Hospital bullies affect patient safety

[ShayRN]

Looks like good ole JACHO is going to step in, after 150 years of abuse. (That was sarcasm, btw.) This is an interesting article, but it is one of those "I will believe it when I see it."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25594124/

The thing I have found MOST disturbing is the place at the bottom where it asks readers if they have been abused in the healthcare system and many have replied it was NURSES who were the worst offenders. Tell me what you think.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

I work with a nurse who is notorious for refusing to give pain meds if she thinks the pt is seeking. I say if it's ordered and it's time, you can have it. I'm not going to be the one who says you can't have your meds - what if you really are in pain and are just stoic?? I would hate to have karma throw that back in my face! Sorry, I guess that's a little :offtopic:

I don't believe your comment was off topic at all. I have seen the same; nurses believing that the patient is drug-seeking. Even if they are, during the hospital stay, if everything is safe, then, they should give it.

I find this thread very interesting because it is a topic on another message board I visit. The individuals there have expressed some what a disbelieve in the article. And one, who works for the National Health Service of Great Britain, went into detail about the ability of staff and others to report abuse and have action taken on it, without fear of retrobution. She find it difficult to believe that we did not have the same type of system set up here. Or that we are abused as much as the article stated.

Go figure!

Woody:twocents:

I do believe that we are abused for the most part, by the patients, the managers, administration, physicians, and sadly, other nurses. I feel sometimes that I have to walk around with my game face to prepare for battle. The sad thing about where I work (in HHC), is that the salaries for anyone (physicians included) are not competitive, therefore, the powers that be praise any physican that hangs out with them. It should not be accepted, no matter what.

[aloha551]

I observed a senior physician throw a dirty IV bag with needle intact (back before needless systems) at a nurse and strike her because his order wasn't carried out the way he thought it should be. He wasn't even repremanded. Hows that for a bummer ?

[woody62, RN]

I observed a senior physician throw a dirty IV bag with needle intact (back before needless systems) at a nurse and strike her because his order wasn't carried out the way he thought it should be. He wasn't even repremanded. Hows that for a bummer ?

Unfortunately, we, as nurses, have tolerated the bad behavior of others for too long. I have never accepted bullying from anyone, not another nurse nor a physician, nor even a patient or his family. When verbally abused, I have allowed the person to have his say and then requested to talk to them privately. And in no uncertain terms made it extremely clear that I will not tolerate being verbally abused. In the rare cases, when I have been reported to administration, I have offered to resign, since my parents raised me never to tolerate any type of abuse. To the best of my recall, I have never had to resign because of a physician complaint nor suffered because of one. I've never suffered any physical abuse from a physician, so I do not know what I would have done, other then file a complaint with the local police.

Families are an entirely different matter. I was assaulted once by a patient's son, as I discharged him, AMA from ICU. The son was arrested and prosecuted. Most of the time, families are generally over emotional and an equally emotional response from a nurse just adds to the mix. Defusing a situation is more important then attempting to prove who is in charge.

Woody:twocents:

[snowfreeze, BSN, RN]

My first experience with a not so nice doc was with a pulmonologist who had a reputation for being verbal. I was orienting in ICU at the time and this was my first assist with a swan placement. I was methodically getting my things together and getting the flushes etc. He asked for the flushes, I didnt have them quick enough and he made a rude statement of how he could have easily done this himself. I responded with "if you dont speak to me in a more polite manner you will be doing this yourself". He appologized, I accepted and gave him a quick outline of my nursing career goals. We got along fine after that. Sometimes the docs don't actually realize how rude they are. Some will never change.