Just a vent

I work in the OR at a large university hospital. I was in the charge nurse role one day this week, and we round with the medical director and with the anesthesia charge every day close to the end of the day. We do this in order to provide staffing for cases that are running late. It gets very hectic at the front desk around this time, as it is usually shift change, and it is NOISY. I have a hard time hearing in the first place, so this noise makes my job all the more difficult.

The medical director was going over what the plan was for the evening. I could not hear him, and said, "I'm sorry, Dr. X, I could not hear you." His response was, "Well let me say it real slow for you." Ok, I am not a sensitive person, but this came across as an insult to me. Since it was not the time or the place to get into a battle of words, I let it go with the intentions of addressing this later.

Today, I saw Dr. X walking down the hall, called out to him and asked him for a minute of his time. Nobody else was around. I said, "You know Dr. X, I realize that in the chaos of our work, we sometimes say things that we don't mean. When I asked you to repeat yourself the other day and your response was "Let me say it real slow for you", I took that as an insult. I am sure that you didn't mean it, but I wanted to let you know that I found it offensive." I was expecting him to say, "Oh, that is not what I meant", or "Gosh, I am sorry..." Nope. He said, "Well, you took it the wrong way. It is your fault that you misinterpreted what I said. You shouldn't have done that. Do you really think so less of me?" Wow. OK, so much for gently confronting a problem! I also wanted desperately to say, "When you insult someone, at least use correct grammar. It is SLOWLY!"

Just a vent. *sigh....