Ok, so perhaps this might be more than a wee rant...
Every July we have new ER residents, interns. It is a busy time in the summer and to have new residents coming in can be challenging, depending on how they adapt. It slows down times for disposition, as naturally they are learning and even though nurses know that this CP will have labs, IV, EKG, CXR, we have to wait for the new interns to order these. Sometimes the orders trickle in and everyone gets a bit exasperated. Sometimes the issue is not the new residents...
Sometimes it's the new third years who are high on their supposed power and control, now being the top dogs in the department. There is one who consistently talks over the attendings, ignores experienced nurses concerns regarding patients, disregards patients and is slower than a snail to boot. It is expected when a resident is new that things will take time, but the dis-respect with this person's attending and subsequent dis-respect with nurses is so frustrating. I realize we cannot change a zebra's stripes, but to know this person is in their last year and some of these issues are more prominent than ever, what is one to do?
I definitely don't want to put my neck out there to complain to their superior, as that rarely does anything but to put YOU on the radar. I know how that goes. Doctor's will look out for one another to a fault. I have seen it repeatedly. When I speak to this person about disposition of admitted patients and concerns I may have, this person actually has WALKED away from me without any acknowledgement of my concern/s. I ensure that I am tactful, respectful, and professional in my interactions, because I want the same in return. The thing is, I see this person can be professional and even nice to other nurses, so I am unsure on how to reconcile this. Other people have noticed this, as well, so I just move on and ignore this and go above to the attending for what I need for a patient. I view this person as quite arrogant and condescending, but I am puzzled as to why it is directed at some, but not at others. I know these traits are usually a cover up for their own insecurities, so I remember that in the back of my mind when I'm interacting with said person, but it gets pretty tiring. Our work environment demands so much energy and attention that I have little patience for drama or a person's own baggage.
I have been doing this a while and have great relationships with all but a few people in my environment. There are a few bad apples out there, and I certainly do not need to have great rapport with everyone, as I can do my job well with just mutual respect with coworkers. Really, we are not at work to make friends. It is work. Does it make life easier to get along well with others? Well, of course it does, but life isn't always how we want it to be. I prefer to have moments of laughter, because face it, we all need it. We work 12+ hours with each other and I strive to have great working relationships with my coworkers, including housekeeping, xray, registration, etc. Any and all are important in the flow of my day/night.
The issue is, how do you deal with those that prefer not to see you as a professional? For whatever their hangups are, how do you handle these types of people? My best coping mechanism is to treat them like I do any other person and if I don't get the intended response for patient care, I move over their head without apology. Period.
I made this comment when I was precepting the other day about procedural sedation and said "make sure you have the consent, that you physically see it." I made the comment (I am laughing now) that even though it is said they have it, you still need to see it, as it's our job to ensure since we're documenting that we have consent. I understand verbally there's consent, but documentation is key. I am not distrusting, I just know from prior experience that you verify, verify, verify. As it turned out, they did not have consent, because one doc assumed the other doc had obtained it, when neither had not... so that reinforced my habit of checking.
I have only been a nurse for a few years but remember what it was like to be new. We have just started having medical students at our hospital and I try to go out of my way to make them feel welcome and guide them, like some of the doctors treated me when I was new.
We have a couple of docs that are jerks but overwhelmingly they are nice. Our residents need to be trained that we are a team- not some hierarchy but helping each other out. I also use this approach with the many locum docs we get too.
Several of us nurses were talking about bullying the other day and thought the idea of calling the new docs "baby docs" was a form of bullying since it really is trying to kinda "put them in their place." I know I was never called a "baby nurse" when I was in school.
I have to say that at our hospital, we have computers stations outside patients rooms. If a nurse walks by while a doc is on the computer- the doc will look up with a guilty face and offer to get up and leave the station :) The docs have their own computer rooms and the computers are primarily for nurses- so we have top priority.
Ok, this is slightly off topic but I think it kind of fits here....
So when I was in my 3rd semester of nursing school, I was doing clinicals on a general med-surg floor. Well, at this hospital they have a ton of medical students all over the place. One day, this particularly arrogant medical student noticed that I had his patients chart and came to ask me a question, well right as he's about to speak he squinted at my nursing student badge and said "ugh, can you tell me where the REAL nurses are?" I just looked at him questioningly and said "I don't know, probably with the REAL doctors."
Well the attending that was over-seeing that patient overheard the exchange and later patted me on the back for being so quick-witted! Lol good times...
I have only been a nurse for a few years but remember what it was like to be new. We have just started having medical students at our hospital and I try to go out of my way to make them feel welcome and guide them, like some of the doctors treated me when I was new.
We have a couple of docs that are jerks but overwhelmingly they are nice. Our residents need to be trained that we are a team- not some hierarchy but helping each other out. I also use this approach with the many locum docs we get too.
Several of us nurses were talking about bullying the other day and thought the idea of calling the new docs "baby docs" was a form of bullying since it really is trying to kinda "put them in their place." I know I was never called a "baby nurse" when I was in school.
