I pretend to suddenly develop a hearing problem. Sorry, what did you say " What...what, can't hear you? Can you speak up? â€
Has to be done with a straight face!
I also mimic whatever they are doing. That depends on the Dr of course. Some idiots simply haven't got a sense of humor.
Psych consults are the best. They're intimidated by medical jargon and think medical nurses are crazy anyway, so you can get away with murder sometimes. Ask them a good cardiology or metabolic D/O question or autoimmune and watch them flounder. You don't even have to know the answer.
Ask them about hearing voices and pretend you've just heard one. Did you hear that ?"
Not everyone has the bubbly, engaging, comedic, highly intelligent and self confident personality that you possess. That's okay. It's a diverse world. Don't be closed off to more reserved ways of approaching life.
I get it... kind of. I try to keep the mood light because it keeps the pace upbeat. I've never once had somebody tell me it was unprofessional. However, I don't work in a hospital setting where I interact with doctors so it is different for me. When I worked in the hospital, I was all business, but that's probably because I didn't have much time to eat lunch or go to the bathroom, let alone crack a joke.
Peeps, you surely understand the concept of catching bees with honey. When people perceive you as being open, friendly and engaging, they are far more willing to speak to you and help you. The emotional connection of levity negates negative responses. Like telling off a friend.
As long as you are confident in your ability and knowledge base, there isn't a Dr who will respond negatively. Even the grumpy ones are easily charmed with well inserted quips. It's insecure people who are afraid of Drs, hence the hesitation with banter. Being approachable through attitude and demeanor allows you to call a Dr anytime and allows you the leverage of camaraderie!
Good God, you are both doing jobs and achieving the end goal is much simpler with a convivial team approach.
Do you like working with stern, humorless Drs or friendly, approachable ones? Why do you think it would be any different for them re nurses?
You're giving a mixed message here, are you trying to annoy or charm them?
Libby, one doesn't go around for an entire shift inducing jocularity. I'm not a comedian and it isn't a Monty Python skit. These are episodic occurrences, when appropriate. We are professionals after all except my software wasn't written by Steve Jobs.
I mean should I deduce that palliative, Katie, dnp etc are humorless and unimaginative based on their responses or not confident enough to trust themselves? I don't know them and I wouldn't presume to judge them.
I've never been reported yet for any inconvenient behaviors, precisely because I have my staff work as a team and approachability is the first step to managing. I've never had to write anyone up or complain about anyone because almost everyone is amenable to the right approach.
Tell you what, I love people who take themselves too seriously though. Nothing amuses me more and I love being amused!
New member December 2016. First post: Prejudiced patients. Second post: How to annoy irritating doctors. Replies to every response. Designed to cause discord for their own amusement.
Libby, one doesn't go around for an entire shift inducing jocularity. I'm not a comedian and it isn't a Monty Python skit. These are episodic occurrences, when appropriate. We are professionals after all except my software wasn't written by Steve Jobs.
I mean should I deduce that palliative, Katie, dnp etc are humorless and unimaginative based on their responses or not confident enough to trust themselves? I don't know them and I wouldn't presume to judge them.
I've never been reported yet for any inconvenient behaviors, precisely because I have my staff work as a team and approachability is the first step to managing. I've never had to write anyone up or complain about anyone because almost everyone is amenable to the right approach.
Tell you what, I love people who take themselves too seriously though. Nothing amuses me more and I love being amused!
I'm not taking myself too seriously, my question was aimed at clarifying what you meant, annoy irritating Drs or charm them?
New member December 2016. First post: Prejudiced patients. Second post: How to annoy irritating doctors. Replies to every response. Designed to cause discord for their own amusement.
I should have read your post before jumping into the mix.
Humor has a time and place as does trolling apparently. I just don't happen to see the behavior you describe as humorous. Pretending that you can not understand or hear a provider is simply obnoxious and not conducive to caring for a patient. Calling someone over to have a word then saying "quick" is a waste of my time. I have children but I don't work with them. Maybe you haven't been called out yet but if you are truly this obnoxious at work it will happen. The hospital setting is not the place to act like a 12 yr old. I would be the provider to call you out especially in my field.
Peeps, you surely understand the concept of catching bees with honey. When people perceive you as being open, friendly and engaging, they are far more willing to speak to you and help you. The emotional connection of levity negates negative responses. Like telling off a friend.
As long as you are confident in your ability and knowledge base, there isn't a Dr who will respond negatively. Even the grumpy ones are easily charmed with well inserted quips. It's insecure people who are afraid of Drs, hence the hesitation with banter. Being approachable through attitude and demeanor allows you to call a Dr anytime and allows you the leverage of camaraderie!
Good God, you are both doing jobs and achieving the end goal is much simpler with a convivial team approach.
Do you like working with stern, humorless Drs or friendly, approachable ones? Why do you think it would be any different for them re nurses?
I'm afraid I'm with the skeptics on this one. First of all, the title of the thread uses the word "annoy". If your goal is to annoy, doesn't that imply a certain hostility - aeb the examples presented, which seem calculated to make the "joke-ee" look and feel stupid?
Not my idea of charming. It's more reminiscent of what med students refer to as being "pimped".
This kind of joking around works only between people who know each other really, really well. Even then, it can cross the line very easily. Approach with caution in the workplace, I think.
ETA: would like to know how making someone feel stupid - as in the example of the psych consult in the OP - makes someone friendlier or more approachable.
Pretending you can't hear them when on a phone call or walking away if they ask to speak with you seems like a great way to compromise patient care. We're a team here. Can you imagine if they did that to you?
I'm with the "humorless" and "unimaginative" folks here. My first thought when reading the OP was . . . patient care would be compromised with this kind of attitude.
OP is walking a thin line in my opinion. Of course I joke around at work but trying to annoy a physician on purpose while at work is not conducive to good patient care and unprofessional.
Heron, I trust no one without a sense of humor or someone who cannot take a joke, ever!! The alternative in my experience is someone who is anal and wound up and will never have your back. Inflexible rigid people are that way for a very good reason. A personality disorder. Hospital environments are ever changing, pt sxs vary and I have a license to protect. Therefore, I want calm, flexible, non obstinate, non dogmatic people who are open to suggestions and are creative around me.
I don't want people who are afraid of being wrong and then will defend that position at the expense of everyone to prove that they are right. I am interested in completing each shift optimumly, with my license intact, not worried about being stabbed in the back if something goes wrong.
I have yet to work with a shift where every situation was predictable. Using humor is a good way of evaluating personalities. Anyone who cannot laugh at themselves, I eliminate from my circle.
Life is too short to be taken seriously. Oscar Wilde, I think !
Emergent, RN
4,302 Posts
Avid reader,
Not everyone has the bubbly, engaging, comedic, highly intelligent and self confident personality that you possess. That's okay. It's a diverse world. Don't be closed off to more reserved ways of approaching life.