Calling Docs by their first name...

[zamboni]

Do you work with any that ask you to do this? Does it weird you out at all?

I'm a pretty laid back person...like sometimes "check-a-pulse" laidback. :wink2: I'm also pretty self confident and I'm not scared of doctors. But I guess I had it ingrained into my head at some impressionable stage in my life that they're addressed as "Dr So and So". I didn't realize how deeply this penetrated my fragile psyche until a few years ago when my Sis started dating a vet. I called him Dr H, even when we were all out in a social setting and taught my Kiddo to do the same. (I quit when I found out he was a Red Wings fan...came up with a different name that I won't post here! LOL! But I made the Kiddo continue to call him Doc for the longest time. It eventually evolved into Uncle Dr H. )

Anyway, so now I'm working in an ER, and even though I'm a probie RN, I've worked there for over a year. We have a bunch of great docs...talented, respectful, the whole shibang. I'm very lucky and I know it. Some of our doctors have started asking us to call them by their first names, and I kinda feel uncomfortable doing it. I mean, they went to school for a loooong time to earn that title. At first, I just thought that it was because they were younger docs and less formal...but then I realized they weren't that young, I was just older. I don't think it's a big formailty thing, and it's not like I'm adressing them as my superior. It's just a title for an impressive feat that they accomplished, and I think they earned it, and my respect.

I do it, or at least try to remember. I refuse to do it in front of patients though. Gets my lots of eye rolls, but hey...I have my standards. Not many, but the ones I do have, I stick to. But it just feels weird. So I was wondering if this was common in other areas, or if my docs are even more laid back than I am? :chuckle

[SteveNNP, MSN, NP]

It took me about a year before I started calling them by their first name.... They call me by my first name, why not the same for me? I do call them "doctor" in front of pts.

[SarasotaRN2b]

It took me about a year before I started calling them by their first name.... They call me by my first name, why not the same for me? I do call them "doctor" in front of pts.

I totally agree. For the OP, if they ask you to call them by their first name...fine do so (definitely makes them more approachable), but I also agree with the using their proper title when in front of patients.

Kris

[heatherwood]

Glad u r so respectful, however u must realize it's a job they r doing and u r equally intelligent and capable. After all u do interpret their orders so it must mean u r aware of the processes involved re. their diagnoses and how they arrived at their decisions. U must also be aware that if u are given orders that may be detrimental to the pt's well being u r likely 2 b responsible. It's all well and good to be respectful but be aware of your own capabilities trust me on this they r simply part of a team that together achieves results.

[nursemary9, BSN, RN]

Hi

I usually will address them by first name if they ask me to.However, in front of Pt's I usually go with Dr. So & So.

It was hard to do this at first, cause it's simply not how I learned things.

You can see by my age that I'm pretty old, & we always learned the very formal. We even stood up when an MD entered the room----they were practically treated like gods!!LOL!!

[AussieTina]

Well we call most of our docs by their first names.

This however is because most of our docs here come from overseas and it is hard to pronounce thier first names and almost impossible to pronounce thier last names (you know the type of names that have most of the alphabet in them) LOL the docs here all agree with us calling them by their first names, guess they got sick of people making a hash of trying to say their last names :)

It does make working night shift with them really fun though, we just get them talking about thier home countries and hear some really interesting and informative stories :)

[AprilRNhere]

We don't call ANY of our dr's by first name. Recently though the dr's hosted a "social event" that was supposed help them get to know nurses better. One of the nurses went and called them by their first names. She laughed about it later saying noone commented to got upset..but the looks of shock from the surgeons was something to remember!

[jessiern, BSN, RN]

I guess we are very old fashion down here. We all call them Dr. So and So. Our hospital administ. tells everyone to call him by his first name, and only one arrogant RT does so. We do have one Indian doc that we call by his first name, but we throw Dr. in front of that (we can't say his name )

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

There's only a couple of the docs that I call by their first name. I've worked with them for years and they have a lot of patients on my unit. Otherwise the docs usually come and go and I'm not on a first-name basis with them.

What irritates me is that when they are long retired and become patients, I'm still supposed to call them "Dr. Smith" instead of "Mr. Smith" like the rest of my patients. Even their family members come to the desk "Dr. Smith wants a bedpan". Don't know what that irritates me.

[loriangel14, RN]

Most of the doctors in my town are called by their first names unless you are in front of the pts. My family doctor has me call her by her first name when I am at her office for a visit. I also see her during the course of my work day so it just seems normal to call her Nadine.

[ShayRN]

The doctors I work with tell me to call them by their first name and after a year and a half of working with them I am finally able to do that, sometimes. It still feels weird. I worked for a doctor for 13 years and always addressed him as "Dr. Smith." In front of patients, it is still ALWAYS Dr. Smith. One doc prefers the patients and families call him Dr. Steve, they LOVE it.

[MIA-RN]

I generally call them by first name.

The exception is usually a doc who is in a leadership role or one whom I don't know well and is 'old school'. That kind of doc I will call Dr so and so. That is also generally the doc who doesn't bother to learn my name and refers to me as "nurse" as in "Where is this patient's nurse?" when I am standing right there. luckily, there aren't too many out there like I've described!

Truthfully, most of the docs I work with are younger than I am, so I just naturally go for the first name.

In front of the patients though, I refer to them as Dr.