How do you introduce yourself to other health care professionals?

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As a student nurse, how do you intro yourself to others especially doctors? Either on the phone or in person?

Ex. calling about pt. status or requesting an order.. etc

I'm starting med surg BTW, that's why I'm asking..

Do they usually pay attention to what you have to say or do they look down on students?

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"Hi, my name is......(your name), I'm a student nurse working with.....(preceptor) and am calling to/had a question about: report(ing) a change in pt condition/clarify an order etc. for....(Pt. name). Then explain the situation using SBAR. It is intimidating talking to a physician the first time. Nothing wrong with using a script and practicing the verbiage in your head before your call. Hope that is helpful :-)

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Specializes in Neuro, Telemetry.

First check if you can even get orders from a physician. While you are most certainly aloud to update physicians (with assessment data reviewed by your precepting RN) and ask questions, if the physician were to spout off an order, are you even aloud to take it?

My program never allowed students to take orders from physicians for liability. I believe this was a policy direct from the facilities. The danger in speaking with physicians is that they will order something and then your precepting nurse will have to call for an order clarification anyway. Which will irritate most docs because they just gave you the order. It's honestly easier to just not bother and work with your nurse only unless a doc asks you a question.

As far as what to say when you're in clinical. Give you name and make it clear you are a student nurse.

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

I said similar to what oceanblue52.

I only had trouble with one MD during my final practicum, but his reputation preceded him. He got snarky with me because I wasn't available when he returned my page...two hours later. I had a baby, and I had to go pump, and didn't take the phone off the unit. So when he snapped at me for not answering my phone, I said something like "Well I paged a couple hours ago... I eventually had to go pump for my daughter. Talking over the motor would have been awkward for both of us. Now about the issue..." My preceptor goes "My student just stood up to Dr. M!" after the call was over. It was quite empowering.

Otherwise they were fine. You want to make sure to have your ducks in a row before calling -- their VS, assessment findings and subjective data, labs, trends (e.g., a hgb of 8.1 doesn't warrant a transfusion, but if it was 12 six hours ago? That would be concerning.), pertinent medical history (the doc may not know the pt very well.), etc.

With the R in SBAR, until you get comfortable you can frame it like this: "What are your thoughts on xyz intervention? Or do you have a different idea?" Once you have the experience and solid working relationships, it gets easier.

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If we ever have concerns, we report it to our cover nurse and also tell the clinical instructor. IDK, maybe just in case their busy and they ask us to contact whoever.. it's good to know. One time my pt.'s IV line was infiltrating & my instructor had me contact the IV team. I deff agree, it can be intimidating.

MRSboots87, I agree the RN would have to clarify since we are not licensed yet, the same with passing meds - we cant give our patient meds unless our instructor is with us. Did you ever contact a HCP as a student nurse? How did you know when to contact as an licensed RN? I think it's something that they should let us practice.

ps. Most doctors are rude. I introduced myself to a pt.'s doctor and she blew me off and kinda of rolled her eyes. I didn't say anything else to her. From what I've seen in clinical they dont really do anything, it's always the nurses running around. Haha

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Thanks for that!

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Specializes in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.

Funny thing is, I probably spoke to 2-3 doctors at most in my NP and it wasn't really related to any of the patients that I was taking care of. They were just teaching me some stuff. Did the typical, hi I'm ___, I'm a ____ nursing student. Don't worry though, if you don't get much experience as student talking to the doc, you will definitely learn upon orientation as a working nurse!

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Specializes in Adult and Pediatric Vascular Access, Paramedic.

Just say Hi I am an RN student from whatever school. Also I would be careful, I don't think it is legal for a nursing student to take doctor orders verbally!

Annie

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Specializes in Emergency.
"Hi, my name is......(your name), I'm a student nurse working with.....(preceptor) and am calling to/had a question about: report(ing) a change in pt condition/clarify an order etc. for....(Pt. name). Then explain the situation using SBAR. It is intimidating talking to a physician the first time. Nothing wrong with using a script and practicing the verbiage in your head before your call. Hope that is helpful :-)

This is what we used when I was a student. I had one nurse who I was giving report to actually say, "They letting students give report now?". I don't understand how some nurses can be so moronic and easily forget that they too had to go through clinical rotations.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Critical Care.

ps. Most doctors are rude. I introduced myself to a pt.'s doctor and she blew me off and kinda of rolled her eyes. I didn't say anything else to her. From what I've seen in clinical they dont really do anything, it's always the nurses running around. Haha

I hope that's not an attitude you keep once you start working. Most doctors are definitely not rude. In my experience, doctors are there for the patients just like the nurses are, and they want to hear your concerns. However, they are busy, and have many patients to manage. When you approach a doctor, as yourself: 'can it wait? Do I have all the information about the situation? Have I tried all appropriate interventions first?' When you've gone through all of that, go up the chain of command. Did you talk to a fellow about an issue more appropriate for a resident to address? Did you interrupt rounds to notify a physician about a non-urgent manner?

Doctors are incredible, and most of them love teaching, but they are also extremely busy and have a stressful job. A good working relationship takes a while to form, but the more you prove yourself as competent and useful, the more respect you'll be given.

Also, physicians are in charge of the patient's plan. Don't think it's an easy job to sit there and think about why these labs are out of range, or what medication can be used to produce the best results with the least side effects. Nurses run around a lot, and we are the patient's eyes and ears, but when **** hits the fan, doctors run too.

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I had to give report to a doctor one time during my Critical Care rotation since my preceptor was transferring a patient from the ICU down to IMC. The doctor came in to do a surgical consult and needed to be refreshed on the patient's condition and status. Thank god I take down way more information than I perhaps need to during rounding because I was able to report exactly how much output the chest tube had drained in both the previous shift and so far in the current shift as well as the amount of time that the chest tube had been continuously bubbling. I'm not sure if the doctor was testing me or what but he had me go through all the patient information as he was reading her chart and then asked me for recommendations (which they NEVER did with students). In the end it turns out I was on the right track that the tube had created too big a hole in the chest and therefore the lung wasn't inflating...and it turns out the patient wasn't well enough for surgical correction. But that was the scariest 10 minutes (yes he was in there for that long) of my life.

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Thanks ALL for the help!

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