If an MD shoved you...

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Okay, if, theoretically, of course, an MD shoved you, in front of a patient and the patient's family, what would you do?

Not just the fantasy answers (although, as nurses, we can be quite creative in coming up with revenge tactics wink.gif). Please evaluate what you would do as well as the possible consequences of your own actions.

If, however, you have a particularly irrisistible revenge fantasy, lay it on me!!!

Tracy,

What do you mean, like he just bumped into you? Or did he push you with his hands as if to challenge you to make a response?

On two separate occasions, in two separate units, he pushed two different nurses while having two different temper tantrums. Whew! That was a mouthful! Both were deliberate, hands-on pushing. Neither one was me. I was just lucky in not being closest when he was ticked.

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Tracy,

Write his ass up. By which I mean, document thoroughly in an incident report and make sure copies go to EVERYONE---him, hospital administrators, your manager, his boss, HR, your state nursing board and/or union if you have one, his medical licensing board....let them sweat out the very real possibility of legal action, should you be so vindictive, or rather, so righteously indignant. I'm guessing the powers-that-be would make him come to you, grovelling and apologizing, even if he didn't want to. I have had friends in similar situations, and believe me, there is nothing that HR/legal/ corporate types fear more than assault or harassment suits and/or publicity, because it can get so very expensive and is soooo bad for business. It's never a moment too soon to learn the lesson that this behavior cannot and will not be tolerated, IMO. Besides, in light of the nursing shortage, what institution can afford to have the rep for PHYSICALLY (as well as financially and emotionally) abusing their nurses?

The nurses should BOTH do as recommended above, incident reports to all etc..., but also should call the police and file a report.My fantasy would be a restraining order against the darling jerko. The abuse will go on. Who knows what he'd do behind closed doors....?

Specializes in LDRP; Education.

I agree with the incident reports, etc. My fantasy? Shove him back!!

This post has me absolutely fuming. I would not tolerate ANYONE- be them another nurse, an MD, or a volunteer at the hospital putting their hands on me in any form or fashion. I agree wholeheartedly that this was assault and battery and that your co-workers owe it to themselves to press charges. I assure you that I would do so in a heartbeat. There are too many places that employ nurses and I have too much respect for myself to let something like that slide. I wish you and your co-workers the very best of luck in dealing with this jerk.

Shannon

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"The highest reward for man's toil is not what he gets for it, but what he becomes by it."-Johan Ruskin

I agree with every suggestion above as the most professional/moral/adult etc behavior....my fantasy is to use what I've learned in kickboxing/self-defense/Steven Segal movies to kick his a**. Nurses have taken MD's crap for alot of years ...they should be careful .. VERY careful.

Heard of one similar incident on my unit. The ba***rd is just lucky it wasn't ME he put his hands on, otherwise he'd be paying for my house, my car, AND my future child's education. I'd write him up, file a police report and formal complaint of assault and battery, then take his a** to court!! He'd regret the day he ever dared lay a FINGER on me.

My fantasy? When he started to push, I'd grab his testicles in the tightest death grip I could manage (imagine the grip of a woman on an anger-fueled adrenaline rush), TWIST, and whisper in his ear in the calmest tone, 'if you don't back off RIGHT now, I will make you a EUNICH.' Ahhh..I can feel my BP going down just by typing that one... wink.gif

This is one of the differences between male and female nurses. Most females would do the proper thing, write him/her up, go to administration the police et al. which is all very good, BUT it will accomplish absolutly nothing except make YOU look bad. Personally i would take him to the report room close the door, grab his trachea and make him grovel for forgiveness,unproffesional yes, would he do it again, not if he had functioning brain cells. Than again i'm 5'11amd 220 so i serioulsly doubt a doc would try to do anything like that to begin with.if it were a female doc i'd probably do the same as everyon else posted and go the useless paper route. I actually know a Surgeon who had his hands smaked while in sugery by another md who was know for doing such things. the doc i know was the first to stand up to the other guy and the last one that needed to. I believe his quote to him was "Do that again and I'll lay your ass out right here"

Specializes in ER.

I think anyone who experiences physical or emotional abuse should write the doc up, and not be afraid to deal with them as the petulant two year old they are.

In the case of someone touching you in anger, in any way, they should immediately call the police and file a report, and damn well expect support from their fellow nurses, including their supervisor or manager.

We have a doc at our hospital that regularly has a little hissy fit and then apologizes to the nurse(s) in question. I was on the receiving end recently and as I'm standing there listening to him go off the only thing I could think of was how pathetic and childish he looked.

Don't be afraid of the docs, there is no excuse for unprofessional or abusive behavior.If anyone wants to vent or needs some moral support while going through the process of reporting or criminal charges just post here. I am sure your fellow nurses will be behind you and help you along with legalities. Right folks?

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