Yes your highness...I mean doctor!! rant!!!

Nurses General Nursing

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There is this one consultant in the hospital, he has a major reputation around the hospital as not being the most pleasant person to deal with. He treats the nursing staff like dirt and we have to have everything perfect for when he makes his rounds or he completly freaks out.

Yesterday it was my lucky duty to do his round. Anyway I go in and stand next to my patient while he discusses the pt with his team, he then states that he is going to examine the pt, proceeds to walk into me and says "kindly move to the other side of the bed like a good girl, didn;t they teach you in nursing school to always stand on the left hand side of the bed, its very important you know" so I move, and he's says to me ok I'll see the wound now theres a good girl... so I remove the dressing while he stands there tapping his foot. He goes out to wash his hands after the examination, and starts screaming at a random passerby about how there is no paper towel for him to dry his hands and that this is outragous where is the sister in charge etc...

so after his little tantrum he come back in, shouts for a certain referal form and when one of his docs goes to get it he trys to call em back saying oh no the nurse will get that for you, you dont have to get it! anyway doc gets form, consultant shouts more demands, turns to me and says "ok you can dress pt up now like a good girl....well done you did ever so well!!

aaaahhhhhh!!!:angryfire I thought the days of obeying the docs like they were God were well gone yet everyone practically :bow: falls to their knees when this guy comes around!! anyone ever experienced this? more importantly was anyone very taught to only stand on the left hand side of the bed when docs make their rounds!!!:banghead:

I would walk out of any room that he was in. He sounds intolerable.

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Specializes in Peds ER.

It is absurd that he would speak to you that way, it is even more absurd that you would stand there and allow him.

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The trouble is, he demeaned you in front of a patient. On the occasions that has happened to me, I have found it very hard to retaliate because it looks awful to have any kind of confrontation in front of the patient. Even a sarcastic remark or walking out.

Do report it. You have to.

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Specializes in ICU, Telemetry.

I worked for a guy at the lab who was known for being hateful, foul mouthed (I grew up on army bases, and he even had ME blushing), and generally a mean tempered guy. Well, my mouth tends to go before my brain engages sometimes, and one day he was screaming at me, calling me an f'ing b, and a stupid c, and I just looked at him like he was a bug and finally asked, "Gee, buddy, who got your Depends in a wad this morning?" I thought he would have an stroke, he got so furious. Everytime after that when he acted out, I would just go either sugary sweet "Gee, you don't sound like you feel good this morning. Here, honey, sit down and put your feet up. Can I go get you an aspirin, or a soda?" or just pretend like we were sharing a joke "hey, that's a good one. My dad taught me that in German when we were overseas." It made him nuts that he couldn't make ME nuts. Believe it or not, we actually became friends -- because I was the only person he couldn't bully.

For the OP, I've got an idea. Put a lollypop or sweet of some kind in your pocket, and (if!) the doc ever acts half human, give it to him and say, "oh, there's a good little boy, you did soooooooo good today." When he snaps he's not a little boy, answer "well, I'm not a little girl, either. Remember it."

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Specializes in ENT, Urology, OR, OB/GYN, Med/Surg.

I guess I was misunderstood when I referred to the "60ies" and what us oldies did. I was trying to convey the idea that professional courtesy back then had a totally different meaning.

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hehe I'm glad I started this thread now!

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The trouble is, he demeaned you in front of a patient. On the occasions that has happened to me, I have found it very hard to retaliate because it looks awful to have any kind of confrontation in front of the patient. Even a sarcastic remark or walking out.

Do report it. You have to.

You are 100% right, you just cant say anything without looking petty and unprofessional.

Its docs like this who give the rest a bad name, its a small hospital but we have some fantastic docs of all levels who treat us with the upmost respect and value our opinion even that of a student nurse....

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Specializes in med/surg.

Oh my I've had a good giggle reading this thread & yes I have met exactly the same type as your "good little boy" in my career. In fact isn't it funny that across the world we can share the same experiences! UK, USA, Ireland etc!!

