How do I have more confident talking/calling doctors?

anonymurse · Feb 25, 2011

Before calling a doc, read the progress notes end to end. Also talk things over with others on your shift, particularly your charge nurse. You may find you were thinking of calling the wrong doc. You may find someone who knows the MD is already aware. Your charge nurse may want to look at the pt herself or call the nursing supervisor for more input. Not only do you need her experience, but it's vital to have your charge backing you up, especially when the final decision is to NOT call the doc.

CSO/CNAInstructor · Feb 25, 2011

First of all you need confidence. To get the confidence, you need to know what you are talking about. So make sure that you have all the important information that you would need, information about the patient/resident/client, to address the situation. Also, stop looking at the doctor as if he/she is GOD. Usually the nurse knows more of what is going on with the patient than the doctor does. Remember---they are human and that you are all part of a team to keep the patient stable and on a healing track. Look at them as your peer. So take two deep breaths, then discuss the information with the doctor as if you were discussing the situation with a peer.

Baloney Amputation, BSN, LPN, RN · Feb 25, 2011

I got the sense that the OP was NOT a native English speaker. I have that problem with nurse AND doctors I work with.
I have worked with nurse who have been in this country for 7 yyears and STILL can't get male/female pronouns right!
If you want to be respected, get rid of the HEAVY accent, and take accelerated English classes.

You can harp on your coworkers all you want about their English, but your post quoted here doesn't exactly command a lot of respect from those of us who know how to spell and properly use plural nouns.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Feb 25, 2011

I got the sense that the OP was NOT a native English speaker. I have that problem with nurse AND doctors I work with.
I have worked with nurse who have been in this country for 7 yyears and STILL can't get male/female pronouns right!
If you want to be respected, get rid of the HEAVY accent, and take accelerated English classes.

Okay, so the OP misspelled "stutter" and had a couple of errors in her post...wait, so did you. Oops!

Hey, we all do it from time to time. I know I have, and I don't usually catch them until it's too late to edit. It happens.:)

It's certainly possible that she is not a native speaker, but in my opinion, her major problem is lack of confidence, not the language barrier.

OP, you've gotten good advice. I had a nursing instructor who said "When you call a doctor, don't be stupid nurse. Have all their vitals and pertinent information in front of you when you call him/her." As you gain experience, you're going to pretty much know what it is they are going to order. Sometimes, after they have gotten to know you and respect your judgment, they will even say, "Well, what do you want to do here?" Because they know that you probably had something specific on your mind when you called. Or they might even say, "Hmm, what do you think we should try now?" Trust me, that day will come, and it will be a very good day. :nurse:

Good luck, and hang in there! Even if you don't FEEL confident, act as if you are, and they'll probably believe you!

Ruby Vee, BSN · Feb 25, 2011

i got the sense that the op was not a native english speaker. i have that problem with nurse and doctors i work with.
i have worked with nurse who have been in this country for 7 yyears and still can't get male/female pronouns right!
if you want to be respected, get rid of the heavy accent, and take accelerated english classes.

as i understand it, there are no personal pronouns in tagalog -- hence the difficulty.

if you're going to throw stones at others for their spoken english, be sure to get your written english correct.

annister · Feb 25, 2011

I agree with previous posters that you:

*will be more comfortable with it after time (doing something in the past does wonders for your ability to do it again, and probably better, in the future)

*have as much information as you may need accessible to you when you do call

*try to have an idea of what you are hoping to accomplish for your patient by calling (many times you will be much more familiar with the patient than an on call doc)

*get to a place that is as quiet as possible while you are talking

*consult your coworkers, especially your charge nurse, before calling

*don't place the MD on a pedestal, talk to him/her as a part of the healthcare team, who's ultimate goal is the same as yours (care for the pt. in the way the pt. needs care)

*be prepared not to be spoken to with the same courtesy/respect that you are extending, know that some people in any profession are just not nice, never take it personally and never let it stop you from continuing to be courteous/respectful towards the people with whom you interact.

CrystaldawnWare · Feb 25, 2011

Write everything down prior to calling the doctor. Obtain a set of vitals prior to calling and have the vitals, pts chart and the medications the pts are on right in front of you with what you're calling about written down on a piece of paper. It gets easier with time and confidence comes from experience. Hang in there and don't beat yourself up! :nurse:

CathyLew · Feb 25, 2011

Just like others said... write down what you want to say ahead of time. make sure the chart of computer chart is in front of you--since they will most likely ask for some obscure thing just to throw you off....and before you call them, in your mind take off the golden cloak or halo you think a doctor wears.

