I know this has been covered before in detail, but it bears review because it always comes up. I work on a sizable tele unit. Most of the MDs are okay; some complain and go away. Lately however, a certain cardiologist has been showing up and pitching fits, yelling at nurses, yelling at management. He'll ask to see the nurse and then stand there telling her that none of the nurses on this floor are any good, they have no idea what they're doing, that kind of stuff. He'll walk to the manager's office and with the door open so everyone can hear, yells how nurses have been in control for too long and this is going to stop now, then again with the nobody knows what they're doing. He'll demand to see documentation that certain nurses have been written up and educated, for things like calling him at 8 pm on a rhythm change.
Okay- we don't take this crap from familes, if they start raising thir voices to our nurses then security escorts them out. Everyone has to take at least a little from patients though, because of the nature of the business. But doctors? Last I checked, they're employees of the hospital too. We're not working for them. So why should we take this kind of abuse? The cardiologist in question has been written up, but so what? So have other MDs.
My question is, what's the next level? Nurses are about to start getting in his face. Managers don't know what else to do except write him up and tell us he's a "jerk." We have an HR, can they do anything? I consider this abuse, would it stand up if I took it to HR? There's no reason we should have to put up with it.
Specializes in Geriatrics, Cath Lab, Cardiology,Neuro.
Tell him I will not talk to you until you calm down and then we will talk like civilized adults (if he understands the word civlilized!) Also tell him if he doesnt like being bothered at 8pm maybe he should take up another profession because hospital doc's have to take calls at all hours!
Specializes in Geriatrics, Cath Lab, Cardiology,Neuro.
Tell him I will not talk to you until you calm down and then we will talk like civilized adults (if he understands the word civlilized!) Also tell him if he doesnt like being bothered at 8pm maybe he should take up another profession because hospital doc's have to take calls at all hours! Also this must upset patients when they hear a doctor going nutty! No wonder why these patients have EKG changes!
I would say that #1 if he thinks the nurses here are doing a bad job, then he shouldn't trust his pt's to them - perhaps he needs to move. #2, if the managers can't do anything, call security. They might not really do anything right away, but I'm sure they will have to make a report of the behavior. I absolutely would not tolerate this - I like LindaRN's ideas...hopefully someone around there has the balls to take care of the situation!!
Since we are venting about docs I'm going to vent about the other night. I have a patient who is an old heart transplant from a few years ago. She is quite sick now and vented. Patient started having periods where her HR would drop to the 50s and her BP would drop but only momentarily before normalizing. I called the SICU resident and the SICU fellow. They contacted cardiology fellow who wouldn't see patient until am. I have family at bedside freaking out and when morning comes around, the primary team rounds the resident states to the family member that "he wasn't notified". For the matter, our SICU fellow is over any resident on any primary team, period. I notified the resident who I thought I was to notify. I wanted to reach over and throttle the crap out of the resident who made the smart ass remark. He made me feel like I did nothing right. It really ****** me off and made me feel like I was incompetent. When I approached him about calling his team, he thought I was making a big deal about the boluses the residents wanted me to give but it was more about the patient's heart rate and cardiology not responding and how much of a little ass he was. They are not there at the bedside 12 straight hours.
Anyways, I was very upset that morning. I spoke with my manager who told me to ignore the resident, fine and dandy. Whatever. Just irritates me how some of these doctors think that they can get away with talking to us the way they do and it's because there are nurses who let them. And this is another reason on my list of reasons why nursing will never reach the magnitude that it deserves as a profession.
Specializes in Geriatrics, Cath Lab, Cardiology,Neuro.
What is the psychiatric code to call at your hospital/facility to get the men in the white coats down to haul his a** away? At my facility we have a code green to call when someone is out of hand psychiatrically, and when the psych team determines the person is way too much for them to handle, they will get security and the cops involved. This has been used on a couple of employees who no longer work here!
Specializes in ICU of all kinds, CVICU, Cath Lab, ER..
Okay, kids....this thread has gone crazy, off-the-wall, and seriously silly.
We are not going to camcord without permission (no matter how bad he looks, you will pay a very dear price for using a camcorder or tape recorder without explicit permission). By the way, has he uttered anything that can be perceived as a threat? I've seen a scenario that worked out the camcorder thing. Years ago, working in a unit with a night nurse who was using Demerol and everyone knew it, I complained to the DON. I was told to shut up - the hospital would get it straightened out. This thing went on and on and worsened. Someone wrote the county sheriff and informed him that the hospital wasn't doing anything....they came in, put in a video cam, told the hospital it was out of the hospital's hands. The second night they arrested her - the idiot was caught red handed on the video pulling Demerol from the glass container and substituting saline. The newspaper and television station reported it was her THIRD offense and the hospital knew all along about her drug history - and they told us to shut up!!
The next thing: no, we are consumate professionals who do NOT give the bird behind people's backs! Instead, we get even.....let's spend some quality time and use this thread for some concrete, subtle, and satisfying "even".
As always, if you choose to accept this assignment, we will be right behind you (supporting you).
I had a problem in Texas with an administrator nurse - she hired me for the CVICU unit; I moved there bag, baggage, and dogs. Then she started playing games with my schedule (reeked havoc on my higher educations classes) because I refused to buy products she sold (yes, sold) out of her office - counterfit designer bags, scrubs, etc. I wound up hiring a lawyer (cost me around $1,000 total) and would up leaving the hospital for a better job and I really got nothing satisfying (except she was fired for something else three weeks after the hospital released a letter answering my complaints) and you know they "found nothing to substantiate my charges".
I know God takes care of us and does a better job at payback than we ever could; sometimes it's hard to hand it to Him.
