I was slapped by a doctor!

[cluelessRN81]

I honestly can't believe it myself! I just graduated from my program on May 16 of last month. I am still in orientation at a large level 1 trauma center on a busy cardiac care unit. The hospitalist is known for having a horrible temper anyway. Well, he was on a roll all shift today. One of my pts BP was all over the place all day. It became very low suddenly. I told my preceptor (still on orientation) and she said to have the MD paged. He was not happy and screamed at me over the phone. I braced myself for when he got to the floor, already getting very nervous. Well, he came up fit to be tied. He slammed the papers he was holding onto the nurses station where I was standing with the health unit coordinator. I forgot to get the pts chart out for him to look at (as he requested on the phone...my fault i know ). He asked for the chart and I said...hold on I'll have to get it for you. He turned bright red and said harshly (but not screaming) "You paged me and you're not even ready!".

And then thats when it happened -- he took his hand and hit my cheek. Now, it wasn't some soap-opera backhand where I went flying across the room or anything..but a little pop. Kinda like what a mom would do to a small child if they said a bad word or something. I was so shocked I couldn't even say anything. I just handed him the chart and he want to the pts room. The whole time I was fighting back tears. The HUC and I just exchanged looks of shock with each other! I think I am going to file a complaint tomorrow against him...and the HUC said she will back me up since she was the only one who witnessed this. I had no idea that doctors behaved this way..is this normal?? To say the least I'm dreading going back in on Wednesday. I had heard some doctor horror stories..but nothing like this -- what I consider to be assault. Am I overreacting? I don't want to be seen as a drama queen or a trouble maker being on the floor only 2 weeks in this unit . Ugh!

[S.T.A.C.E.Y, LPN]

We have a doc at work who apparently used to fly off the handle and yell at the nurses all the time. For stupid crap, for not having 5 hands to do everything at once, for not doing his job, for calling him, you name it.

Finally someone had enough, and not only wrote him up within the hospital as an incident report, but to the medical director of the entire hospital (his boss), and to the physicians licencing college for the province. Apparently shortly thereafter he reigned himself in, and now only has a stern word here or there, but no longer yells and screams as he once used to.

This doctor needs to be reported through an incident report in your hospital, with a copy of your report sent to the manager, medical director, and his licencing body for unprofessional behaviour. This should not EVER happen, not just the slap, but the yelling & screaming.

[Danish, MSN, APRN, NP]

I agree with Shelly, please file that police report. He is getting what amounts to a slap on the hand, NOT THE FACE LIKE YOU GOT!

Imagine if you had slapped a doctor without provocation, or a fellow nurse, or the phlebotomist - trust me, you would be OUT THE DOOR before the day was through.

Let me tell you a story, didn't happen to me, but I know the nurse who it happend to, this was YEARS ago. A nurse and a surgeon decided to have an affair (I know, never heard that one before!) but they decided to have sex in the OR after hours. They got caught. What happened:

Surgeon got administrative leave WITH PAY

Nurse - fired!! Period.

Surgeon, still practicing at our hospital - Nurse, left the area, have no idea.

Both accused of same offense, if the nurse was smart, she would have battled this one out, but she was "too embarrassed" and just wanted it "over with".

Don't let him get away with it. You can file a police report - if nothing else, I don't know if you have to press charges.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

Amen to that!

[suespets]

Don't be an apologist for him. Even if he touched you,like u might correct a child(lov pat?) he touched u in a negative way. he knows he can get away w/ this because it wasn't a 'soap opera' slap. That will be his story & he will stick to it. It showed every one his power over people,which was probably his main goal.

[Feathers]

I'm so sorry this happened to you. I'd be furious (actually, I AM-for you), I think my hubby would go ballistic on his orifice. I would make damn sure that this went on a permanent POLICE file that followed him around. It may be able to get swept under the rug at the facility, but the cops aren't going to care who he is. Best wishes, please keep us informed.

[NewTexasRN]

Wow, you must a be sweet person because I'm sweet too, but if you put your crusty hands on me, I might just have to drop kick him. I'm Jamaican! And NOBODY I mean NOBODY should put their hands on you! You better report this man to the POLICE. He's been allowed to get away with way too much.

[gwapalicious]

I'm sorry this happened. Why file a complaint at the hospital? Don't you think it's time to call the police and file a report?

OMG!!!:eek: That ass-crap is such a piece of ****! You should have hit him back.. you should have said... Listen d*k wad, am I a Punching bag? I've always thought that most doctors are bad tempered and think highly of themselves. I agree that you should go to the Police because he assaulted you. The law are set to believe woman (well here in NZ it is) no matter what you say is true or not. I know know.. it shouldn't be like that. Don't take sh*t from people just because they can get away with it. Even if it's your fault... No one should ever slap you in the face.

