How do you go about handling a rude Dr.

[RN 4 U]

Hi, I am still in my first year of nursing. I have 3 more months til my year is up, and one of my biggest complaints is having to put up with rude dr. i mean, nursing is stressful by itself especially on the floor that i work, vascular/renal stepdown unit. I just recently started the nightshift as well. One day last week a doctor(resident) got smart with me when i was only doing my job and it really ticked me off. are we nurses suppose to just sit there like a sitting duck and take this kind of treatment. i was really upset, all i could do is walk off not responding to his comment and find other things that i could be doing. Of course the same dr. needed my assitance some minutes later. This happens a lot and is one of the reasons why i don't think i will be renewing my employment after my year is up. This was not in my job description nor did anyone tell me that it would be like this once i started. Where would the physician be if there were not nurses, where would the patients be, ( i hate to think) Yet we are suppose to sit there and take this type of treatment. How do you handle a rude dr. What is the best way to handle this situation? I have 3 more months of this and then, i am gone. And i have to ask myself, they wonder why there is a nursing shortage. I didnt come into this profession to be abused. How do you handle a rude dr, i would really like to hear some suggestions or advice on this topic.

[AirforceRN, RN]

In a word, no. I don't put up with crap from Dr.s or anyone else for that matter. Its not in my job description so why would I. It would help to hear more about the situation though. I found when I first started I thought that I was getting a lot of guff from the docs but in the end its just that many of them have really strange ways of going about things.

Just my 2 cents

[bakpakr]

Not a Nurse YET but... They way I plan on handling this type of situation is like I learned in the military with officers (I was enlisted). Just keep in mind they (MD's) put their pants on the exact same way we all do. So first off don't let the person or degree intimidate you. If you feel they are being rude or demeaning in any way once the patients needs are met and the job is done ask to speak to them in private. Be respectful and tell them how you feel. Just the facts and please don't let it degrade to a p*****g match. If they are unwilling or unable to see how they are treating you there is not much you can do. I have found that letting people know how you feel does for the most part work in making a bad situation better.

Just like in the military Nurses(Seargents) run the show. Nurses are where the rubber meets the road and with out the knowledge that Nurses gain by daily interaction with the patients the MD's would be lost. I once heard a senior officer tell a junior officer "Don't tick off the seargents" The same pretty much applies to the medical field for doctors, Don't tick off the Nurses. Nurses hold a great deal of power. Nurses can make or break a Doctor. Like I said be respectful and call the offending Doctor on it. I know once I am finished with school and working in a hospital I will.

[RN 4 U]

Well in that situation, the doctor was upset about basically something that was beyond my control, something another dr had failed to write in the progress notes and yet was trying to jump down my throat about something that happened 2 days ago when i was not there. But overall, in most situations the dr's are just plain rude most of the time. I don't say anything to them, I just walk away really pissed off and if i do say something they just come back with another sarcastic rude comment you know. I don't who they think they are, they put on their pants as someone mentioned one leg at a time as well, and they would be lost if it was not for the nurse taken care of their pt's. This goes on all the time and most dr do have their ways to go about certain things and they are not trying to take the time to even hear what a nurse has to say. I did not sign up for this, this makes my job even more stressful.

[TazziRN, RN]

If you're going to quit that job because of a rude doc, then you might as well get out of nursing right now. There will always be one rude one in the bunch, no matter where you work. What you need to do is make it clear that you will not tolerate it. In this case, staring him in the eye and saying "When you think you can speak to me calmly and like an adult, come find me," and walking away would have done it. Another thing to say is "Dr. A-hole, I will not tolerate being spoken to in this manner." End of story.

[fronkey bean]

No one should have to put up w/ being treated in a demeaning manner and after 13 years I refuse to any longer. I have started writting MDs up for treating me rudely, esp. if it interferes w/ pt. care ( I have had two that were so busy yelling at me for things that weren't my fault that I couldn't get an order out of them to treat what I called them for). It doesn't solve the prob. (esp. since my hosp. doesn't have a grievence process for those types of c/o) but admin. will talk to the docs and after enough c/o they will take action. I will also tell Md's directly when they are being rude. Until nurses consistantly stand up for themselves, MDs will continue to treat us badly.:flamesonb

[Michellex1013]

one experienced nurse gave me some advise when a MD was yellling or belittling.. say calmly "this conversation is not productive and I'm not going to listen to it" and walk away. let the charge nurse or NM handle it. That is in their job description and not yours. I have never had to use it, but I'm sure I will one day. Getting hung up on pisses me off the most. I usually keep calling back until I get an appropriate answer. If you call him an A-hole it's likely only going to get you wrote up. Especially if that MD is seasoned and you only have worked there for less than a year. Some hospitals have it where you can file a report against an MD especially if it affects patient care. IMO Most MD's didn't spend 4 years in Medical school with there nose in a book because they were popular and socialable. I think a lot never learned those critical social skills.

