I taught an ACLS class this afternoon, and all the participants were 4th year medical students. They're scared and excited about being real DOCTORS in a few months! One of the topics that came up was how to be on good terms with the nurses. I came up with a few ideas right off the top of my head, but what do you guys think? What would you tell them?
The first few things I thought of were:
Don't ever tell a nurse your first name is "doctor." Your mother gave you a first name, and although I have known a few MDs with the LAST name of "Docter", I haven't ever met anyone with a FIRST name of "Docter." And nothing irritates an experienced nurse MORE than being asked to call some kid 30 years younger than herself "Doctor Smith." I'm likely to say "then you can call me "Mrs. Vee." You don't want that.
When you come to see my patient, tell me who you are. And don't ever tell me "I'm his doctor." We have a lot of those in most hospitals. Are you the psych consult, the cardiologist who admitted him, or the nephrology resident coming by to evaluate him for dialysis? It would be nice of you to say "Hi, I'm Althea. I'm the pulmonology resident here for a consult."
Bring us chocolate. We like chocolate!
So what would you guys like to tell the new residents who come to work with us?