[suespets]

I'm wondering also how he treats his wife,kids?. u may be doing them a favor(record wise) as well.

[Batman24]

Please file that police report. He is an abuser who needs to be stopped. Think of the next nurse he slaps (or worse) at his next hospital...yes, if gets fired from your hospital he will move on to somewhere new.

I imagine about right now he is at home, p****d off, and taking it out on his family. Two weeks ago I reported a family to DCFS. I had an inkling of what "might" be going on and then several neighbors confirmed it. But everyone said the same thing...I don't want to call the police, I don't want to get involved..etc. Within 72 hours the little girls had been removed from the home. The father had been physically abusing both, ages 4 and 8 months.

Sometimes things happen that give us a window into someones life and we have the opportunity to do something. Please take this opportunity

and file a police report. You never know what it might reveal.

I'm with Shelley. File the police report. If he behaves like this publicly God only knows what he does behind closed doors in private. He even lied and said it was a joke. Who hits someone as a joke in the face when enraged?! No one. File the police report and let them handle it. His behavior is criminal.

[suespets]

say, what happened to the husband who beat up the other dr?

[lvnandmomx3]

I would not have left the unit until the unit manager and hr were called. Next would have been the police. This is in no way acceptable!!!!! I do not care what initial are behind any ones name they have absolutly(sp?) no right to touch any one else.

[shoegalRN, RN]

I have read all the posts and my blood is BOILING!

I'm sorry, but that doctor has NO right to lay one finger on anybody. I wish that would have been me. I wish he would have slapped me. I would have been the last person he ever slapped and that's real talk.

He got off easy in my opinion. Administrative leave with pay? You best believe I would have been getting some of that pay as well, after I would have taken him to the cleaners in a lawsuit.

Who in the hell does he think he is? I don't give a damn where he is from, this is the United States, you just don't go around slapping folks because you "feel like it".

I would have made a big stink about this. I would have called the police, filed charges, and also contacted my attorney. What is gonna happen when he goes to the next hospital? Something tells me he has done this before and nobody has checked him. He is gonna continue to do this wherever he goes, as long as he knows nothing is gonna happen to him.

I would make this doctor's professional life a living hell, I would report this incident to every governing medical board there is, so it will forever follow him wherever he goes.

[whodatnurse]

Hey guys. Thanks so much for all your support and words of advice and encouragement. I had a meeting early today at the hospital. Present were the DON, my preceptor, the unit manager, the HUC, the medical director and the physician. I filed an official complaint and the HUC has corraborated my story. I didn't file a police report -- I don't know...I've never done that and felt so weird about going that far. I just want to keep my job, keep learning, and get this all behind me. During the meeting, the doctor said he was only "joking around" with me...I couldn't believe that:no:. He did admit to hitting my face, though. Anyways, the good news is that the hospital has officially put him on "administrative leave"...the bad news -- with pay! An official decision will be reached about what to do with him on Friday when the Board of Governors of the hosptial will meet. While it's not ideal, at least its something -- and neither I nor anyone else will have to worry about working with him! Hopefully he'll get the boot altogether.

Can you elaborate a little more on his behavior during the meeting. Was he calmly trivializing the whole thing? Was he wildly defensive? Wasn't there any expression of remorse...not even a carelessly mumbled "I'm sorry"???

I'm hearing what you're saying about wanting to keep your job and put it behind you and I respect your reluctance to have what should be an exciting time in your life - embarking on a brand new career - overshadowed by such ridiculous nonsense as this. So...

Personally, I think the hospital should have a zero-tolerance policy on this sort of stuff and revoke his privileges permanently. However...let's anticipate that they come back and tell you he'll only be temporarily suspended. There are two things on which I would encourage you to stand your ground:

1. He needs to undergo some remedial course of action to minimize the possibility that this ever happens again. At a minimum - the hospital needs to require he attend diversity training. I'm not saying he'll come out with a personality overhaul...but by going he'll have no excuse to mindlessly think it's okay to slap someone and later plead "I was joking". And who knows what other workplace behaviors haven't been displayed yet that might be commonplace in his homeland but would be considered outrageous by American standards?

2. He needs to make restitution to you in the form of a formal PUBLIC apology. You were SLAPPED!!! And until you get one...the matter is not settled. Make that 100% clear.

I think these are the bare minimum essentials you'll need to be able to 'get this all behind' you should the hospital continue to grant him privileges and they're entirely reasonable for you to insist upon.