Michelle

What do you call a MD that graduated last in medical school...

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doctor

[deeDawntee, RN]

Please don't let a few arrogant jerks run you off from nursing.

I think there has been a lot of good advice already on this thread. When I was a new nurse at the hospital where I work, this one Doctor with a notorious reputation was REALLY being rude. I said "Don't talk to me like that" and the Doc hung up on me and then called me back and started yelling at me and hung up again and then called me back AGAIN and I said I would not let anyone talk to me like that and I HUNG UP ON THE DOCTOR!!!! hehehehe Wherein I promptly wrote the whole situation up. Now after working at that hospital for 6 years, you would think we were best friends.

The lesson I learned is that you teach people how they are allowed to treat you. It was EXTREMELY difficult for a while to live with the stand I have made for myself to be treated with respect, but it has ultimately payed off. Hang in there. Follow the great advice on this thread. Talk to your charge nurse before you make the call so that she/he can support you through it. I still do that if I am going to call a cranky Doctor. I'll say something like "OK everybody I'm about to call Dr X, wish me luck, if I end up bleeding, someone please perform some first aid!!" or some way to feel supported, because if he is a jerk, the other nurses will be there and will know what it is like.

Maybe you could do some role playing with somebody you feel close to there. So you felt ready to confront it when the time came.

You CAN do this!!! This is your next hurdle, look how far you have come already. Don't let some jerks take away the joy you should be experiencing at this point in your career!!!!

:yeah:

You can do it!! Remember: Be Respectful, Stay Calm and never ever stoop to their level.!!!

[Wise Woman RN]

I have found that when anyone is shouting or yelling at me that an effective way to defuse the situation is to ask, "are you upset at me personally or are you upset at the situation?" This question has helped with co-workers, patients, and docs.. helps to clarify what the problem is, and takes the onus off of you...

[RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN]

Not a Nurse YET but... They way I plan on handling this type of situation is like I learned in the military with officers (I was enlisted). Just keep in mind they (MD's) put their pants on the exact same way we all do. So first off don't let the person or degree intimidate you. If you feel they are being rude or demeaning in any way once the patients needs are met and the job is done ask to speak to them in private. Be respectful and tell them how you feel. Just the facts and please don't let it degrade to a p*****g match. If they are unwilling or unable to see how they are treating you there is not much you can do. I have found that letting people know how you feel does for the most part work in making a bad situation better.

Just like in the military Nurses(Seargents) run the show. Nurses are where the rubber meets the road and with out the knowledge that Nurses gain by daily interaction with the patients the MD's would be lost. I once heard a senior officer tell a junior officer "Don't tick off the seargents" The same pretty much applies to the medical field for doctors, Don't tick off the Nurses. Nurses hold a great deal of power. Nurses can make or break a Doctor. Like I said be respectful and call the offending Doctor on it. I know once I am finished with school and working in a hospital I will.

I too am not a nurse yet, but have encountered very nasty folks wehre I work and at clinicals. 99% of the time, asking them to lower their voice and/or ask to speak with them in private solved the issue. You really have to have a backbone. Also, I see many nurses (especially older) in that floor-give up their seat instantly for the doctors (and accept the abuse from them too). Also, I see plenty of "chart-snatching"......where they come up grab the chart off the nurses hand and don't even say excuse me. Or, they take out all the charts and leave them randomly everywhere. For some odd reason nurses are supposed to walk behind them and put everything back where it belongs

Part of the problem lies with those "old school" thinking nurses/healthcare workers who accept the abuse and don't stand up for themselves. I have seen a few who will not tolerate any BS from the MD's and they know it.

I may be wrong-but this my mere observation so far.

Good luck in your job, but if it doesn't change......definitely look for another one.

[deeDawntee, RN]

I have found that when anyone is shouting or yelling at me that an effective way to defuse the situation is to ask, "are you upset at me personally or are you upset at the situation?" This question has helped with co-workers, patients, and docs.. helps to clarify what the problem is, and takes the onus off of you...

Brilliant!

:bow:

[FireStarterRN, BSN, RN]

We have one hospitalist who is known for picking on nurses. I turned to him one day in a friendly moment and said" Dr H, I hear that you're sometimes pretty difficult sometimes, I hope you never do that with me"

He smiled and said "Oh I'd never do that with you, you look like you wouldn't take any crap". I was surprised because I don't consider myself particularly assertive. I make a point of always being personal with Dr H, asking him how his latest hobbies are going, acting very happy to see him and treating him like a another interesting person.

My point is that bullies pick on easy targets, and also it never hurts to treat doctors like interesting people. Maybe because of my age I can pull this off (50), but with that doctor it's the sweet, unassertive nurses who get picked on.