I don't take it, but she does, do you?

[flowerchild]

I was talking to a family member, who is also a RN, about not taking abusive verbal attacks from anybody, including people at work like Docs, pts, and family of pts. She said, she takes it b/c it's part of her job and that if she hung up on an irrate doc, etc. that she would loose her job. It's part of customer service according to her.

I thought we nurses had come further than that.

What do you do and why?

[KSEFLINK]

In today's healthcare environments, WE do not have to put up with verbal abuse. This type of rude behavior is defined as "Verbal Abuse" under most hospital's rules of conduct. Most hospitals have corrective action policies, even for the physician staff. Advocate for rules in your environment, whereby MD's get their privileges taken away for awhile, or even are asked to not admit for the rest of the year. IF the nursing staff of a hospital take a tough stance on this type of behavior, I can tell you that the message will get across to the MD staff.

How can we ever expect to be seen as valued members of the healthcare team if we take this kind of behavior? When MD's have hung up on me, I take the time to call them right back and talk to them about being professional. About 7 years back an MD threw a chart at a friend of mine and believe me that was the last time he did that in our organization, AS ALL the RN's on that shift called him on the behavior!!!

At one point in time, I even had a big plastic baby pacifier that I would quietly hand to any MD being out of order. It was an easy way of showing them that behavior of about a two or three year old was not becoming to a professional.

The best way to have the MD's not treat you like a punching bag is to develop trust with the ones you work with and make sure you demand that they treat you like the professionals you are.

When you are being verbally abused, the best way to deal with it is to stand quietly and try not to respond in kind. When the MD is done ranting and raving, I have had good luck in stating, " Are you done yet?" Sometimes that will throw them for a loop and give you an opportunity to let them know that as a professional you will not tolerate this kind of behavior. Use your chains of commands and get the upper echelons of your organizations involved immediately and if you have hospital attorneys or risk managers, let them know too. Most of the time it may only take one or two phone calls to someone higher than you to get attention drawn to the culprits that they may not like too much!!!

The time has come for us not to take the abuse anymore, as we are too busy with all of the other stuff coming at us!!!

[mistersleepy]

Best story about a rude doc I ever heard happened where I work. We used to have a surgeon who was known for outburst's, throwing things, shoving people, yelling, etc. The OR crew was afraid of him r/t the corprate culture at the time. Anyway, a travel surg tech said, "you don't have to put up with this." so when the doc got mad at her and shoved her (breaking sterility) she walked over to the phone, he said "go ahead and call your stupid manager and I will go the the dumb anger class..."Only she called 911 and had the guy arrested for assault and battery. He was taken out of the hospital in handcuffs.

He left shortly after that...

She was fired...

She won the law suit...

Doc's don't get away with that at our facility anymore...

[marc]

can you all imagine any other profession discussing how to handle verbal abuse ? LOL

Yet it surely does occur by usually 4 personality types the little man complex,primadonnas, narcicist, and out of control borderlines.

the first thing I would consider is the administration of the facility as the drama queen has certianly done this before.

The next thing I have done is try to figure out what was going on write it in objective detail leaving out personal feelings and have coworkers who saw the incident send a non emotional report of what transpired. This says alot to a medical director or administrator in this litigenous world.

3 things I have learned along the way have helped me

The book 'VERBAL JUDO " is written for law enforcement however had great techniques in responding to some one out of control.

The other is talk in staff meetings on how the team should handle this person as a team.

Finally when I have seen a MD or anyone start to rage at a coworker I place myself directly behind the coworker cross my arms and stare at the offender. This gives my cowoker a message that someone is behind them and a message to the offender that they are being watched , making a scene , and looking like a jackass. This has worked nearly every time save onse of when the MD called a ICU Rn a F***ing Idiot -- at that piont I said to her walk away and do not respond of which all of did -- he stood there in the middle of CCU looking like the idiot he was. I do have to say the abusive situations I have seen have occured only in the south -- here in NYC the MD realize if they ever did this they would be stabbed or sued . LOL LOL

Hoped this has helped

Marc

[healingtouchRN]

good point sanacruz!