Okay, kids....this thread has gone crazy, off-the-wall, and seriously silly.
We are not going to camcord without permission (no matter how bad he looks, you will pay a very dear price for using a camcorder or tape recorder without explicit permission). By the way, has he uttered anything that can be perceived as a threat? I've seen a scenario that worked out the camcorder thing. Years ago, working in a unit with a night nurse who was using Demerol and everyone knew it, I complained to the DON. I was told to shut up - the hospital would get it straightened out. This thing went on and on and worsened. Someone wrote the county sheriff and informed him that the hospital wasn't doing anything....they came in, put in a video cam, told the hospital it was out of the hospital's hands. The second night they arrested her - the idiot was caught red handed on the video pulling Demerol from the glass container and substituting saline. The newspaper and television station reported it was her THIRD offense and the hospital knew all along about her drug history - and they told us to shut up!!
The next thing: no, we are consumate professionals who do NOT give the bird behind people's backs! Instead, we get even.....let's spend some quality time and use this thread for some concrete, subtle, and satisfying "even".
As always, if you choose to accept this assignment, we will be right behind you (supporting you).
I had a problem in Texas with an administrator nurse - she hired me for the CVICU unit; I moved there bag, baggage, and dogs. Then she started playing games with my schedule (reeked havoc on my higher educations classes) because I refused to buy products she sold (yes, sold) out of her office - counterfit designer bags, scrubs, etc. I wound up hiring a lawyer (cost me around $1,000 total) and would up leaving the hospital for a better job and I really got nothing satisfying (except she was fired for something else three weeks after the hospital released a letter answering my complaints) and you know they "found nothing to substantiate my charges".
I know God takes care of us and does a better job at payback than we ever could; sometimes it's hard to hand it to Him.
O
you prob. would be ok with the camcorder as long as you didnt get any patients.....it isnt the same as audio.....
"yells how nurses have been in control for too long and this is going to stop now...."
Next time he says that you need to hand him a stethoscope & say "here, you be in control for a while, Mrs. C in room 228 needs something for pain & it's med pass time, and don't forget your accuchecks"
I don't know where you are, but here doctors aren't employees of the hospitals, they have privileges granted by the hospital.
The hospital needs the doctor, he admits the patients, the doctor needs the hospital, how else can he practice?
And doctors abusing the staff came to a abrupt end when the hospital started fining the doctors $3,000.00 for every witnessed, documented complaint of verbal abuse.
I know this has been covered before in detail, but it bears review because it always comes up. I work on a sizable tele unit. Most of the MDs are okay; some complain and go away. Lately however, a certain cardiologist has been showing up and pitching fits, yelling at nurses, yelling at management. He'll ask to see the nurse and then stand there telling her that none of the nurses on this floor are any good, they have no idea what they're doing, that kind of stuff. He'll walk to the manager's office and with the door open so everyone can hear, yells how nurses have been in control for too long and this is going to stop now, then again with the nobody knows what they're doing. He'll demand to see documentation that certain nurses have been written up and educated, for things like calling him at 8 pm on a rhythm change.
Okay- we don't take this crap from familes, if they start raising thir voices to our nurses then security escorts them out. Everyone has to take at least a little from patients though, because of the nature of the business. But doctors? Last I checked, they're employees of the hospital too. We're not working for them. So why should we take this kind of abuse? The cardiologist in question has been written up, but so what? So have other MDs.
My question is, what's the next level? Nurses are about to start getting in his face. Managers don't know what else to do except write him up and tell us he's a "jerk." We have an HR, can they do anything? I consider this abuse, would it stand up if I took it to HR? There's no reason we should have to put up with it.
Your thoughts would be appreciated.
Good question. Why should you take this abuse? Why do nurses just put up with it? I've never understood how anyone can allow themselves to be yelled at.
From my experience with surgeons the nurses who take a stand, look them in the eye and calmly tell them to cut the crap get treated with far more respect than nurses who nod their head, rush around to do their bidding and put up with it.
I treat workplace bullies like naughty little children. You want to act like a spoilt child, then your going to be treated like one. If someone yells at me I tell them 'your out of line, back off until you learn to behave yourself. I then refuse to acknowledge their existence until I am treated with respect. I turn my back on them, hang up on them, and go about doing my job until they get the message. And it works. I've never been reported, fired, taken to managements office either.
Specializes in Geriatrics, Cath Lab, Cardiology,Neuro.
You and your fellow nurses should keep a notebook documentating the date, time and nature of the incident and location (ex outside a pt's room). The more in writing the better. And if management still doesnt want to hear it tell them you and your fellow nurses will get the media involved. Also find out if there were complaints from pts and their families.
You and your fellow nurses should keep a notebook documentating the date, time and nature of the incident and location (ex outside a pt's room). The more in writing the better. And if management still doesnt want to hear it tell them you and your fellow nurses will get the media involved. Also find out if there were complaints from pts and their families.
There is always camera phones to document his antics, and temper tantrums. Every one has a camera phone. JMHO and my NY $0.02.
Ya'll need some seasoned ICU/ED nurses up there to put these a-hole docs in their place...I just don't see any of this going down where I come from, we are way too independent and we don't put up with any bad behavior whether it be from staff or patients.
There was one doc who was famous for calling out nurses up on the floors but we didn't even know about it until he was asked to resign or change his behavior. We were surprised because in the ED he was always on his best nice.
WoofyMutt80
158 Posts
Tell him I will not talk to you until you calm down and then we will talk like civilized adults (if he understands the word civlilized!) Also tell him if he doesnt like being bothered at 8pm maybe he should take up another profession because hospital doc's have to take calls at all hours!