Interns takes credit for my idea!! so unfair sometimess

[willowRN]

and at the same time I feel great to have saved the patient

Lots of time there are emergency situations at night and they have new interns covering who basically because they're new have a lot to learn still.

So when my patients are going bad I call them and tell them what to order basically labs, tests, meds, and everything. And they didn't have a clue at first until I told them. And then come their superior with them at bedside and they were like" I ordered this and this and that" and the superior was like good job.

And I was like right there, kinda feeling rotten because they just took credit for my input.

I have to deal with this the healthy way because it happens so often, i guess is the up side is the patients are saved. And that's the most important thing. I guess I just have to let go of my pride and do good for the sake of doing good I do that butI'm human I'm bound to act less divinely sometimes,

You know I gues where this is stemming from is as nurses we get so little appreciation at times.

[ckh23, BSN, RN]

Let it go.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

This happens in all professions. CEOs take credit for supposedly 'saving a company' when it was really some middle manager who came up with the strategy. Principals take credit for allegedly 'turning things around for the better' at slummy schools when it was really some schoolteacher who bestowed the bright ideas.

Based purely on anecdotes, it seems that the lower one's rank, the less likely one will be credited for any positive outcomes that they create.

[iluvivt, BSN, RN]

Of course! they may not say you helped them get it together BUT trust me they know. That will go along way in your future dealing with them and you gain credibility . You are right!....YOU did what was best for the patient and would you not want someone to do the same for you or a loved one in a similar circumstance. Nonetheless it can be frustrating but redirect your mind to the big picture and remember that because you were there someone's life was made better.

[Altra, BSN, RN]

This is the nature of working in a teaching hospital.

For your own sanity, you'll have to make peace with this fact, and incorporate it into a team approach to patient care. Otherwise you'll continually feel resentful.

Look at it this way: at the end of a 3 or 4 or 5 year residency, you will have helped to shape a good doctor, who will go out and provide great patient care. And s/he will more than likely have taught you a thing or two along the way, as well. Everybody wins.

[Double-Helix, BSN, RN]

Give the interns credit for listening to the nurse. There are a lot of doctors who wouldn't value your input at all. I think the fact that they not only listened to you, but thought your ideas were good enough to take credit for is worth letting them have the kudos.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

The resident/attending knows where they got the information from.....it's the nature of the beast.

[yuzzamatuzz]

Nursing and medicine should not be credit driven professions, they should be about the patient. It doesn't matter who came up with the ideas. You helped the patient and that is your reward. You have to let that be enough for you or you'll never be satisfied.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

If it really frosts your buns, make sure your charting reflects what occurs. "2145. 1800 Lab results returned at 2030. K+ at critical low levels (2.3), PVCs 6-8 /minute. Dr. Smith R1 notified, requested KCl 20mEq over 1 hour stat. PVCs resolved."

And I completely agree-- the other house staff and the faculty know perfectly well who saved the R1's butt. Better, he knows it, and will listen to you the next time you warn him about something important. That's why they call 'em teaching hospitals.

I will always remember with great fondness the internationally-famous surgeon who toured the new house staff every July 1 through our ICU and told them, mildly but pointedly and within our hearing, "If any of these nurses tell you to do something, you do it, and if I ever hear of you abusing one of them, you are out of my program." He said the same thing in the OR. As a result, the house staff learned to listen to us, learned a lot from us, and there were never any tantrums or thrown instruments. Ever.

[Psychcns]

You might consider becoming an APRN where you are the one writing the orders.

[Guttercat, ASN, RN]

Commuter and others are "right" in that it's the nature of the beast in any profession.

However, I'll play devil's advocate here, just for fun.

The healthcare "team" has many players. If we take an analogy such as a sports team, lets look at what happens when one player scores the winning goal: the rest of the team bum-rushes that player, lifts him or her up on their shoulders and parades them around. It doesn't matter if that teammate was the lowest ranking or the highest, he or she is going to be recognized. And if a teammate made a crucial assist in getting the ball to the right guy to score, well that teammate gets back-slaps as well.

These kudos are part of what bonds a winning team together in pursuit of a common interest.

I'm not saying we can make a direct analogy when it comes to the healthcare "team", but I think we'd all be better served to practice "congratulating" each other when appropriate. This "nurse as unsung hero" scripting has for so long been accepted and promoted within our ranks, that its been firmly grafted in as a core cultural norm and value. In threads like this, that norm is continually reaffirmed and indoctrinated.

Of course I agree that "helping the patient" is all that really matters, but helping the patient is that proverbial football kicked through the uprights. Score!

Maybe the intern in the OP's example technically kicked the ball, but without the OP holding the ball for him, well...you get the picture.

We nurses can start with ourselves. We can congratulate eachother, and (gasp) congratulate the physicians we work alongside.

Somewhere along the line I started making a point to commend physicians --when I noticed good catches, or excellent practice, or excellent patient care--it makes a difference. It makes a difference in how they view "the nurse" as well, I think. There have been times I've actually stopped docs in the hall to convey my respect, gratitude, and admiration for some point of excellence I've taken note of.

It changes the nature of the relationship.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Oh, yes, great idea! When I was a new grad in a PACU we decided to see if we could do some behavior mod on some of the anesthesiologists. Got a packet of gold notarial seals-- you know, the big round gold foil ones with about a hundred points around the edge, cheapcheap at the stationery store. Every time one of them did something really good, we'd say, "Hold it right there!" and run and get one and slap it on his/her scrub top. Soon we had no more antecubital IVs in kids, more gentle transfers, better reports ... and coffee and doughnuts getting delivered. We heard that some of them were saving their scrub tops to wear the next day so they could show off their gold stars.

Then the surgeons started to want them, hinting broadly, like, "Wasn't that a good thing I did?"

What's not to love?