vcn1980

On the whole acting with dignity and maturity is the way to go as so many others have said. However there are occasions when we snap, for example a doc I was working with (and had done for quite a while) frequently left exam equipment in patient's rooms and seemed to expect it to be back in it's correct place next time he wanted it. After about 2 months of this I was chaperoning a physical exam he was doing on a female patient. He had finished and was walking out of the room and I called "Dr, you realise my name is not Florence?" He turned and looked at me, puzzled. "Yes, the days of nurses being doctors handmaidens are long gone. In fact, some doctors have been known to tidy up after themselves." After turning a fetching shade of red he cleared up all of his equipment and put it away. We went on to become good friends, and although I did have to endure several months of being called Florence my mini rant worked. A less than professional way to deal with grouchy docs is to do what a friend of mine once did. Following a public humiliation where the doc in question had shouted at her in the middle of the ward for something which was not her fault, she laced his coffee with furosemide - he was due in surgery shortly after. Fortunately as an observer rather than surgeon. Lastly, if you do get into a shouting match (something I avoid but as clinical lead is sometimes inevitable) make sure you are right. There is nothing better than having a consultant threaten all kinds of wrath, including having your PIN/licence taken off you and then have them come and apologise. Do not gloat, just accept the apology and move on. Ours is not a profession where it is possible to bear grudges.