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Originally posted by marc

can you all imagine any other profession discussing how to handle verbal abuse ?

Just about anyone dealing with the public has to address it. Ask any waitress, hotel desk clerk, social worker, airline worker, on and on. Americans can be the most rude and demanding people. Sometimes I wish we were more like the Thai's, such peaceful people as a society they are.

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

Or anyone in retail sales, where you get told everyday that you are replacable, and "we can fire you at anytime".

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Verbal abuse seems to be becoming more and more a part of our society People just seem to be ruder in general. 25 years ago when I started nursing, there was the rare rude visitor or irate patient; they seem to be becoming more and more prevalent, however.

In the past year, one of our travelers was physically attacked by a family member of a patient. He called the police and pressed charges. Another was hit by a physician who was wildly swinging a chart and whose first action after hitting Tom in the face with it was to march up to the charge nurse and proclaim "No matter what he says, I did NOT hit him." (He went to anger management classes . . . again.) Then there was the guy who was going to solve all of his wife's problems with "this" (wink, wink, nudge, nudge as he shows us a 9mm cartridge). He was arrested before midnight and released before 6AM, and back to visit by 8AM, still in possession of the cartridge (but not of the 9mm handgun that went with it) and his everpresent insulated mug full of Jack Daniels.

That said, you don't have to take it. No one does. As someone's Sig line states, nurses (and everyone else) will get exactly as much crap as they'll take.

Someone who is alert, oriented and mentating appropriately doesn't get any free passes in the abuse department -- and that includes peers, doctors, visitors, patients and the occaisional nurse manager. I do, however make allowances for someone who ISN'T mentating appropriately!

[Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN]

I was yelled at an insulted this week by a dialysis water treatment technician, in front of staff and pts. This jerk was even "instructing" me on pt care!

I am sorry to admit that I reacted to this person's bad behavior with bad behavior of my own- I yelled back at him and told him (in front of others) that his ego was interfering with pt care and safety. I apologized to the one pt who was coherent enough to understand the whole thing.

I did write up the incident, but seems my boss is favoring the tech's version of things.

I'm so glad I had already given my notice. If I hadn't, I would have after this incident.

Thank goodness tomorrow is my last day.

[donmurray]

Not a nurse, but a doctor's receptionist, came up with the classiest response to verbal abuse I ever witnessed. With one action, she stopped the patient in mid-tirade, informed her employer of an unsafe work environment, and directed the anger where it belonged.

Smiling sweetly at the cursing patient, she picked up the phone, rang the doctor in the middle of a consultation, and politely informed him:

"Hello, Doctor? Mrs Smith would like to know how much f***ing longer you plan to be, and which f***ing a****hole is in charge of this f***ing s***heap anyway!" and put the phone down!

[gwenith, BSN, RN]

We had an incident the other night where a relative had who had on a previous occasion been verbally abusive to staff. When he turned up again we asked him politiely to wait outside as we were attending to his relative and called the security officers who came, spoke privately to the gentleman and left. I don't know what they said but he was the MOST POLITE visitor that night:chuckle

I usually don't like posting issues at work due to privacy but this one I had to share because I wanted to say kudos to those security officers for whatever they said - it is nice to know you have backup and that it goes all the way.:)

[rebeccad]

a co worker where i used ot work told endo dr that she was not taking pt to procedure until fresh frozen plazma and other meds given as ordered(PRE procedure) he called supr told ceo to fire her and she NOT be placed anywhere else in hopsital they fired her for "insubordination" and unemployment denied her, she owrked endo 15 yrs 11 at that hospital, any comments or help I can give her, (dr is from Nigeria)!

[SmilingBluEyes]

excellent point, LPN........

IGNORE what you don't like....but on the job, you will have to be ASSERTIVE since there is no ignore button to press.

Todd, you will see a lot in your nursing career, once you graduate. Read and heed here.