OOHHHH The Arrogance of Some Doctors!!!

UTRN2005 · Jul 19, 2005

During my OB rotation I had an MD ask me to answer his cell phone during a delivery. So while I do think this is incredibly rude and disrespectful it doesn't surprise me.

RNnL&D · Jul 19, 2005

I think it was inappropriate timing, especially since most cell phones have caller id, if not voice mail.

LydiaNN · Jul 19, 2005

I think it goes beyond arrogance and crosses over to incompetence. Back in the days before cell phones, office staff had to answer the doctor's private line and let him know if there was an emergency. And routine calls, which in all probability is what these were, just had to wait. Imagine that. I'd recommend to your friend that she consider shopping around for a new OB/GYN. This guy doesn't sound like he's going to have much of a bedside manner. There are plenty of good docs out there!

SmilingBluEyes · Jul 19, 2005

Like others on your other thread answered, it should be reported. This person may lose insurance coverage over callous, incompetent care such as this. I think it's unforgiveable.

judyblueeyes · Jul 19, 2005

Well, it's not just Docs.... My friend gave me a one hour massage coupon recently.

During the massage, the therapist not only answered the phone but spent the next 10 minutes discussing why the caller might have gotten a fever following her massage while half-heartedly performing my massage.

THEN, she took another 5 minute call to schedule an appointment with some guy who wanted a 2 1/2 (!) hour massage session.

This woman was either killing me with her evil-deep-tissue-fingers (after I told her she was too rough) or placating me while on the phone. I didn't even complain because I wan't sure where to start- too rough, too soft (while on the phone), and the place didn't look very clean and was piled with junk. Plus the table was broken.

BETSRN · Jul 19, 2005

I think it goes beyond arrogance and crosses over to incompetence. Back in the days before cell phones, office staff had to answer the doctor's private line and let him know if there was an emergency. And routine calls, which in all probability is what these were, just had to wait. Imagine that. I'd recommend to your friend that she consider shopping around for a new OB/GYN. This guy doesn't sound like he's going to have much of a bedside manner. There are plenty of good docs out there!

I would change doctors and tell the guy just WHY you are leaving his practice.

Peaches N L&D · Jul 20, 2005

I would change doctors and tell the guy just WHY you are leaving his practice.

Yeah! he needs to know, Hopefully that would put things into perspective for him.

MarySunshine · Jul 20, 2005

Wow, Judy, that's really terrible. I've worked in customer service a long time, so I can be very sympathetic to the people working where I'm a customer, but I HATE unprofessionalism.

Peaches N L&D · Jul 31, 2005

Well talking about Arrogance, I am very disgruntled about what happened to me yesterday......It started out to be a busy day with 5 RN's scheduled and only 2 showing up, because the other 3 had their own crisis happening in their lives....the night crew decided to stay and help out . I had 2 laboring pt's one of whom was deaf/mute and in pain with no real way to express herself (I gave her stadol/phenergan sivp) which did not help her at all and explaining the epidural to her was quite an experience I would not like to visit in the near future, anyway while I was boulusing her for the epidural, my other pt was having deccels from 150's to 70's & 80's lasting 50-60sec, I turned off the pitocin gave her O2 and the whole bit, alerted the MD to come and assess the strip......The Dr. came and agreed it was a nonreassuring strip, but wanted to keep the pit off and then restart it once the baby recovered. A short while later I restarted the pitocin and the baby started to have varriable deccels occuring after the ctxs, so I called the Dr. to make him aware of the deccels occuring after the ctxs, as I was talking to him the FHT'S went down to the 60's he then called a stat c/s.

I had a lot of help from my co-workers and we were working quickly(in the mean time I'm thinking my poor deaf/mute pt is dying of pain and I hope this decceling baby is Ok!)So anyway the Dr comes in and starts screaming those are not late deccels they are varriables! I could not belive he was worrying about what kind of deccels they were when the FHT'S were down to the 70's and had not recovered, so I screamed back that is not the point! the baby is down and it needs to come out!, then he say's oh yes it is you need to take a fetal monitoring class and educate yourself!(me who is certified in fetal monitoring), so I said we don't need to talk about this right now!, he said you don't tell me when and where to talk! and I just shouted whatever!, he shouted young lady don't give me any attitude! and I decided I would just shut up so he could get the damn baby out.....Baby came out 9/9 apgar(Thank God!).

