New nurse scared to talk to doctors!!

gwenith, BSN, RN · Sep 4, 2005

Imagine them in the toilet. No really! They are human too and imagining that person doing something ordinary will bring that home. If you really, though want to get the image of a ordinary person into your mind and ever have a chance to, talk to their kids:p

I know a few MD's whose kids have a very everyday picture of thier parent which usually includes words like "nerd" "so yesterday" and even "embarrassing":p

cparrish · Sep 4, 2005

Thanks for the advice and I will try to remember that when I talk to them. I guess it will just take time. I know that I will have to build my confidence and I guess that will go with experience.

zaggar · Sep 5, 2005

They are getting paid to be interrupted. They are there to speak to you.

Unless you show up at work drunk, you wont say something "totally stupid". If they ask you a question and you don't know the answer, say "I don't know, how do I find out?"

hrtprncss · Sep 5, 2005

it just comes with time, you get comfortable with a certain ''unapproachable'' doctor and he becomes at ease with you, once a senior attending is able to see that you're a competent nurse that would take care of his/her patient and would not put that patient under any danger then everything gets easier, even if it does mean paging them at 3am in the morning. same goes with nurses attitudes towards new residents. seasoned nurses tend to not ''trust'' a new resident, until he/she is able to function well in their setting then it becomes very collaborative.

GrnHonu99, RN · Sep 5, 2005

I agree, some MDs can be intimidating. Just be confident in your abilities, if you dont know something make note of it and guarenteed next time you will know! A girl in my clincial had a great idea. she carries around a little tiny note book and everytime she has a question or learns something new she jots it down...then when she gets home she looks it up on and researches it...i think i may have to try that:)

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Sep 7, 2005

Like any other procedure you would perform, you prepare yourself. Before calling a doctor make sure you have the patient's chart and medication sheet in front of you. Anticipate what kinds of questions the doctor is going to ask of you and be prepared with the answers or be able to find the answer in the chart in front of you. Be prepared to state your reasons for calling him. Always call the doctor with a purpose in mind (to notify him of the patient's condition or that you are seeking a specific order for something).

If you have all your ducks in a row as I listed above, you won't look stupid. I suspect that you are also worried about being yelled at. You can also be prepared for that as well. I've been a nurse for many years and I know that some doctors have a reputation among the nurses for being nasty when you call them. Have a response ready in case the doctor lashes out at you and write it down on your paper before you call him. "I called because your patient asked me to." "I called because I thought you would want to know this information." "I thought you would want to know this about your patient and I resent you yelling at me." "You're rude." That way, if you do get blasted, you'll have your response in front of you and you just have to read it off the paper. And, don't worry. Unlike the doctors on TV, they can't get you fired for doing your job.

You know the nice thing about making phone calls to doctors? Unless the doctor specifically comes in looking for cparrish who called him, he's not going to know who you are. Although, my years of experience taught me that it is a good idea to develop a relationship with doctors. If they can put a face to a name they are less likely to give you a hard time when you call them and are more inclined to take the time to explain their thinking to you. The smart docs know that taking the time to cultivate good relationships with not only their office nurses, but the regular hospital nurses as well pays off in spades. For instance, I knew which doctors absolutely wanted me to pick up the phone and notify them for just about anything and which ones would let me wait until 6am to wake them up. I worked in teaching hospitals for many years, and you know what? Medical students and a lot of first year residents and interns were scared to death that the nurses would think they were stupid!!! We all start out at the beginning.

New CCU RN · Sep 7, 2005

They are just people too... don't be afraid. Your preceptor is doing the right thing by having you practice - the more you practice, the more comfortable you will get with it.

I agree with having everything in front of you - chart, labs, I&O's added up, etc.

Also - be sure you verify you are calling the right on call person - :uhoh3: I know this may sound silly - but I have seen many nurses not verify who they are paging at 3 am and just go off who the previous nurse said to call - bad plan.

Good luck with it th ough - and you will learn in time - they are just people too - they will get to know that you are a good, caring nurse - and it will get easier.

dawn1rhino · Sep 7, 2005

i'm a new nurse (3 months) i am working 7p-7a on a med-surg and i was at first very hestitant to call a md. i have quickly adjusted my attitude to "oh well" - as in oh well if the md is asleep, oh well if the md is mean, rude, patronizing, etc... my patient's health relies on me making that call. so, this is the scenario that i have become comfortable with:

"dr xx, my name is xx, i'm calling from xx hospital about xx patient in room ##, are you familiar with this patient?"

what i've come to find is more than 50% of the time the answer is no. for some reason that makes me feel better to know that i actually know more than the md does about the pt in question making my input very valuable. now i feel much more like a part of the patient care team and not just a new, dumb nurse waking up the md. :)

hope this helps with you as well.

my grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness... - ii corinthians 12:9

hipab4hands · Sep 7, 2005

Thanks for the advice and I will try to remember that when I talk to them. I guess it will just take time. I know that I will have to build my confidence and I guess that will go with experience.

After 15 years of nursing, I still get nervous, when I have to page a dr. I try to make sure that I have all the needed info in front of me, and I even do a little dry run through on how I'm going to present the pt to the dr.

I'm getting onry in my old age, and no longer tolerate rude/intimidating behavior from the docs. Last week, I had one of the on call docs start yelling at me. I let him rant without making any comments. When he didn't hear me saying anything , he asked me if I was still on the line. My reply to him, " I'm sorry, were you talking to me? If so , then you need to repeat those comments, in calm voice. The doc told me never mind, and then hung up.

dlhommer · Sep 7, 2005

i'm a new nurse (3 months) i am working 7p-7a on a med-surg and i was at first very hestitant to call a md. i have quickly adjusted my attitude to "oh well" - as in oh well if the md is asleep, oh well if the md is mean, rude, patronizing, etc... my patient's health relies on me making that call. so, this is the scenario that i have become comfortable with:
"dr xx, my name is xx, i'm calling from xx hospital about xx patient in room ##, are you familiar with this patient?"
what i've come to find is more than 50% of the time the answer is no. for some reason that makes me feel better to know that i actually know more than the md does about the pt in question making my input very valuable. now i feel much more like a part of the patient care team and not just a new, dumb nurse waking up the md. :)
hope this helps with you as well.
my grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness... - ii corinthians 12:9

that is very good advice. i actually recently called a md in the middle of the night for pain med orders and after i spouted off the name etc he stopped me in my tracks and said "you'll have to help me out with a little history on this patient as i am not familar with their case at all...... from now on i think i will double check to make sure that they are familar with the patient first....it made me scramble a bit because it was the first night i had taken care of the patient too...

cparrish · Sep 8, 2005

Thanks everyone with all the great advice and I hope in that in time and with more experience my "new nurse jitters" will get better.

Thanks again,

cparrish