I work in a LTC facility and today I was orienting a new nurse. The physical therapist was with one of our patients and called for us to come see the patient as she thought she was feverish. I took the temperature and the patient did have a fever of almost 101. We gave her tylenol, had the doctor see her, had her resting comfortably in bed, and planned to give her tylenol again in 4-6 hours. We thought we were handling the patient all right but the PT was continually asking about her and telling us she should have more tylenol. When we said we were getting the tylenol to give her, the PT took the bottle and said that SHE would give it to her! My orientee spoke up and said no, she (not the PT) would give it to her. Then the PT said that she wasn't doing it fast enough, to which I then spoke up and said "we're the nurses." The PT then said, "I know, but I care about this patient so much" ... as if we didn't!
I appreciate other staff being concerned for the welfare of our patients, and I appreciate input from other staff when it is constructive, but I felt the PT was going too far today. Not only was she undermining my orientee and me, but I felt she was also getting the patient to lose confidence in us.
Do any of you have any ideas about this? Has a non-nursing staff tried to tell you how to do your job, and how did you handle it?
