Dr. told patient, "Nurses are STUPID".

[Daetwin2]

I am not easily offended and l let things roll off my back. The P.A. was making rounds the other day and walked into one of my patients room. I heard the patient ask, "A nurse came into my room at 3a.m. and put something in my IV. I have no idea what it was." The P.A. came out of the room and asked me what it was. I told him I was not sure, but I would find out and let him know. I followed that up with, I'm sure it was important if it was 3a.m. He smiled and thanked me, and walked back into the patients room. I heard him say, "you know, Nurses are stupid. They think if they are awake at 3 a.m. then you should be too." It was probably a flush to make sure the IV is still working. Anyhow, I'll find out fore sure." My mouth hit the floor. At that very moment, I remembered in report the nurse tell me the pt had a Bigeminy rhythm and he was given IV Mag, which corrected it. I quickly walked into the patients room and explained to the pt and P.A. what was given and why. The P.A. responded with a great big smile on his face, "See, I knew we would find out!" I still get pissed every time I think about it. I am a very quiet, non-confrontational person, but let me tell you....I can spit out a sarcastic comment that will make your head spin when I feel the need. I am feeling the need!

[Nursebarebari]

OMG! If that happened to me, I will bring it up in our daily huddle and my nurse manager will certainly address it with "Dr"

[Ephrata]

A hospital bully

[SharePRN]

Next time you see him, take him aside and say, "I've been thinking about it and I want to tell you that I think you were incredibly unproffessional in patient A's room the other day. When you undermine the nurse/patient relationship over petty comments that are unfounded, you actually belittle yourself in the process. If I am expected to show you respect when you say 'nurses are stupid', I think you should rise to my level and show nurses the respect they deserve!"

[312RN]

I would call that PA all night long with questions, being stupid, I am bound to have many......

[schnoodle]

If he's truly a PA, I would have taken him aside and asked him how he would have liked to hear someone say "Well, he's not really a doctor, he's only a physician's assistant!". Then I'd let him know in no uncertain terms how he undermined a patient's trust in the staff. What a moron!

[debdouc]

I appreciate Davey Do's remarks: no name calling and some clarity on the importance of introspection. The PA's behavior speaks much more about him than about the nurse. I appreciate the difficulty of the situation as well. The nurse did well to retrieve the information and to present it quickly and without attitude. This gray haired old nurse has learned that right actions require no defense and to become defensive (even if it seems appropriate to the situation) casts doubt on the rightness of the action. If the nurse believes that further action is necessary, my recommendation would be to present it without blame or attitude within the chain of command as a concern and then to let it go.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

I find it very interesting that at the same time the PA is being chastised for belittling nurses, nurses are belittling his credentials.

Obviously the PA was out of line, and I feel he should be directly confronted with it (in a professional manner): pull him aside, say "I heard what you aid in there about nurses being stupid and I feel like we should have a discussion about that". I am willing to be he would get really apologetic and probably feel pretty regretful in retrospect, and maybe, he would think twice before doing that again.

Posting here undermining his education/role is doing exactly what he did and it does nothing but show a vengeful attitude towards a teammate.

I agree that focusing on the behavior and not the title is a better way to go but . . . I still wonder why the title of this thread says that a "Dr." told a patient nurses are stupid when it was a Physician's Assistant?? Is the OP confused about who is what?

[WoundcarePhilRN]

Sometimes other folks working in health care forget the manners that their parents taught them. I have heard it for years, always someone else's fault. They complain and whine about things, talk about staff. They need to remember we are all in the same boat. I would have tore into that PA good. I'm to old to take any BS like that.

[holisticallyminded]

And PAs are less educated than ARNPs! He has to feel superior to someone I guess!

[Mary L. Grabski, BSN]

First of all, the title says: "Dr. told patient: "Nurses are stupid!" This ignorant person is NOT a "Doctor"! He is only a P.A., Physician's "assistant"which is the equivalent of an much less educated, ancillary "helper"! This is why all personnel should ALWAYS identify themselves to each patient and family, so no professional is ever demeaned so ignorantly, by anyone!

(I have actually been an occasional poster/blogger for much longer, but I can't remember how to get into my old account. Maybe I had been "Maerzie", 40+ year, 1961-2005, retired BSN,RN)

[Nurse-Arnold]

I'm sure a Dr would know why the RN came in at 03h00 to administer medication, since he would have had to prescribe it in the first place. The PA is obviously still too wet behind the ears to appreciate the multiple functions of a nurse inclusive of administering medication in a timely manner to avert complications. Needless to mention that bad mouthing other cadres in front of patients exposes a lack of confidence on his part, and in the end he was the idiot in this instance, receiving worthwhile rationale for a 3am injection in front of the same patient he'd been gossiping about nurses to!

[Freecoffee]

100% ask the PA why they said that. Dead expression, right to their face.