From my experience, a lot of the docs only get that @ssh0le attitude when a nurse calls on something, because they realize it is something they should have anticipated when they rounded on the person earlier that day.... so they get defensive just like anyone else under the spotlight.

and remember, even if you are right, the Dr is wrong... you have a relationship with that hospital and have to deal with him/her every day from here on in. The first time you save a doctors ass, it feels pretty good... but remember, they can do the same for you one day. It is not us vs them... even though it feels that way at first when you call and bug them about stuff.

steelydanfan · Feb 28, 2011

For some reason I studder a lot when I talk/call doctors... makes me look so ... how to do become better? I mispronounce so many things and ask them to repeat almost everything! Sometimes I almost want to ask them how spell certain meds...
oh dear, the journey of a new grad...

Never mind my 3 typing errors in my original post.... here is what I was replying to.

the misspell of "stutter", ...lack of "to" in talk/call ..

"How to do become better"

"I mispronounce so many things.."

We are almost certainly reading a post from someone who is NOT a native English speaker.

So, my original post was germane. If a new nurse to this country wants to be able to communicate, language skills are a must. And often in our most populous foreign born nurses, accent and pronunciation are problematic.

And as well with some of our medical staff.

Being able to translate into English is NOT enough, a heavy accent may undo ALL of your skills. Take a class to downplay the accent and hone your pronunciation skills.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Feb 28, 2011

Never mind my 3 typing errors in my original post.... here is what I was replying to.
the misspell of "stutter", ...lack of "to" in talk/call ..
"How to do become better"
"I mispronounce so many things.."
We are almost certainly reading a post from someone who is NOT a native English speaker.
So, my original post was germane. If a new nurse to this country wants to be able to communicate, language skills are a must. And often in our most populous foreign born nurses, accent and pronunciation are problematic.
And as well with some of our medical staff.
Being able to translate into English is NOT enough, a heavy accent may undo ALL of your skills. Take a class to downplay the accent and hone your pronunciation skills.

While I think you're letting yourself off easy for your "typos" in a post critical of another poster's language skills, I do agree in principle with some of what you've said. I had a former coworker who had tons of ICU experience. She is extremely intelligent, very insightful, sees many early signs of impending trouble that most other nurses miss. She truly uses the nursing process in a brilliant way at times. However, at the time she arrived in our unit, she had a VERY thick accent and her native language apparently has no female/male subject pronouns, so she would confuse them at times. It took a long time for her to establish credibility with the physicians. In time, however, they came to see what an amazing nurse she is. But it was a struggle. One physician, confusing her accent with stupidity, literally screamed at her in the unit. Only after being written up in a brilliantly worded incident report (I confess I helped her write it:p) did he realize who he was dealing with. Boy did he suck up after that.

Anyway, you have some valid points about foreign nurses - they will find they are taken more seriously if they work to improve their language skills, both written and verbal. But I do have a lot of respect for them. I would never have the courage to go abroad and attempt to be a nurse using my school girl French!

steelydanfan · Mar 1, 2011

I'm not letting myself off easy, I just don't equate typos to grammar mistakes. That's all.

And my opinion has not changed. Being "skilled" in a language is not simply being able to read or write it; one has to be able to "communicate'. The oral part of language skills IS the most difficult.

It does one no good if you know what you WANT to say, if you cannot ORALLY expresss it clearly.

THIS was the OP's dilemma.

As a nurse, one is ALREADY taken with a grain of salt by many MD's, a thick accent does not help; hence the OP's concerns.

Since many new English speakers were taught English by their countryman, the accent problem may never have occured to them.

If you have concerns, accent-focused classes are available.

steelydanfan · Mar 1, 2011

While I think you're letting yourself off easy for your "typos" in a post critical of another poster's language skills, I do agree in principle with some of what you've said. I had a former coworker who had tons of ICU experience. She is extremely intelligent, very insightful, sees many early signs of impending trouble that most other nurses miss. She truly uses the nursing process in a brilliant way at times. However, at the time she arrived in our unit, she had a VERY thick accent and her native language apparently has no female/male subject pronouns, so she would confuse them at times. It took a long time for her to establish credibility with the physicians. In time, however, they came to see what an amazing nurse she is. But it was a struggle. One physician, confusing her accent with stupidity, literally screamed at her in the unit. Only after being written up in a brilliantly worded incident report (I confess I helped her write it:p) did he realize who he was dealing with. Boy did he suck up after that.
Anyway, you have some valid points about foreign nurses - they will find they are taken more seriously if they work to improve their language skills, both written and verbal. But I do have a lot of respect for them. I would never have the courage to go abroad and attempt to be a nurse using my school girl French!

And I would like to point out that my post said NOTHING about intelligence or ability.