Has anyone here ever put a doctor in their place?

Nurses General Nursing

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I keep reading here that nurses are constantly walked on and berated by doctors. That doctors seem to have a God complex and see themselves as better and all omniscient as opposed to the nurses who they seem to percieve as lowly and worthless. Well, has anyone here ever stood up to a doctor thats been treating them like dirt? If so, what took place and were the consequences good or bad?

Specializes in Med-Surg.

Good for you Otessa!! Not only did you report this doctor, but you did it immediately after the confrontation ocurred so everything was still fresh in your mind. Glad to hear you didn't have to deal with his attitude again!!

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, educator.

Yes, I have put docs in their place...usually it is the residents that get uppity. On occasion we do get fiesty with an attending, but for the most part they know we know what we are doing and respect that. You do not have to put up with anything and I certainly believe in sticking up for myself.

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Specializes in ER, Teaching, HH, CM, QC, OB, LTC.

i was working a busy er on evening shift when a local md called in medical work-up orders a stable patient. (not unusual for this practice). when then pt arrived we got her to a bay & started the oders ekg, labs etc. then moved her to the hall to wait for her md. (the er md needed to keep seeing the er patients). well the doc walks in, sees the patient in the hall & asume that "the nurses have failed again to carry out even the most routine of orders". and could not even keep his pt comfortable in a bay.

i explained that the er was busy, (like he could not look aroun him for hisself. ) & that we had completed the routine work-up & as soon as we had a pt bay open up we would move his pt into it.

he very sarcasticly replyed "well, i guess i should have faith in you"

well this did me in... i stoodup so fast that the computer chair rolled about four or more feet behind me, all 4 ft 10 in of me to his 6 ft or so... & let him know that i did not appreciate his sarcasim an din the future he could see to comfort of his pt in his own office. as a busy her was not a place for stable office work-ups for his convenience. i must have looked pretty upset because everyone left the desk area.

after a quick apology he started to quietly review his lab results.

later someone let him know that my name was faith. t o this day he still calls me by my name.

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if privacy is an option try and settle differances face to face you wouldn't like to be berated by a cna even if they had a point

however if you allow some to walk over you it is an open invitation to keep up the practice

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

the majority of physicians i've worked with over the years are wonderful! there's always one or two at every hospital, though . . .

at one of the places i worked, there was a nephrologist with a reputation for being difficult -- and he was. always brusque, snapping out orders, not listening to the nursing staff, stomping around and throwing charts. one morning i came in at 0645 for my 0700 shift, and the phone was ringing off the wall. everyone was busy, so i answered it.

"this is dr. o," he snapped. "i've been consulted on dr. w's patient. i want a ua and c & s sent to the lab, and another ua kept for me on the unit. i want these 8 labs drawn, the iv fluid changed to this and d/c all of his meds until i get there. i'll see you in 45 minutes."

i wrote the verbal orders, clamped the foley and drew the blood. by now it's 0705, and i've been assigned the patient. right about then, dr. o stomped into the room and demanded "where are the lab results and the ua?"

i explained that it had been 20 minutes; this is what i've done, and he's only making 1-2 cc/hour so i don't have any urine yet. when he started to scream at me about how incompetent i was, i snapped. i dropped what i was doing, turned around and looked him up and down. then i said, "i'm sorry, dr. o. i'm sure dr. w ordered this consult just to ruin both of our days." and then, ignoring his jaw which by then was located right about the level of his waist, i turned back to what i was doing and continued without further comment.

neither of us ever apologized to the other that i can remember at this point, but from that moment on he was never less than friendly to me again. nor was he ever rude to another nurse in my presence!

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when i was on my first grad placement, another nurse paid me 5 bucks to call a doctor with his patient's INR because she was too scared of him. funny thing was, i got on brilliantly with him, and couldn't understand what she was scared of. he just had the most fantastic dry sense of humour, and i think maybe she didn't get it.

she'd go on and on about how awful he was and how scary, and all i'd be able to think of would be this doctor, standing in the middle of the ward, playing with my dog, that i brought in to visit a patient.

she'd start up about how much of a perfectionist he was, always so well-groomed, and in my mind i'd think of him on all fours talking to my dog, covered from top to bottom in dog fur.

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Specializes in ICU,ER.

~wondering if there is a physician's site asking if they have ever put a nurse in their place~

I would have to say....umm...not likely.

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I do not "put people in their place" because, well, just where would that be?

I have however, been forced to take certain people (doctors AND nurses) to task when they have treated me poorly or acted out of line. There are oh, so many good books about self-assertion and dealing with difficult people. I highly recommend anyone having trouble in this area be sure to check them out.

Deb, I would really benefit from reading a book on that- can you recommend one or two titles, either here or by PM? Thanks!

