't beat yourself up. Let them do their own work. I have done favors for doctors, only to be abused by the other one. No more. Those days are over and I hope all the young nurses that are coming along will learn this lesson early. Also, remember that there are alot of great doctors out there that do not treat us this way, and hopefully, there are way more of them on the way, lol. Be strong and stay healthy by not taking it personally.
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ilovebuster
11 Posts
Oh geeesh.
I, personally, have never had a doc speak to me in such a manner in person, but it has happened via phone a few times. I don't take it personally, and I don't see the point in making a big fuss over it. Just document everything and move on.
In the case where you ended up making the call to the surgeon....if that were me in your shoes, I would have told the attending to do it. I have actually had attending try to pull that "hey, will you find out if...." stuff on me, and I nicely tell them to do it themselves. Re-Delegating! I have given them the phone directory in-house, and tell them to have at it. It saves me time, and all of us nurses know how time is of the essence when we are on the clock.