Handling Physicians. Any suggestion?

[AlmostThere:)]

I am not going to generalize and say that all physicians are rude or inconsidereate but there are a few out there who can be mean!!!

For the first time since starting school I had an experience with a rude physician. I had drawn out my patient's meds and was double checking them with my RN. After I double checked them I was standing at the chart box and preparing to go into the room. As I was the physician walked over, grabbed the chart from me and walked away not even saying a word!!! I couldnt believe that someone could be so rude. I have been told that this physician was known for a temper and rudeness. How should I handle this situation if it arises again? I dont want to be rude myself but I dont want to be treated like that either!!

[RNgonewild]

How's about: Hey sucka, put that chart back or I'm gonna pop a cap in ya? J/K

[ebear, BSN, RN]

Tee,

You're right! They need to be taught in Med School that nurses can make their lives a living hell if necessary...

[ebear, BSN, RN]

RNgonewild,

:lol2::lol2::lol2::lol2:

[TrudyRN]

LOL, several delicious scenarios come to mind. Keep a jar of syrup handy and go drizzle it on him. Walk up to him and stuff a marshmallow in his mouth and smile. Trip him and watch him go splat. Take the chart when he drops it. Have the chart open and watch it fall apart as he grabs it. Do NOT help pick it up. "accidentally" spill something on

him - blood bag, IV, urine specimen, whatever. Hide the charts he's going to need. Don't help him hunt for them. Slather butter or whipped cream on the chart then hand it to him - gladly. Tell him that he is not allowed to grab charts away from you. Grab it back and run. Play football with it, passing it to other nurses, on the ward, as he chases you.

As for the one who introduced himself to your father - what a socially inept baboon.

I do hope you got a different doctor. A doc was once rude like this to me and my son, who had bilat ing hernias. He came in, no name tag, no introduction, flips his arrogant finger, and says, "Let me see." I said, "And who might you be''? For all I knew, he was the janitor. He looked at me and crabbily said, "I am Dr. Butthole, of course." I said I didn't know, as you're not wearing a name tag, a lab coat, nor did you introduce yourself. He shook his idiot head. At that point, my son needed to pee, I took him out and never went back.

The next doc we got was a little better, although she didn't bother to come talk to us after surgery, just airily waved her hand at us as she walked through the waiting room after operating. It's many years ago but it still rankles me. I might call and say so yet.

[Dolce, RN]

I am always nice to physicians regardless of their history of rudeness, irritability or unprofessionalism. The fact of the matter is that the nice docs outnumber the rude docs by a pretty wide margin.

However, the minute one of them is rude to me I am very steely and professional in my behavior towards them from then on out. I'm still nice and I don't hold a grudge but I will not accept unprofessional behavior towards myself because it really does affect patient care. Nurses who are scared of docs will delay calling them about declining patient status and this is a very scary thing. Physicians can only be as rude as you allow them to be.

[Asherah, BSN, RN]

LOL, several delicious scenarios come to mind. Keep a jar of syrup handy and go drizzle it on him. Walk up to him and stuff a marshmallow in his mouth and smile. Trip him and watch him go splat. Take the chart when he drops it. Have the chart open and watch it fall apart as he grabs it. Do NOT help pick it up. "accidentally" spill something on

him - blood bag, IV, urine specimen, whatever. Hide the charts he's going to need. Don't help him hunt for them. Slather butter or whipped cream on the chart then hand it to him - gladly. Tell him that he is not allowed to grab charts away from you. Grab it back and run. Play football with it, passing it to other nurses, on the ward, as he chases you.

I see the LOL that preceded these remarks, so surely I must give you the benefit of the doubt that you were indeed joking. There is definitely no need to perpetuate a level of disrespect between RNs and MDs or any other medical professionals that are involved in a team of patient care. I'm not even in the profession yet, but even I can see that behavior such as that described above is about at the level of a child in kindergarten. Revenge is never productive.

[leslymill]

WEAR GLOVES.

KID GLOVES.

Those ones made out of GOATS.

[Indy, LPN, LVN]

What'd the goats ever do to you?

[Bluehair]

We have a doctor who is known for being rude. He had been paged one night for a hgb 6.5 and a couple of other things. When you page this doctor he doesn't usually call unless you page three or four times. Well he was finally reached, orders received. Two hours later he called back from the earlier pages, so the nurse asked for some pain medication because he didn't want the doctor to get upset since he hadn't paged him again. Later on the doctor needed to be paged for another critical lab and another patient had some issues going on. He told the nurse that he had been paged countless times for not good reasons and these things could wait. When the higher ups confronted him about his behavior (because we did an incident report for his behavior) he said we called for a tylenol order. Anyway, doctors can be very mean and I am not sure why when they know we are looking out for their patient's best interest. The way I look at it is I am here for the patient and he can be angry at me all he wants I will call if I have to. Good luck!

I know they (MD's) hate it, but last I checked, my BON does not allow me to give even Tylenol without an order....

Too bad for them (the doc's). It's not like being on call is a surprise.

[Bluehair]

Tee,

You're right! They need to be taught in Med School that nurses can make their lives a living hell if necessary...

If not in med school, then while they are in residency!

[annare]

In all the specialties that I have worked I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly. I think the bad and ugly are in the minority but their bad behaviour certainly makes it seem like a larger presence. The ablility to effectively deal with inappropriate behaviour comes with experience and maintaining a high level of professionalism. It also helps if you have strong nursing management in place. I moved to a rural area 15 years ago and worked in an OR for the first time. I could not believe the level of disrespect to nurses from some of the surgeons (yelling, screaming, cursing, humiliation tactics and foul jokes). It was appalling. The most disturbing thing I witnessed was the level of tolerance not only by the nurses, but by management. Despite my efforts to conduct myself professionally, this behaviour continued to effect me. When my concerns were not addressed by my coordinator I filed a written complaint and submitted it to the medical board at the hospital. I also started filing my own incident reports. I was approached by the medical director and was presented with 2 options: the MD could personally apologize and they would counsel him or the complaint would be forwarded to a peer review committee. I opted for the apology...I wish I could have had this scene on tape! It was priceless. I am happy to report that alot of negative behaviour started toning down. I think we all need to be accountable for our actions and sometimes physicians need some help in this department. With experience and professionalism we can learn to assert ourselves in the face of physician adversity. If bad boy behaviour continues, we have the option of documenting and reporting. We are part of the healthcare team...advocating and caring for patients. We DESERVE to be treated with respect and dignity.

Annare

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[nyapa, RN]

the minute one of them is rude to me I am very steely and professional in my behavior towards them from then on out. I'm still nice and I don't hold a grudge but I will not accept unprofessional behavior towards myself because it really does affect patient care. Nurses who are scared of docs will delay calling them about declining patient status and this is a very scary thing. Physicians can only be as rude as you allow them to be.

I am in the same mind as you. If a doctor is willing to do what he did to me, then I would be more likely to ring him. Then I would record it. And make sure I told my senior and record that. And that I told the next shift and record that.

That way I cover all the staff as well as my self. I don't care if he gets upset. It may upset me that he treats me like c**p, but the patient does get care first, not his ego...