USNOUMED

Thanks for all of your replies. I believe that they are enough to gather a general consensus. I especially liked semisweetchicks analogy, since I can relate to team sports (I played college baseball and overseas for awhile), and santhony and NurseErica's posts were helpful. The Commuter, you'll always be special since you were the first to reply :-) Well, let me tell you a little about my experiences so far. I fell in love with the ICU at the end of my 3rd year, likely b/c my attending and the ICU nurses were interested in my education and seemed to enjoy what they do. I geared the remainder of my rotations toward pulmonology/ICU boarding and even did a couple sub-I's to that affect. BUT, wouldn't you know it, just when I thought I had things figured out...Anesthesiology came along and whoomp, there it is (i'm a dork by the way). So, I'm on that path now. A major reason I switched is life-style. I hope to get married and have kids some day and teach history and coach baseball somewhere along the way. I love medicine but I also dig life outside of it. So, I will be reading some of the other posts and any further replies to this one. I will let everyone know how your advice has helped (or not) since I am going back to the wards soon. Thanks again for your help, if there is anything I can ever do, let me know...I think my email is in this place somewhere!

Hi everyone, my name is Eric and I am a 4th year osteopathic medical student. I have a question regarding communication with the nursing staff in civilian hospitals. I currently am finishing my clinical rotations at a large teaching hospital that is used for 2 medical schools (1 MD, 1 DO) and I believe at a minimum of 4 nursing schools from the area. It has been my experience that the general nursing staff regards the whole of the medical students in a less than optimal light. Coming from a family of nurses, and I mean a FAMILY of nurses, it bothers me that I have difficulty getting along with some of the nurses on the staff. I am a very easy going person, I do have my beliefs that I don't compromise on, but I am not arrogant or "unapproachable." So, I decided to go to the source and I thought that this forum may be a reasonable place to start. I understand some nurses, like all people, may have bad days or in general are just cranky, but this isn't always the case. My general experience has been this: I get along well with the male nurses and all of the nursing students. The critical care nurses are great, but the general ward nurses and the ER nurses not so much (at my institution). In the hospital environment, I have observed, the rules of civilization sometimes don't apply...politeness, respect, etc. I enjoy working in the hospital however, and want to make it more enjoyable for myself and the nurses that I work with, so... My questions are: 1.) is there a general feeling of animosity toward medical students, and if so, why? 2.) what can I do to improve the relationship with the nurses I work with without compromising my dignity (i.e. not kissing up)? Thanks for taking the time to read my questions. I enjoyed reading some of your other forums!