I was slapped by a doctor!

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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!

I don't care how good of a DR he is, what position he holds, what he did is called assault. I would call the police on him and file charges. You know the hospital will protect him, this is WRONG. He has NO business laying a finger on you. CALL THE POLICE, file a report with the hospital, don't let him get away with this.

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Specializes in L&D!.

It is not ok for ANYONE to slap you!!! :eek:

It doesn't matter what mood the doctor was in or what type of slap it was - let me ask you this: if he had slapped you somewhere other than your cheek, would you even be questioning taking some kind of action??

Good luck!

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Specializes in CCU.

Thanks guys for the support. My preceptor had went home at 5 or I would have gone straight to her. This happened around 6 and I got off at about 1930. At first I thought this may be a cultural misunderstanding...he is from Pakistan, and I thought maybe he felt it wasn't unnormal to behave this way...but still I feel its intolerable! Now I'm thinking of all the things I wish I would have said or done and stewing!:angryfire I'll definitely be reporting it.

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It is not just assault, it is sexual harassment in my opinion. I bet you a week's wages he wouldn't do that to a man. (I'm unemployed so don't bother trying to collect if you see it.)

If it had been me I would have bawled like a baby. I have a terrible time controlling my emotions in situations like that. :bluecry1:

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.

Seriously, this kind of aggression should never be tolerated by anyone no matter what position you hold in the healthcare hierarchy. I realize that you probably couldn't act appropriately because of the shock of the incident but things like this should have not been left unresolved. The house supervisor should have been called right away and I agree that the police could have been called too.

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Specializes in CCU & CTICU.
At first I thought this may be a cultural misunderstanding...he is from Pakistan, and I thought maybe he felt it wasn't unnormal to behave this way...

That still doesn't make it ok. It's unacceptable behavior no matter what.

Keep us updated on the situation, please?

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Specializes in ob/gyn med /surg.

i would of called the police and security and pressed charges.. you have enough witnesses... that no good rotten dr.. how dare he lay his hands on you... grrrrrrrr ... lawyer up

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I am involved in a research project that links child abuse/neglect and animal abuse/neglect. This physician sounds like our latest subject. Imagine, if he feels entitled to behave this way at work how he must treat his wife, children, and family dog!

File a police report and don't let this get swept under the rug because he is a physician. This is a can of worms that just became public.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

I am sorry this happened to you. If there is an EEO office, I would consider preparing a written statement to submit to them, the medical director and all of the powers that be. And, I would get a statement as soon as I can from the witness before she is convinced to change her mind (hospitals think that doctors are God, you know).

No one is getting paid to be abused by another collague in the workplace. But what makes me uncomfortable is that it wouldn't surprize me if this is swept under the rug. Many years ago, a doctor threw hot coffee on a male orderly. The orderly proceeded to beat the crap out of him. Both of them maintained their jobs. Nothing happened to the doctor, the orderly was suspended for a few weeks without pay.

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I know hindsight is 20/20, but I would have informed him that I was calling the police to file an assault charge, and that if he ever layed a hand on me again, he would need to call one of his buddies in plastic surgery to repair his "male parts." I can't believe you kept your cool...good for you, but I would DEFINITELY report him. Sorry for the rant, but I just cannot comprehend a doctor laying a hand on a nurse...being hot-tempered once in awhile, sure, but to actually hit someone...that makes me want to spit fire! He ought to have his medical license revoked.:banghead:

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At first I thought this may be a cultural misunderstanding...he is from Pakistan, and I thought maybe he felt it wasn't unnormal to behave this way...but still I feel its intolerable!

I don't care if he's ET here from Alpha Centauri.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Home Health.

OMG, I cant believe that! That is horrible. I have never witnessed anything like that. That is NOT the norm for behavior of physicians. You need to write down every detail of the event, including dialogue between you and the doc on the phone, what led up to the incident. Leave out emotions, just state the facts. Do this before you forget any details. You need to file a report. If you do and nothing comes of it, go up the corporate ladder until someone does do something. I agree that this man probably is abusive in nature, probably toward his family if he has one. He needs to be shown that is NOT appropriate behavior. I hope he treated the patient with respect. Please let us know what happens.

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