I have to say that at our hospital, we have computers stations outside patients rooms. If a nurse walks by while a doc is on the computer- the doc will look up with a guilty face and offer to get up and leave the station :) The docs have their own computer rooms and the computers are primarily for nurses- so we have top priority.
I was called a baby nurse all through school by residents, doctors, nurses and everyone else I came in contact with.
I typically retorted that while I was a novice, I most certainly was not a baby.
As a new grad and "novice/beginner" nurse...I cringe when I hear "baby" doc or nurse....unless you are working with actual babies and they mean "mom doc vs baby doc" or "mom nurse vs baby nurse" to identify who your patient is in OB/LDRP/Nursery situations.
We don't call anyone baby doc, nor have I heard of that. We don't call anyone baby nurse, either. New or intern, or new resident, most likely. Not all med students or interns are like this, I would say the overwhelming majority are quiet and very nice.
Baby doc, and baby nurse, are terms I've only heard used to express affection, and a need for more patience and guidance than you'd expect normally. I've never heard them as put-downs, and would be disgusted if someone started using them that way.
I do love learning, as I'm sure most of us do. I love mentoring and feel that each of us bring a different perspective or skill to the job. If each of us would remember that, we'd all be a great team. All, meaning, the medical profession. We all have our unique backgrounds and stories to which brought us about to where we are currently. We can compliment each other in those areas where others might need a hand and vice versa. We need to respect that and give each other the time, attention, and opportunity for each other. It seems most people are too self-absorbed to realize this, except the very young and very old.... hmmmm
A nurse and I were being kicked by a confused little old woman we were trying to prevent from climbing out of the bed. The resident heard us telling her to stop kicking us and he came running into the room with geodon. (Not really sure how he got it out). We didn't need it as the lady barely could kick, but it was a nice gesture because he told us he didn't want us to get hurt.
A nurse and I were being kicked by a confused little old woman we were trying to prevent from climbing out of the bed. The resident heard us telling her to stop kicking us and he came running into the room with geodon. (Not really sure how he got it out). We didn't need it as the lady barely could kick, but it was a nice gesture because he told us he didn't want us to get hurt.
Wow, that is really nice. It's a rare breed of resident to step in like that! Remember his name!
MassED do we work together? LOL I can totally relate to what you're experiencing. Except where I work ED residents do 4 years.
There are 2 particular 4th years right now who irritate me to no end. One of them once said something really disrespectful of nurses to me. My response was "OK. I'm going to walk away now." An attending overheard the conversation and said "Good idea!!" Haha! This resident has not stopped trying to kiss my butt ever since. His arrogance is unbelievable and he cannot fathom anyone disliking him (even though most of my co-workers roll their eyes behind his back every time he walks by) so he is making it his mission to get back on my good side. I cannot get over it so I have made it clear that I have little respect for him. I do what I have to, but I am in no way going to be his buddy.
Another newbie was once disrespectful of a fellow nurse. The nurse tried to bring an abnormal finding to the intern's attention and her response was "I don't care!" I had become friendly with this intern so I approached her and told her that her relationship with nurses will make or break her residency experience. I explained that if she was disrespectful to nurses we would not be "on her side" and she would not have a good experience. She actually thanked me and has gotten much more mellow.
I love most of our residents but at the end of the day, they are "visiting" our home for 4 years and then moving on, so they are kind of like our guests. They need to learn to respects their hosts.
But I have a new provider. And he orders everything in the chart. Nursing tasks..
He told me the other day to take peroxide and really 'scrub' the crusted/scabbed/dried blood off an injury. I asked him if he was interested to see what was under there, he replied with 'well ya, that's why Im telling you to go scrub it, that's a nursing task'. Nails on a chalkboard.
how weird that you should write that. There was a resident who asked a nurse to "wash the blood out." I asked "why the big fuss over getting the blood out, is there a big lac?" He said "no, we just want her to look nice when she goes home." ?? I did laugh. I am all for them not looking like some psycho from a horror movie, but washing a patients hair? Come on, now.
It was also VERY VERY busy, not even time to run and pee, so taking the time to WASH hair was a bit unacceptable.
WAheartnurse
32 Posts
I have only been a nurse for a few years but remember what it was like to be new. We have just started having medical students at our hospital and I try to go out of my way to make them feel welcome and guide them, like some of the doctors treated me when I was new.
We have a couple of docs that are jerks but overwhelmingly they are nice. Our residents need to be trained that we are a team- not some hierarchy but helping each other out. I also use this approach with the many locum docs we get too.
Several of us nurses were talking about bullying the other day and thought the idea of calling the new docs "baby docs" was a form of bullying since it really is trying to kinda "put them in their place." I know I was never called a "baby nurse" when I was in school.
I have to say that at our hospital, we have computers stations outside patients rooms. If a nurse walks by while a doc is on the computer- the doc will look up with a guilty face and offer to get up and leave the station :) The docs have their own computer rooms and the computers are primarily for nurses- so we have top priority.