Now, my good story- this is back when I was working LDRP- I was taing care of a patient who was in to be evaluated for PIH. The Doc was not evil by any means, but could be very patronizing, demanding and difficult to work with, at times. She was going to be monitored overnight for her ever-higher BPs and we were getting a 24-hour urine on her. Dr Patronizer comes and asks how the "his" patient's urines have been dipping (looking for spilling protein and ketones). I reminded him that we were collecting a 24-hour urine for total protein & creatinine clearance and that "it was my understanding from the last Birth Committee meeting" that when a 24-hr urine is ordered, we shouldn't be dipping any small samples so as not to contaminate anything or loose part of the final urine collection. He humph'd and grumph'd for a few minutes, went away, then came back and said "Sarah, you're absolutely correct, thank you for the reminder".

Second story- I'm working on a postpartum floor at another hospital per diem, mostly 3-11 shifts. Another nurse ran some stuff by me because she was having a very difficult day with one patient that I had had the evening before. Patient was having pain control issues and the doc, basically, was treating her like she was drug seeking (hello, she had just had her #?(3rd or 4th or 5th) lady partsl delivery then topped it all off with a tubal the next day- of course she was going to have some pain!) Anyway, I heard the conversation with the nurse and him, and it did not go well. I took the patient over at 7pm. Talked to the patient, looked through the chart, then called the doc- who thought he had wrapped up the issue with the prior nurse. Presented my data, told him what we were doing for her (at that point, hot packs on her belly because he'd written an order for "no more narcotics!"), and that the plan he & the other nurse had come up with wasn't working and why, and asked right out, what are you going to do for your patient?" Got some orders, pt was happy, all was fine- oh, until the nurses who had been listening in started warning me (after the fact!) that that doc was known for making trouble.

Sure enough, I get a call the next day from my director to come meet with her. Turns out, the doctor felt I was assertive but appropriate, and told her I did a good job advocating for this patient. So why was I being written up? One of the nurses who "warned" me that the doc would likely get revenge, had herself gone to our director and told her that I was aggressive and out of line with the doctor (that's when the our director called the doc to get his side). So I was written up and given a "first and final" warning for my aggressive attitude towards a physician- except it was based on that nurse's complaint, and the fact that the doctor in question was defending me meant nothing.

I left that hospital shortly thereafter.

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Specializes in NICU, Infection Control.

I had an older RN working w/me (I was about 28 @ the time) in a CT ICU. The residents and fellows sometimes used to drive her nuts--but she gave it back as good as she got.

She was short and rotund, and @ least as old as their moms, so when she let loose, they always backed down.

My favorite story was when she was out on the floor one early morning--the residents made rounds @ 6am. One of their pet peeves was Sump tubes that weren't working, so she went around @ 5:45 and checked every blessed one of them. Not that she wasn't busy enough getting labs, getting pts ready for OR, doing I&O's!

On this morning, they got to the last customer, the sump wasn't whistling. (It had been 30 minutes prior.) The docs called her in, complained, she listened to the vent, gave them a dirty look, and turned the suction back on. She left. Went back a few minutes later, the tube was out of the pt., laying on the bed. She asked the pt if they had pulled it out. Yup, they had. She picked up the phone and paged them STAT to the room. They came back. She stood there shaking the sump tube @ them: "DID YOU DO THIS???"

That was the end of the Sump battle!

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Another story: there was a surgeon who was notoriously cranky to staff and one day it was really bad. I finally asked him (behind the nurses' station in our little break area, didn't know I had an audience) why he was in a bad mood. He said that he was "tired of nurses not even being able to do something simple like put in a foley."

Me: "Are you sure you're not talking about a medsurg floor that has students, because all of us down here (ER) can put them in blindfolded."

Him: *grumbled and muttered*

Me: "Dr. D------, I'm sorry you're in such a bad mood today but please don't take it out on us."

Not a word from him, he just grumbled some more and left the ER. After that, however, he was a lot more pleasant with us.

My audience: I didn't know an ER doc was around the corner and she heard me. When the surgeon left she stuck her head around the corner and said she heard me and I thought "Whu-oh, I'm dead". Instead she grinned and said "Thank you!!"

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When introducing myself to a sweet, slightly confused elderly female patient one day I mentioned my given name, my nick name and threw in for good measure, "or you can call me sweety, honey, or cutie." She laughed and said she'd try to remember my given name. Her doctor, who was in the room at the time, asked, "can I call you sweetie or honey, too?'"

I replied, after looking at the third finger of his left hand, " Let me call your wife and see what she thinks!"

He never attempted to call me anything but my given name after that!

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Specializes in geri, med/surg, neuro critical care.
When introducing myself to a sweet, slightly confused elderly female patient one day I mentioned my given name, my nick name and threw in for good measure, "or you can call me sweety, honey, or cutie." She laughed and said she'd try to remember my given name. Her doctor, who was in the room at the time, asked, "can I call you sweetie or honey, too?'"

I replied, after looking at the third finger of his left hand, " Let me call your wife and see what she thinks!"

He never attempted to call me anything but my given name after that!

roflmao....LOL I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!:lol2: :chuckle :roll

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