Would you seriously consider quitting nursing

Nurses General Nursing

Published

if you were treated badly--yelled at, disrespected, verbally abused--by the doctors you work with?

How does this treatment affect you? Does it affect patient care?

Specializes in Med/Surg, Geriatrics.

Would that alone be enough to drive me from the bedside? No. If that were the only problem I encountered with acute care, I would be able to find a solution for that. It's funny, because as a new nurse, I used to hang up on physicians who were rude to me. Over the years, I was "taught" by management and other senior nurses that was inappropriate(meaning that just sitting there and taking it was the right thing to do). *sigh* God help us but nurses can be their own worst enemy. I have come full circle in a way in that I now know better and I would never take crap from a physician as I have in the past.

But I have left the bedside because of the overall atmosphere in the field today. The problem of abusive physicians is not only allowed, it is officially sanctioned under the guise of "customer service" and other crap like that. Like Deb, I am no longer allowed to nurse the way I want to because the importance of my ability to get my patients the corect flavor jello is more valued than what I do to save their lives. Hence I am expected to focus all my energies on that type of nonsense while the resources I need to provide good patient care are not provided and not appreciated. You know something is wrong when you are working short on the floor and the nurse manager hires a full-time nurse to walk the floors and ask patients whether or not the nurse recited her script every time she came into the room or how they would rate thier "service". I find that unacceptable. I am not a pillow fluffer and while I find satisfaction in making my patients comfortable and happy, that is not enough to fulfill me. It's frustrating and it is not what I went to college for.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

If I made the error you can yell all you want. What kills me is when the residents make an error, omit a lab draw order the wrong medicine. Often times the nurse is the one who heres about it. Or if the order is illegible or omitting information and the pharmacy

refuses to fill it. The Nurse is required to call the Doctor and take a telephone order to correct it. I've had Doctors yell at me for bothering them, as if it's my fault the order was written incorrectly

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Utilization Management.
I've had Doctors yell at me for bothering them, as if it's my fault the order was written incorrectly

Yes Casper, this is exactly the type of scenario I had in mind.

Can you tell us if that would affect your nursing or if it might one day cause you to leave nursing?

If I made the error you can yell all you want.

PS Question: If a doc made a mistake, would another doc yell at him/her for it?
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Fear of retaliation is real because too many facilities dote on their doctors...and if the doctor complains about a nurse for ANY reason there will be trouble. I have watched many doctors launch a smear campaign against a nurse and she ended up quitting, unable to find any support.

It is time for nurses subjected to repeated abuse by MD's to launch a civil harrassment lawsuit

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I can't say that I was ever abused by doctors. There was more abuse that comes from the management people, they always seem to feel if they are not rude,insulting and nasty that they aren't doing their jobs. Delegating doesn't mean giving all the work to a few so that the few chosen don't have to do anything. Just my opinion, but after 24 years of nursing I have learned that doesn't seem to count much, even though I know what is going on. Once you have been black balled I think you are ruined for good.

just my opinion

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Your right angie o plasty doctors don't yell at each other, the nurses hear it when two different specialtys conflict. Example, I had a patient who had been admitted with a GI bleed. The patient also had a cardiac history and was having chest pain. Doctor treating chest pain ordered qd aspirin. Doctor treating GI upset about Qd aspirin being ordered. Nurse caught in the middle. Even though I had not given it GI upset that he had recieved medication. Blamed nurses but not the doctors who had ordered it

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Community Health Nurse.
...............................................................I have walked up behind a nurse and stared down a doc who was yelling...and have agreed to be a witness when she 'wrote him up' and complained. So many nurses will NOT stick together like this however. Those nurses who WILL stick together are the ones who will change a culture...as most management WILL respond to groups of nurses with legitimate concerns in my experience.

IMO it boils down to nurse solidarity...again.

Bravo!!! Well said! :)

Nursing is what it is because nurses fail to ban together to change the "culture" of nursing. It indeed DOES take a village. :)

Nurses.......ask yourselves........should abuse be tolerated? Is it okay for someone to belittle and talk abusively to you? Why remain silent in the abuse? There's nothing to fear but fear itself. Stand up against abuse! Silence only continues that which is humanly wrong.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

I like the response posted on another thread, called it a "code orange". When a doc started berating somebody, all the staff would stop doing whatever (nurses, techs, secretaries, EVERYBODY), surround them, fold their arms and just stare with a "what in the world are you doing?" at the offender, who would then have a very large audience for their tantrum. Said the doc would get red and flustered, shut up and walk away. :chuckle

And no, I'm not going to let anyone drive me away from what I've studied and practiced so hard for. Fortunately, very few of the doctors I work with have that kind of problem, and when an "outside" doc (as opposed to our ER docs) comes in and makes problems, its our docs who go set them straight. As in, "if you want a one to one nurse to wait on you, bring one from your office, our nurses don't have time for that" and "we do it ourselves!"

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I wouldn"t stay in a relationship let alone a workplace where i was subjected to verbal abuse.Surely your procedure manual outlines the appropriate steps to follow in reporting this behaviour.Management should step in and curtail this behaviour if they have been made aware.What an unhealthy work enviroment.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I think there should be some sort of network or some one that nurses can talk to. I lost my cool one time but the DON had no idea what was going on,on the unit. This wouldn't have happened if I had some one that would listen. the unit unfortunately needed closer supervision than what I was able to provide. Yet everything ended up being blamed on me. I guess I should have just quit but I was afraid for the patients. Does any of this make sense?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Pediatrics.
I think there should be some sort of network or some one that nurses can talk to. I lost my cool one time but the DON had no idea what was going on,on the unit. This wouldn't have happened if I had some one that would listen. the unit unfortunately needed closer supervision than what I was able to provide. Yet everything ended up being blamed on me. I guess I should have just quit but I was afraid for the patients. Does any of this make sense?

Sure, it makes plenty sense. I think the correct admin. answer is usually "No one told me what was going on. You know we are there to help you. You have to call us, otherwise we don't know that there is a problem". :angryfire

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I told every one the supervisor, the administrator, the DON and was told that as an RN I should be able to handle it Haha

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment