hello all....something happened on my shift yesterday that irked me, thought i'd have shaken it off by now, by here i am still thinking about it, so i wanted to check in here and get some feedback.
so there i am sitting at the nurses station catching up on charting, it was one of those days where i had a med to give every hour and tons of lab draws, and was time managing in such a way to stay on top of everything so i wouldn't become overwhelmed when new orders came in.
okay, so i'm sitting there charting, which to some people can look like i'm doing nothing, when i hear someone say 'hey you, this resident needs a stethoscope, go get him one". i tried to mask my look of disbelief, i'm right in the middle of something, i guess i should get used to being interrupted, but to me this was crazy. so a resident forgets his stethscope, okay thats fine. would it have been more appropriate for him to ask where he can find one himself (like, retrieve it himself) instead of finding a nurse to go fetch it.
that's how i felt; as a nurse we're pulled this way and that all day, i know i'm not a doctor, but my work is still important and needs to be done in a timely manner. i just wish.....i don't know. i feel disrespected but maybe i don't need to make it all about that. i thought to myself, 'my, they train them early'...you know, like they teach residents to just find a nurse to get them whatever they want, instead of teaching young doctors to ask where to find things themselves. would make teamwork a lot smoother. okay, feedback?
i'm still fairly new there (13 months) so i'm really trying to be likable and cooperative.
While a certain flexibility and willingness to pitch in & help are positive workplace traits in any adult professional ... don't confuse these traits with an elementary school child's ingratiating desire for the teacher to like them.
Specializes in Med-Surg/Peds/O.R./Legal/cardiology.
Well, I would have said "Well, they are in the----. Guess he better start looking for one!" Don't enable him to do this crap and think of nurses as his handmaidens! They need to learn this EARLY!
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
Now see, I'm a bit of a smart-aleck. I would have said (in fact, have said) "What kind of doctor doesn't have his own stethoscope? I would have gotten it for him after I said that, but I would have made sure the point would have been made. In my own sweet, charming way.
I don't blame you for being offended. It always surprises me when doctors don't bring their own stethoscopes to work. I won't let them use mine, and we don't have any on the unit. I guess they would be out of luck at my workplace.
hello all....something happened on my shift yesterday that irked me, thought i'd have shaken it off by now, by here i am still thinking about it, so i wanted to check in here and get some feedback.
so there i am sitting at the nurses station catching up on charting, it was one of those days where i had a med to give every hour and tons of lab draws, and was time managing in such a way to stay on top of everything so i wouldn't become overwhelmed when new orders came in.
okay, so i'm sitting there charting, which to some people can look like i'm doing nothing, when i hear someone say 'hey you, this resident needs a stethoscope, go get him one". i tried to mask my look of disbelief, i'm right in the middle of something, i guess i should get used to being interrupted, but to me this was crazy. so a resident forgets his stethscope, okay thats fine. would it have been more appropriate for him to ask where he can find one himself (like, retrieve it himself) instead of finding a nurse to go fetch it.
that's how i felt; as a nurse we're pulled this way and that all day, i know i'm not a doctor, but my work is still important and needs to be done in a timely manner. i just wish.....i don't know. i feel disrespected but maybe i don't need to make it all about that. i thought to myself, 'my, they train them early'...you know, like they teach residents to just find a nurse to get them whatever they want, instead of teaching young doctors to ask where to find things themselves. would make teamwork a lot smoother. okay, feedback?
i think i would have turned and said "gee i know that can be a bummer. i think they keep extra ones in the supply room located insert-name-of-area-here" and then turned around and resumed charting. unfortunately what has happened is my mouth opens and says "do i look like your maid?" before my brain processes said chauvinist comment and then i resume charting. lol
With a big smile: "If you say "Pretty pretty please with sugar on top", you may borrow mine. Or you check and see if any spares are hanging in the med room."
Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.
Did you turn around and say "excuse me????" and give them that look?
I had a surgeon get all testy with me one time and I looked her in the face and said "excuse me" and she toned it down a couple of notches.
And I did it with a smile.
And if I would have heard "hey you", I would have keep on charting. Your name is not "hey you". And if they woud have repeated it, then I would have turned around and said my name is afrocentricRN and turned right back around and kept on charting.
I had a similar situation happen to me. A surgeon that didn't know me very well said, "Will somebody please hook up the bovie?" I stood there, I looked him square in the eye and said, "My name is JANET. You can just call me JANET." To this day, he calls me JCMJ for Just Call Me Janet. Sometimes humor is the best medicine.
I would have been offended too in your situation. We are not "fetchers looking for treats" like a dog waiting for the cue from our masters. We are professionals and we have a job to do. I immediately feel my hackles raise (all canine like) when I am treated like you were. I would handle this by directing them to the nearest student store to buy another one, or ask them in the sweetest way possible if the ENTIRE rounding team was unprepared for patient assessments by forgetting their stethoscopes. Their lack of preparation is hardly an emergency for you.
PostOpPrincess, BSN, RN
2,211 Posts
Next time:
Simple.
"No."