"A monkey can be trained to do what you nurses do"

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yes. that is exactly what i heard a cardiologist tell a cath lab nurse when i took a patient having an acute MI to the cath lab. i was completely and utterly floored by his comment. apparently the room was not prepared to receive the patient and the doc had a fit. one nurse looked like she was near tears. another just walked out. we all were in front of the patient so i think the nurses did not want to confront the doc right there at that moment. when he was out the patients view he slammed down the charts and slammed doors. i coudn't believe the behavior. i know some docs can be nasty, but i just can't see myself putting up with such humiliation. people do what you allow them to and apparently this doc hasn't run across the right nurse yet. if a monkey can do what nurses do, then why isn't he doing it? i mentioned the incidence to my nursing sup. and she was angry and promised to look into it. since i only work ED i felt uncomfortable getting directly involved. how have you guys dealt with situations like this?

Generally, I calm down after this sort of scenario and then confront the doctor in private. I also document who was there during the incident and what kind of conversation I had with the doc.

Is this behavior common? Is the guy a megalomaniac, on drugs, sleep-deprived, hating his profession (oh, yes, some do and dump all over nursing).

I am glad you got involved and reported it to the supervisor. If the patient complains, (some do), you will have corrobaration. Patients are more powerful than nsg.

Sounds like the guy loves to belittle. Do not let him. Hand it back in a very professional way and out of view/hearing of patients.

Francine-Anne

:angryfire
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Specializes in MICU, neuro, orthotrauma.
I guess I could be acused of not having a sense of humor, but to me the whole use of the term 'a monkey could be taught to .....' whatever...is demeaning to the individual and I find it insulting.

Perhaps I'm being oversensitive, since I first heard the term from BSN proponents touting their superior professional education over the 'monkey skill' tasks of less educated nurses.

are you joking? they take some extra management classes and some liberal arts classes! how the hell do you jump to an ADN monkey conclusion from art history 101 and nursing statistics?

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ok now it's not necessary to put down the BSN education. They take more than art history and management. The point is that the monkey comment is insulting to ANYONE, regardless of MD, DO, RN,LPN or whatever.

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Specializes in MICU, neuro, orthotrauma.
ok now it's not necessary to put down the BSN education. They take more than art history and management. The point is that the monkey comment is insulting to ANYONE, regardless of MD, DO, RN,LPN or whatever.

how am i putting it down? can you discuss the differences between BSN and ADN, if not for more liberal arts coursework, management and nursing statistics?

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Specializes in ICU,acute respiratory care..

whoever said about monkey business?:rolleyes: then let the monkey serve the monkeys.:coollook: :rotfl:

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Specializes in ER/Trauma.
Last night;

nurse: "doctor the patients pressure is 76/30"..

doctor: (In a condescending tone...)"Do you have the blood pressure cuff on right? is it tight against her arm?"

Nurse: "I've been doing critical care long before you were accepted to medical school, now, about that blood pressure...."

doctor "gulp..."

At times I Can be a monkey, never a monkey's a$$

Age, experience and presence of mind at it's very best! :rotfl:
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Last night;

nurse: "doctor the patients pressure is 76/30"..

doctor: (In a condescending tone...)"Do you have the blood pressure cuff on right? is it tight against her arm?"

Nurse: "I've been doing critical care long before you were accepted to medical school, now, about that blood pressure...."

doctor "gulp..."

At times I Can be a monkey, never a monkey's a$$

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

been there, said that

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Wow, does this MD work at the hospital I just quit? Sounds like the daily abuse that the nurses on my unit received. I guess they've been fighting it for years. VP nursing and medical director won't do anything about it because cardio brings in 90% of the hospital's business. Very, very sad. And this is a "magnet hospital". Whatever.

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Wow, does this MD work at the hospital I just quit? Sounds like the daily abuse that the nurses on my unit received. I guess they've been fighting it for years. VP nursing and medical director won't do anything about it because cardio brings in 90% of the hospital's business. Very, very sad. And this is a "magnet hospital". Whatever.

It is sad indeed. The last facility I was on staff, anytime we had to call a doc in the night brought an onslaught of abuse. The nurses who worked nights were conditioned to 'take it'.

Me...I had trouble staying on track with what I needed from the doc between all the insults and ranting. I never quite understood why the docs did this religiously, every call, no matter WHAT. But when I spoke against it, there was zero support and other nurses shrugged...its been that way there for decades so I couldn't change it. I was the 'oddball' who demanded respect..imagine that. It was a strange place...some nice nurses, (and I miss some of them) but quite dysfunctional with 'kick the cat' and passive agressive hostility 'trickling down' and permeating the whole place. Sadly many of the local facilities have troubles WORSE than this place. So its a tradeoff to go to a different hospital here.

Its getting so I wonder if I can hack nursing anymore...anywhere. Even agency has me feeling crispy these days... and that has been my port in a storm. :o

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After ranting about being insulted by one of the docs, the charge nurse asked me "Why do you keep complaining about it? You're too young of a nurse to be this angry." I looked her straight in the eye and said "An attitude like that is why things never change," and before I said something that I could regret, I turned my back on her and walked away.

People need to have enough courage and self respect to not take BS from docs. Just because they're having a bad day doesn't mean they have to take it out on us. I don't take it out on my patients or the CNA's when I'm having a bad day!

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how am i putting it down? can you discuss the differences between BSN and ADN, if not for more liberal arts coursework, management and nursing statistics?

do a search bsn vs adn has been done to death. I'm not going to get into a big discussion about it. It is not a reflection on ADN education to recognize that the BSN education has value as well.

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Specializes in Home care, assisted living.

I just thought of a good comeback for nasty docs or other mean folks:

"Well, SOMEBODY had a big bowl of Grumpy Flakes for breakfast this morning!"

(Might get in trouble for saying that, but we can all dream, can't we? :rolleyes: )

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