I got through to my "little boy" by standing up to him - as others have said they've done. In the end we actually had a really good working relationship. He was still a b****** to other nurses but I could do no wrong!! Hilarious!!

he really was a true swine to start with though. he even had a plan of his outpatient desk that had to be followed to the centimeter - yes there was a ruler!!! Anyway one day he came in, moved a book 3cm one way then moved it back to the exact same spot I'd put it in the first place & I just blew - all that pent up rage came out!! I told him that I had put his precious book in exactly the right spot & what was the point of moving it!! He looked kinda funny at me then carried on the clinic as normal, except he no longer yelled at me if the patient moved their eyes when he was trying to examine them etc etc & was as sweet as pie. I threw away the ruler after that shift & never used it again & guess what, he never moved a thing on his desk from then on in.

Oh & BTW hardly any docs even looked at us when we were students so at least things have changed for the better in that direction, for the most part! It made me laugh that one day I was wearing my student dress & the docs totally blanked me but the next week I was wearing my staff nurse uniform - having got my pin number & those same docs were suddenly asking me questions - like a week made a difference!!

Anyway, thanks for starting this thread, I'm looking forward to reading more stories about mad docs :rotfl:. Can't live with them - can't live without them!!

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Aiight-

I hear y'all. The doc the OP writes about is obviously a tremendous git that either is carrying a large chunk of the facility, is politically protected enough to continue his behavior, or is treading the floors on his last days.

Laughing uproarously at commands like his then leaving the room will get a response you might want to try. I encourage you to speak to nursing mgt. re:what bearing he has on your job. That goes for any facility-based nursing role.

Now to the finer points:

1.Standing on the left side of the bed in the presence of an attending is tradition not from some bizarre victorian rule, but from a practical exam perspective. The classic physical exam as taught in medicine is performed from the right. among other reasons for this; most of us are right eye dominant, hepatic margin assessment and 'cross body' splenic palpation is better performed from the right.

2.Fetching gear for docs seems demeaning only if you do not see it as part of your job. Guess what, providing the best care for your patient is your job. A physician's ability to care for that same pt. is dependent on having the right gear. You know your floor and the locale of material musch better than most docs. When he performs a procedure on your patient efficiently b/c you have provided what's required, you are effectively being a good nurse.

You may not care, but the doc has a single commodity, his time. A physician's time is really all he has to parlay as a service to multiple pts. Wandering around in the supply room looking for 4x4s is not a good use of his resources.

That'll be .02 (actual value .005)

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In the UK (& I would think Ireland are very similar) this type of continued behaviour (stating "good girl" etc) would be classed as bullying. Ever thought of writing an incident form. Just state his behaviour in an objective way. Or talking to the medical director?? At the very least, an incident form would appear on his annual PDR (professional development review) I would get soooooo... much pleasure at that!!

I would go beyond bullying...this is right up next to sexual harrassment!. Sounds like he gets some sort of a thrill out of this.

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Specializes in Advanced Practice, surgery.
Aiight-

Now to the finer points:

1.Standing on the left side of the bed in the presence of an attending is tradition not from some bizarre victorian rule, but from a practical exam perspective. The classic physical exam as taught in medicine is performed from the right. among other reasons for this; most of us are right eye dominant, hepatic margin assessment and 'cross body' splenic palpation is better performed from the right.

oops, just reading this so I re-read my post and spotted my mistake, most have been having a bad day. Got my left and right mixed up;)

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Now to the finer points:

1.Standing on the left side of the bed in the presence of an attending is tradition not from some bizarre victorian rule, but from a practical exam perspective. The classic physical exam as taught in medicine is performed from the right. among other reasons for this; most of us are right eye dominant, hepatic margin assessment and 'cross body' splenic palpation is better performed from the right.

2.Fetching gear for docs seems demeaning only if you do not see it as part of your job. Guess what, providing the best care for your patient is your job. A physician's ability to care for that same pt. is dependent on having the right gear. You know your floor and the locale of material musch better than most docs. When he performs a procedure on your patient efficiently b/c you have provided what's required, you are effectively being a good nurse.

thanks for number one finally an explanation...

2 however I have to clarify, I will get anything for anyone who asks me nicely, and this guy certainly wasn't getting it himself, his intern was, but he wanted to call the intern back who was at the cabinet to have me go get it cos I was the nurse...I'm sorry but thats just plain rude and obnoxious IMO!

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