I was furious for several hrs and the Dr. had the nerves to come to me later that day to tell me if I want a Dr to respect me I have to show some respect not even his kids say whatever to him and that the next time he will right me up..............................The arrogance is killing me I am still furious :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire

BETSRN · Jul 31, 2005

Well talking about Arrogance, I am very disgruntled about what happened to me yesterday......It started out to be a busy day with 5 RN's scheduled and only 2 showing up, because the other 3 had their own crisis happening in their lives....the night crew decided to stay and help out . I had 2 laboring pt's one of whom was deaf/mute and in pain with no real way to express herself (I gave her stadol/phenergan sivp) which did not help her at all and explaining the epidural to her was quite an experience I would not like to visit in the near future, anyway while I was boulusing her for the epidural, my other pt was having deccels from 150's to 70's & 80's lasting 50-60sec, I turned off the pitocin gave her O2 and the whole bit, alerted the MD to come and assess the strip......The Dr. came and agreed it was a nonreassuring strip, but wanted to keep the pit off and then restart it once the baby recovered. A short while later I restarted the pitocin and the baby started to have varriable deccels occuring after the ctxs, so I called the Dr. to make him aware of the deccels occuring after the ctxs, as I was talking to him the FHT'S went down to the 60's he then called a stat c/s.
I had a lot of help from my co-workers and we were working quickly(in the mean time I'm thinking my poor deaf/mute pt is dying of pain and I hope this decceling baby is Ok!)So anyway the Dr comes in and starts screaming those are not late deccels they are varriables! I could not belive he was worrying about what kind of deccels they were when the FHT'S were down to the 70's and had not recovered, so I screamed back that is not the point! the baby is down and it needs to come out!, then he say's oh yes it is you need to take a fetal monitoring class and educate yourself!(me who is certified in fetal monitoring), so I said we don't need to talk about this right now!, he said you don't tell me when and where to talk! and I just shouted whatever!, he shouted young lady don't give me any attitude! and I decided I would just shut up so he could get the damn baby out.....Baby came out 9/9 apgar(Thank God!).
I was furious for several hrs and the Dr. had the nerves to come to me later that day to tell me if I want a Dr to respect me I have to show some respect not even his kids say whatever to him and that the next time he will right me up..............................The arrogance is killing me I am still furious :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire

You were advocating for the baby, which is our job. I think I would not have even answered the guy back the first time. I would write up the entire incident just as it happened (without emotion) and exactly what the doctor said to you, and just give a copy of it to your manager. It is best just to have that type of confrontation on record. You don't have to go anywhere with it. That way, if this guy tries to give you any grief about it later, you can just calmly say that your manager has a copy of what happened. Chances are, that will stop him right there.

By the way, if decels that look like lates go away with position changes, etc., they were never lates at all, but variables. I also hope you did not "shout" at him as you indicate. That behavior would make you as unprofessional as he was. Just keeping your cool is far better than appeaering to lose it. I kow you were uncomfprtable with the strip, but when one starts a shouting match, it just makes things worse.

Bottom line is that you shouod always conduct yourself in a professional manner so that the doc has nothing whatsoever to "write you up" about. I know hindsight is always 20/20 but the professionalism will get you through.

I had a doc pull that with me several years ago (I was advocating for the patient and I was right about what I did). He tried to dress me down but I stood my ground. I wrote him up (he had been written up several other times by other nurses). He tried to not allow me to take care of his patients (docs can't mandate that). He tried everything but it didn't work. I just acted totally professional with him. It got so that he would not even look at me. It was kind of funny. Anyway, he ended up leaving our facility which was good for all of us. He went back into the military. They can have him.

The point was, he knew he was done for at our place because no one (including his medical colleagues) would support him and all his arrogance. Just stick to your guns. You did the right thing in advocating for your patients. Just keep it on a very professional level.

Peaches N L&D · Jul 31, 2005

You were advocating for the baby, which is our job. I think I would not have even answered the guy back the first time. I would write up the entire incident just as it happened (without emotion) and exactly what the doctor said to you, and just give a copy of it to your manager. It is best just to have that type of confrontation on record. You don't have to go anywhere with it. That way, if this guy tries to give you any grief about it later, you can just calmly say that your manager has a copy of what happened. Chances are, that will stop him right there.
By the way, if decels that look like lates go away with position changes, etc., they were never lates at all, but variables. I also hope you did not "shout" at him as you indicate. That behavior would make you as unprofessional as he was. Just keeping your cool is far better than appeaering to lose it. I kow you were uncomfprtable with the strip, but when one starts a shouting match, it just makes things worse.
Bottom line is that you shouod always conduct yourself in a professional manner so that the doc has nothing whatsoever to "write you up" about. I know hindsight is always 20/20 but the professionalism will get you through.
I had a doc pull that with me several years ago (I was advocating for the patient and I was right about what I did). He tried to dress me down but I stood my ground. I wrote him up (he had been written up several other times by other nurses). He tried to not allow me to take care of his patients (docs can't mandate that). He tried everything but it didn't work. I just acted totally professional with him. It got so that he would not even look at me. It was kind of funny. Anyway, he ended up leaving our facility which was good for all of us. He went back into the military. They can have him.
The point was, he knew he was done for at our place because no one (including his medical colleagues) would support him and all his arrogance. Just stick to your guns. You did the right thing in advocating for your patients. Just keep it on a very professional level.

Thank you BetsRN I appreciate all that you have said ITA....Thank you. I do plan to speak with him to let hm know I am sorry if he felt I was disrespecting him, but he was not exactly being professional himself.